TL;DR: The Green Party has won the Gorton and Denton byelection, with 40% of the vote share. Hannah Spencer will head to Westminster as an MP for the party led by out gay leader Zack Polanski. She campaigned on ending divisive politics, and being vocal about progressive issues including Trans+ rights and Gaza.
The Green Party has won a byelection, which pundits and pollsters are already calling one that will go down in history.
Hannah Spencer, a Green councillor and previous candidate in the Manchester Mayoral election, won the Gorton and Denton byelection with a significant 4,000-strong majority, picking up 40% of the votes.
Critically, Spencer has been a supporter of Trans+ rights, speaking out about how she will "always stand against the politicisation and degradation of human rights" and attending Manchester events on how politicians can stand up for Trans+ rights.
Firstly, it is the worst possible outcome for Starmer’s Labour Party, which has been relying on the flimsy political lifeline that only Labour can unite progressive voters to stop Reform. This election shows otherwise.
Reform still picked up a substantial vote share, 28%, while Labour's fell from 50% to 25%. Meanwhile, in an embarrassing loss for the Conservatives' gender-critical candidates, a Sex Matters Trustee, the party’s vote share was so decimated that it lost its deposit for the first time in 40 years, attracting less than 2% of the vote.
Keir Starmer's reaction has already been criticised for failing to recognise the significance of the moment. He doubled down on disinformation about the Green Party's policy on drug legalisation, a nuanced topic which 108 countries around the world have policies on. For now, his position seems safe - but Labour MPs have been sharing both in private and to journalists that the May local elections could well see the end of his premiership.
More broadly, this result signifies a shift taking place on the right and left, away from two parties that have dominated British politics for a century. The rise of Reform and the Greens shows a voting-intention trend more commonly seen in Europe, with multiple parties vying for attention in the polls rather than a choice between two.
However, unlike Europe, the UK does not have proportional representation in Westminster elections, and only the disastrous Conservative-Lib Dem coalition as a reminder of what powersharing can look like in the Houses of Parliament.
It is also significant for LGBTQIA+ people. The Greens' chequered past with anti-trans factions seems to have been put behind them. Those who previously led that charge have been expelled, and it has a leader who is prepared to speak out about being gay, the queer community's needs, and Trans+ rights.
Following her win, Spencer said she wouldn't accept the victory without "calling out politicians and divisive figures who constantly scapegoat and blame our communities for all the problems in society." Though this was focused on the Muslim community, who were targeted amid a focus on Starmer's policies around Gaza during the campaign, it speaks to a party that is polling well - and staying true to progressive values.
The result will be a guiding beacon of light for the LGBTQIA+ community in an otherwise difficult month, which has seen court rulings further degrade the rights of Trans+ people at work. Meanwhile, it should be a wake-up call to everyone in the UK that the political playing field has been reshaped, and the fight ahead will play out in uncharted territory.
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