LONDON – Britain’s troubled government spent much of its time in power concerned about the far right. Instead it received a sucker punch from the progressive left.
The Green Party delivered a stunning blow to Prime Minister Keir Stormer early Friday with victory in a hotly contested special election in the northern city of Manchester.
The vote in the Gorton and Denton constituency is a three-way fight between the Greens, the emerging right-wing party Reform UK led by Trump ally Nigel Farage and Stormer’s ruling centre-left Labor Party, which has long dominated politics in the region.
Greens candidate Hannah Spencer, 34, is the party’s fifth Member of Parliament and one of 650 MPs in the UK’s lower house.
Spencer was a plumber before entering politics, hinting at the appeal of rebels on both sides of the political spectrum now that wages are stagnant, public services are ailing and years of government scandal have eroded trust in institutions.
Starmer’s position has been under intense scrutiny for months, but recent revelations related to the Epstein scandal have left him badly vulnerable.
Enter the “eco-populist” Greens, who want to radically overhaul Britain’s energy system, tax the wealth of multimillionaires, dismantle its nuclear weapons program and reverse policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Bear with me, because this is a lot,” a triumphant Spencer told the crowd in her northern Mancunian drawl as she processed the gravity of the result. To people who “feel behind and isolated,” he said, “I see you and I will fight for you.”
He explained that he never wanted to be a politician and apologized to anyone who booked his plumbing services.
“I am no different from every other person in this field,” he said. “Working hard used to get you something, it got you a house, a happy life, holidays, it got you somewhere, but now, what does working hard get you?
It was billed as a three-way race but it wasn’t close in the event. Spencer received 14,980 votes, Reform’s Matthew Goodwin 10,578 and Labour’s Angeliki Stogia 9,364.
According to some polls, the result will put more pressure on Stormer, the least popular prime minister since records began. Even longtime supporters are frustrated by what they say is his inability to communicate a coherent message to a stagnant nation.
Stormer told reporters it was a “disappointing” result and voters were “frustrated”. Asked if he thought about resigning, he said, “I came into politics late in life to fight for change for people who need it.” “I will continue to fight for those people as long as I have breath in my body,” he said.
Labor “seems almost paralyzed in terms of presenting a way forward on the key issues,” said Scott Lucas, professor of politics at University College Dublin.
The election complicates the broader narrative in the United Kingdom and indeed Europe, where nationalist populists backed by the Trump administration are on the rise.
The Greens have tapped into widespread anger about rising prices and the cost of living, but instead of blaming immigrants, they have directed their anger at the super-rich.
“The message of giving people a better future financially can resonate; it can cut through the white noise that defines our politics,” Lucas said.
The local demographics are largely divided between working-class neighborhoods, college students, and Muslim residents. Many of the latter two groups are disillusioned with the direction of the government under Stormer, particularly in what they see as an inadequate response to Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
In defeat, Goodwin epitomized his party’s anti-immigration and anti-Islam platform, saying in a statement that “we are losing our country” and that “a dangerous Muslim sectarianism has emerged.”
Spencer denounced this approach after his victory.
“I will not accept this victory tonight without calling out the politicians and divisive individuals who constantly victimize and blame our communities for all the problems in society,” he said. “My Muslim friends and neighbors are just like me: human.”
Reform remains a national force ahead of the next national election, scheduled for 2029, and has led every major opinion poll for 10 months.
However his current average polling of 28% does not give him enough power to govern alone and will have to enter a coalition government.
An outright victory for the Greens would cement a left-wing threat to Britain’s traditional governing parties.
Green leader Zac Polanski is considered by many pundits to be a political figure who could rival Farage’s populist appeal.
“People everywhere will now know that a green vote is the way to defeat reform,” he said in a victory speech.
