Hannah Spencer, the Green MP who won the Gorton and Denton by-election last month, has used her first speech in the House of Commons to call for tolerance and inclusion, and to advocate for more people from blue-collar backgrounds to be elected to parliament.
Spencer said she wanted to “make hope normal again,” and used a speech at a debate about International Women’s Day to say she had discovered that some children had dressed up for events marking the day at their schools as “Hannah the Plumber,” wearing overalls and copying her distinctive hairstyle.
Spencer overturned a Labor majority of 13,000 in the by-election, defeating the Reform candidate, Matthew Goodwin, and pushing Keir Starmer’s party into third place.
“Four weeks ago today I was at university, being a plumber learning how to plaster,” he began on Thursday. “And today I am in Parliament, as an MP. And being here is the honor of my life. But I don’t want this to be unusual or exceptional. I really believe that anyone who does a job like mine should get a seat on these benches.”
Echoing a theme from his election victory speech, in which he promised to try to unite the diverse communities in his constituency, Spencer listed a number of local people and groups, saying he would defend them all.
“To the girls I saw photos of who went to school on International Women’s Day dressed as ‘Hannah the Plumber’ with their overalls, wrenches and signature hair. To the women in my life who had my back, who fought for equality alongside me,” she said.
“And to the men I work with, especially the boys on my plastering course who dealt very well with my new attention in the middle of our training, but those men who will suffer the effects of this unequal society through their mental health.
“To the veterans I know, who were willing to risk everything and come home to find that society was turning its back on them. To the white working classes, who are always lumped together and never appreciated.
“To all those who will have nowhere to sleep tonight, or who will barely exist in a cold, damp, unsafe home. To my trans brothers, who are blamed for everything. To Muslims everywhere, who are constantly and often violently made scapegoats.
“To disabled people who cannot access the world due to a structural inequality that is completely solvable. To people of color, who have to work harder at everything.
“I don’t always get it, I won’t say I always get it. But what I do know is what it feels like to be put down. To be let down and left behind. To be less worthy because of something about me.”
Saying his electorate had “suffered decades of neglect and broken promises”, Spencer paid tribute to the work of his predecessor, Labor’s Andrew Gwynne, to tackle health inequalities and pledged to continue this.
In a speech that paid tribute to everyone from suffragette Elsie Plant, after whom Spencer named one of her greyhounds, to the workers in her constituency, as well as some of her cafes and pubs, the new MP said the lesson of International Women’s Day was that “our struggles may be different, but our humanity is the same”.
He concluded: “I want to put Gorton and Denton on the map by championing the positive aspects of our community: the spirit, the warmth, the determination and the way we help each other, every day.
“Together we can make hope normal again. And we will take care of each other, whoever we are. Because where I’m from, that’s just what we do.”
