Hannah Spencer presents nothing like a politician – open, frank, friendly, wearing hot-pink joggers. I don’t want to say I’ve never encountered these qualities in an MP, but I’ve never encountered them in the same person. Her house tells the story of her recent byelection victory. The path and the hall are filled with mostly empty cardboard boxes that once contained leaflets.
When Spencer, 34, won Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester for the Greens last month, there was a 26% swing from Labour. She won more than 40% of the vote, up 28 percentage points on the party’s performance in the 2024 general election. It was billed as a shock to the political establishment, a seismic blow to Labour (who were knocked into third place) and a reality check for Reform, who had peacocked their certain victory beforehand yet finished a distant second. But it wasn’t that much of a surprise to the Greens.
