Reform, which spent its by-election campaign warning about the UK's "Christian heritage" being under threat, while proposing a ban on visas from predominantly Muslim countries, now accuses their opponents of engaging in "sectarian politics"

Labour MP Andy McDonald: "The party has to come to terms with the reality that factionalism fails the party and more importantly fails the country... "It is the political approach of the Prime Minister, his former chief of staff, and of Labour Together, which has cost Labour this safe seat".

Commiserations to all at BBC Politics.

Newsnight can put Zack Polanski in a Russian hat. They can portray him as Voldermort. James O'Brien can accuse him of "breaking Britain". It's not going to work this time, lads. People have seen too much. The electorate just knows more. Watch the attacks ramp up and recognise their toothlessness.

A Labour MP stood down for Burnham to stand, Starmer blocked him, and Labour went down to a seismic drubbing. But heck, no, let's not read too much into it. Massively out of touch.

I can't believe Keir Starmer's "the Greens want to sell spice and crack to toddlers" messaging didn't win over the voters of Gorton and Denton...

The Green victory in Denton is the result which will have the biggest effect on Labour, far more so than a Reform win. The blithe assumption progressives have nowhere else to go has been proved catastrophically wrong. Can’t help thinking of this quote from a Labour minister, a year ago…

Anyway I thought the Reform Party wanted men to make decisions for their family?

Massive Green win, cue days and weeks of wall-to-wall Reform coverage and appearances all over the media. The people of Britain keep telling you to stop forcing this shit on them and the media and Westminster lobby journalists keep ignoring them. Making Farage 'a thing' is failing, lads.

Blue Labour as a concept needs to go in the bin, alongside the idea of Lexit. Cut the twin cancers out. Brexit should go on the scrap heap of history. FPTP has had its day too. Roll on PR, and a full-throated and unashamed campaign to negotiate with the EU to rejoin ASAP.

As Green Party hope rises popularity, I look forward to them getting as much press coverage, news radio & appearances on BBC Question Time as the Farage Reform lot. What’s that I hear??? *wind whistles and a tumbleweed blows past* Note how the media lauds Reform & hates the Greens. It’s rigged.

“I said we were here to replace Labour and this is what replacing looks like.” Zack Polanski talking to volunteers after our stunning victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election. join.greenparty.org.uk

Gorton and Denton was 127th on the list of Green Party target seats. To win by such a margin there suggests there is much bigger potential for Green gains in May's local elections than most people expect bylinetimes.com/2026/02/27/h...

I wonder what it is about the Greens' message of community, progress, justice and care for our wounded planet that's connecting with people. Starmer, any ideas?

Incredible moment for BBC impartiality as they interview the Green Party’s Baroness Jenny Jones.

3) Don't play dirty. The bizarre claims about the Greens in relation to drugs and sex workers were desperate, embarrassing, and harmful. It is no wonder they did not work and instead reflected badly on our party.

4) Don’t say only Labour can beat Reform if - thanks to the leadership's own self-sabotage - it’s not true. Because it will be true in many other seats, and now voters won’t believe us.

Labour MPs thinking about their majorities and their jobs will slowly start to turn on their forensic, genocide supporting leadership. It’s all way too late.

Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard on the Gorton and Denton campaign. Reform tried to smear our candidate, Laboured tried to smear our policies, but in the end the people saw through it. Link to our newest MP Hannah Spencer’s words. youtu.be/ZYg4bN8G0II?...

This seat is 117th on the Greens' list of targets—and they secured a stonking 41% of the vote. The Greens' threat to Labour from its left is very real but continues to be underplayed by the media and Labour itself. If they have any sense, that changes from today—with some concrete shifts in policy.

The Greens: a new force in British politics www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/02...

John Curtis on BBC just saying Conservative vote was “gobbled up by Reform”, but doorknocking last weekend in Gorton and Denton I met Conservative voters who said they didn’t want to vote Reform and promised us Greens their vote.

Now there is hope! It's no longer a choice between grim and grimmer. We can vote for who we want and win. Anywhere. It's just one constituency, but the Green victory in Gorton and Denton is an electric shock to our political system.

The conservative candidate in last nights election was known literally for one thing; she led the anti trans activity in the police. Seriously that was her background, and why Badenoch backed her. And what happened? It’s time to give up the lie that transphobia is popular

Taxi for Kieth

Labour threw the kitchen sink at this, with some of the most sinister smears I've ever seen, & still lost. ❌ Well today, people voted for change - and if you don't like the change voters have made Kier, I say the door is open, and you can leave. 💚

As previously stated: they made a pact with a spiteful demon in exchange for the friendly, supportive media coverage that might allow them to win power and now, he is going to kill them and drag their souls to Hell.

What a rare breath of deliciously fresh air. Congratulations Hannah, Zack, everyone involved in defeating Reform's naked xenophobic authoritarianism with authentic humanist hope, not with Starmer's authoritarianism-lite. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Has there ever been a more graceless and divisive concession? Showing exactly why voters in Gorton and Denton rejected him tonight

Will Starmer survive to the end of today?

BREAKING: A wonderful speech from Green Party's Hannah Spencer after winning the Gorton and Denton by-election. Congratulations!

aye — they've been stomping nazis today.😎

a green and pleasant land, you say?

Far from the first to say it, but this result should not be that surprising. In the last few months, Greens have emerged as Labour's largest source of partisan loss, and as our recent tactical voting study showed, are the more attractive tactical voting choice for red bloc voters.

I do wonder how it would have gone if Reform had picked a slightly less weird and whiny candidate who was better at hiding their contempt

Labour's swing toward racism is perhaps the biggest unforced error in British political history; burnt their base to ashes and won them not a single vote on the right.

A new politics of hope was born this morning. We do not need to be the cruel nation that Badenoch, Starmer and Farage want. @zackpolanski.bsky.social and the Green Party have shown us we have a choice.

John Curtice is now reporting that this is the Conservative's worst performance in a by-election in the party's history...

Beautiful acceptance speech and interview on Sky as @greenpartyhan.bsky.social makes UK political history 1800 volunteers turned up today & helped the Greens get 40% of the vote share But it's Hannah's sincerity that won this election and makes her such a special addition to parliament 💚🙏🏽

Congratulations Hannah Spencer and the Greens ! And thank you for showing progressive policies are popular. Labour's right wing was rightly thrashed in Denton & Gorton - and must be punished for bringing Labour into disrepute with racist policies on migration & with austerity- style economics.

Probably not a by-election that needs over-analysing in the end. Since the 2024 GE, Labour has, in effect, been telling its core voters to vote for someone else. So they did.

this is the best result possible. it's clear, decisive, and labour were fucking third. not even second.

turns out McSweeney and the Blue Labour gang were wrong and the out of touch woke liberal elite Bluesky echo chamber bubble was right

Hannah Spencer MP. 💚 Congratulations to all our friends in the @greenparty.org.uk Hope beats hate!

What a magnificent fuck you to the hatred of Reform and the cruelty of Labour, a message of hope led by a local candidate who actually cares about her community. Love it.

Always, far right parties like Reform Ltd which say they hate corruption turn out to be just as corrupt, or even more ... "Hertfordshire County Council Greens call for spending probe after Reform UK member’s grant to husband’s group" www.bishopsstortfordindependent.co.uk/news/herts-c...

Early impressions of Green and Labour canvassers three weeks ago proved to be correct. The Green vote more than trebled in Gorton & Denton, and the Labour vote halved.

Has Keith resigned yet?

More life in that speech than Starmer has managed his entire career.