Greens shock Labour with by-poll upset in safe Manchester seat, signal fragmented UK politics

London: The Green Party has won a special election in England, a big boost for the small party and a blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose center-left Labour Party was relegated to third place.

The Greens' Hannah Spencer was declared winner of the contest in Gorton and Denton early Friday with 14,980 votes. Matthew Goodwin of the hard-right Reform UK party got 10,578 votes. Labour candidate Angeliki Stogia received 9,364.

The constituency in the Greater Manchester area of northwest England was solid Labour territory for decades, and the result demonstrates that Britain's political landscape is increasingly fragmented.