In British politics, victory speeches are often filled with victory and party slogans. Hannah Spencer chose something completely different: an apology.Shortly after being announced as the winner of the Gorton and Denton by-elections, the 34-year-old plumber-turned-politician told supporters she might have to cancel clients’ plumbing appointments. “I think I might have to cancel the job you had booked because I’m going to Parliament,” The Times quoted Hannah Spencer as saying. In a political culture often defined by high-pitched rhetoric, the 34-year-old plumber’s matter-of-fact regrets made a different impression.So, who is Hannah Spencer? The businesswoman-turned-politician who flipped a once-safe Labor seat?
From toolbox to ballot box
Hannah Kathrine Spencer was born in Bolton in 1991 or 1992, left school at 16 and trained as a plumber, later qualifying as a gas engineer and more recently as a plasterer. After taking part in the Prince’s Trust Enterprise Scheme, she founded her own company, Hannah’s Household Plumbing.In February 2026, she pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent British politics, winning the Gorton and Denton by-election with 40.7% of the vote, overturning Labour’s long-standing dominance of the seat that had been held since 1931. The victory made her the first Green MP in the north of England and the party’s first-ever by-election winner.Spencer, who has been Trafford councilor for Hale since 2023, said she did not enter politics until 2022 out of anger at the widening inequalities exposed during the pandemic and Partygate. She came fifth in both the 2024 Greater Manchester mayoral race and Warrington North general election before her breakthrough.
a toxic campaign
Spencer’s meteoric rise has been overshadowed by a brutal and polarizing campaign. Labor ministers have accused her and the Greens of England and Wales of mobilizing Muslim voters over the Gaza war, with critics saying they deliberately elevated the issue in a constituency where about three in 10 residents are Muslim.Spencer dismissed the claims as “disappointing” and said she had spoken to “tens of thousands of people in the constituency” about everyday issues ranging from NHS waiting lists to the cost of living.Her campaign has also been attacked by online misinformation, including false claims that she was married to an AstraZeneca executive. She was not married; the claim involved a former partner. Other posts falsely suggested she lived in a multi-million pound property in Hale. The abuse became so severe that she showed up at some events with security.
Hard left image, complex contours
Spencer has been portrayed as a far-left challenger to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. However, her property interests have also come under scrutiny: she owns two properties in the more affluent areas of Altrincham and Selsey, with a combined value of around £1 million. One is a townhouse purchased in Sale in 2019; the other is an independent fixed building that is being renovated.The Greens-controlled council supports a council tax premium for second homes, and National’s policies include expanding social housing, rent control and buying older homes for conversion. Party sources said Spencer’s past comments online about real estate were “normal conversations going back a few years.”
greyhound rescuer
Spencer stayed away from politics and pipelines to save greyhounds, a detail that has become central to her public persona. Speaking on the Green podcast Bold Politics, she spoke excitedly about her first rescue dog, Graham.“There’s a little bit of Graham in all of us,” she said. “We just want to be accepted, we just want to be happy, we just want to be safe.”A businesswoman balancing plastering lessons at Trafford College with lobbying shifts before returning home to care for rescued dogs helps create a relatable outsider narrative.
new green politics
Spencer is considered close to Zak Polanski, whose leadership has steered the Greens towards a more populist emphasis on livelihood issues such as the NHS and the cost of living, as well as climate policy.Her victories in Gorton and Denton were widely seen as a warning to Britain’s Labor Party and reformists, proving the Greens could break out of their traditional strongholds of Brighton and Bristol and make inroads in working-class constituencies in the north.With four weeks until polling day, few outside Trafford have heard her name. After apologizing for missed plumbing work and thanking voters at dawn on Friday, Hannah Spencer made history as a greyhound-saving plumber now heads into Westminster with a wrench in hand.
