Green Party’s Gorton and Denton Candidate Hannah Spencer Attacks the Media’s ‘Misogynistic’ Coverage of Her Campaign

If the polls are to be believed then Hannah Spencer could soon be the Green Party’s first elected Member of Parliament in the North of England.

An exclusive survey commissioned by Byline Times and Forward Democracy this week found that she is on the edge of a historic victory in a previously safe Labour seat of Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester.

The contest, which was initially covered as a likely win for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, now appears to be a dead heat between the Greens, Reform and Labour, according to our poll, with likely voters leaning towards Spencer.

The surge in support for the Greens has placed a huge amount of media scrutiny on the previously little-covered party.

The day before voters go to the polls, the Daily Mail, whose owner’s wife recently donated £50,000 to Reform, splashes with a front page warning about the “GREEN MENACE” about to grip the country if voters back Zack Polanski’s party.

Labour too, have sharpened their attacks on the party, with the Prime Minister’s party suggesting that the Greens risk turning Britain into an open air “crack den”.

For Spencer, who runs a successful plumbing business in Manchester, it has prompted the sort of attacks that few outside of politics would be used to.

Much of the coverage has focused on her appearance and personal relationships. On the morning I speak to her, the Times carries an out of context picture of her apparently shouting angrily, next to a much bigger picture of Reform’s Zia Yusuf calmly posing for the camera.

Meanwhile, a presenter on the Times sister channel Talk tweets another picture of Spencer, with the caption, “why does Hannah Spencer have the same hairstyle as a three year old?”

Elsewhere, the Daily Mail carries multiple pictures of her from when she was younger and enjoying what they describe as “her taste for globetrotting holidays”.

I ask what she thinks about the way her campaign has been covered.

“A lot of it has got quite a misogynistic angle to it,” she tells Byline Times.

“I’ve faced a lot of criticism for my appearance, for my hair, for my relationship status, like, all those things that I just haven’t seen about people like Matt Goodwin.”

“There’s never the same level of coverage about those personal aspects of somebody that happens to women in politics and public positions far more than men.”

Spencer’s opponents have also sought to portray her as being out of touch with local concerns, with a Labour source branding her a “millionaire property-hoarding hypocrite” for owning two homes

A picture of Spencer in the rather ordinary looking front room of her terraced house prompted one Labour politician to Tweet that it was “the most Green Party member front room ever” and “very middle class”.

“It’s a strange one,” says Spencer.

“They’re mocking my little terraced house that I’m really proud like, literally, my blood, sweat and tears went into that place, and they seem to think it’s an angle to attack people with.”

“But actually, a lot of people in this constituency live in homes like mine. I don’t live in a palace so it’s a really strange one to go for. 

“In politics we’re happy to have discussions and debates about policies and ideas and kind of challenge each other that way. So it seems a bit strange to be going after the angle of someone’s front room.”

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The Goodwin Factor

That the Greens are even considered close to winning in Gorton and Denton is remarkable. The party has no real history of electoral success in the area and has faced stiff competition both from the incumbent Labour party and from an insurgent Reform.

However, Spencer believes voter dissatisfaction with Labour and fear of the “extreme” nature of Reform’s candidate Matt Goodwin, have helped to boost her campaign.

“Goodwin has been coming up a lot on the doorstep,” she says.

“Because a lot of people haven’t realised until now quite how extreme he is. Some of the really extreme comments that he’s made about women and girls, about people from an immigrant background, about Muslims. So most people in our community, yeah, it’s a really, really surprising choice for them…

“They don’t want someone who’s got such extreme views near any form of power.”

The Greens are the current bookies’ favourites to win the by-election. However, with the race seemingly so close in the polls, Labour appear increasingly confident of clinging onto the seat, due to the strength of their local campaigning operation.

On Monday Keir Starmer made a surprise visit to the constituency and plans to go again on polling day – something Prime Ministers normally only do when they their team are confident of victory.

For Spencer, Starmer’s appearances are mystifying, given his apparent unpopularity in the area.

“It was a very strange choice to bring Keir Starmer when people here are so angry at him as an individual,” she said.

“Not least when we’ve just seen Peter Mandelson get arrested.”

Asked on Wednesday if the Prime Minister believes Labour will win the election, his political spokesman told Byline Times that “we’re focussed on fighting for every vote at the moment. 

“You’ve seen that this week with the Prime Minister in the constituency. You will see that again tomorrow, when you’ll see many more Labour activists out there. 

“But you wouldn’t expect me to indulge in post-match analysis before the election has taken place.”