Sir Keir Starmer has been plunged into fresh turmoil following the Green Party's comprehensive win in the Gorton and Denton by-election – with Labour limping home in third place.

Hannah Spencer, a 34-year-old plumber who took the seat with a big win over Reform and Labour, said voters had “rejected hate and embraced hope”.

The prime minister, meanwhile, has vowed to “keep fighting” after insisting that he understands the public is “impatient for change”.

It appears unlikely that Sir Keir will face an immediate challenge for the leadership, with the more likely time expected to be following May's local elections. Angela Rayner said the defeat must be a wake-up call for the party and called for a “braver” approach to politics.

Green leader Zack Polanski said the result showed there were no “no-go areas” for the party.

Writing exclusively in The Independent, he said: “On Monday, Hannah Spencer MP will walk into Parliament as the North’s first Green MP; as the first female plumber to sit in the House of Commons; and as a symbol of what we can do when we put fear aside and back hope instead.

“And that will only be the beginning. In May, there are local elections all across the country, for councillors and mayors – and after this breakthrough, the sky is the limit for our party.”

The victory is the Greens’ first-ever in a parliamentary by-election and comes despite Labour having won Gorton and Denton in 2024 with more than half the vote.

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Could the King’s visit to America be the biggest moment of jeopardy for the monarchy?

As preparations are made for a historic royal visit to Washington, the fallout from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, the divisions of Trump’s America, and the threat of a brutal advertising campaign against the King risk turning a moment of diplomacy into an uncomfortable confrontation over power and accountability. Alex Hannaford reports.

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Why I gave up being a ‘palatable woman’ – and you should do the same

When Sophie Jane Lee was 30, her life looked perfect, but internally, she was addicted to alcohol and drugs. It was only after getting clean that she realised the biggest danger in her life was the pressure to be a palatable woman. Here, she writes about what happened when she gave up trying to be acceptable – and why she wants other women to do the same.

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So, if intermittent fasting doesn’t work for weight loss then what does?

As new research questions the merits of time-restricted eating, Harry Bullmore asks nutrition experts if there are other more effective ways to lose weight.

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Unless Labour reduces migrant crossings, the next election is lost

With the annual number of asylum seekers dipping only slightly, and those arriving on small boats actually going up, home secretary Shabana Mahmood must concede that the government’s flagship ‘one in, one out’ policy is not working as described – nor enough of a deterrent, says John Rentoul.

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I would have been better off working in a restaurant than getting my 2:1 degree

With ghosting from prospective employers and rising unemployment, the jobs market for Britain's university graduates has changed beyond all recognition, writes Izzy Combi.

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I was expelled from boarding school – and I’ve never been allowed to forget it

As the model and world-famous nepo baby Apple Martin addresses false rumours that she was expelled from school for bullying, Ava Vidal is baffled by how playground indiscretions can follow you through life.

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A new drama about Jane Andrews, Sarah Ferguson’s ex-right-hand woman who ended up in jail for murder, is airing just as the former duchess is already at the centre of a media storm. Katie Rosseinsky looks back at the harrowing case.

As Paris bets that homegrown tech can replace Silicon Valley defaults across government, Chris Stokel-Walker asks whether other countries, including Britain, will follow suit.

Fifty years after Lowry’s death, a landmark documentary brings to light a newly discovered treasure trove of unheard audio tapes recorded with the artist.

It explodes a lot of what we thought we knew about him, finds Nick Curtis.

Never underestimate the simple, restorative power of a curry. There’s something about a bowl of warmly spiced vegetables, rich sauce and steamed rice that soothes like little else. Especially when it comes together as quickly and with as much ease as this one.

This cauliflower and potato coconut curry sings with freshness and zing, but still brings all the comfort you want from something spooned into a deep bowl and eaten slowly.

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