In her victory speech, plumber turned new Green Party MP Hannah Spencer apologised to customers who booked her.
The Gorton and Denton by-election winner joked: ‘Now to my customers, I’m sorry, but I think I might have to cancel the work that you had booked in, because I’m heading to Parliament.’
In an emotional victory speech pitched at her core inner-city vote, the 34-year-old said people are being ‘bled dry’ and are ‘sick of our hard work making other people rich’.
But before the by-election, the 34-year-old faced accusations of ‘hypocrisy’ after it emerged she co-owned homes worth over £1m, offered tips to others on making the most of property deals and enjoyed jetting off on foreign holidays despite her party’s criticism of flying.
Trips documented on her social media include Amsterdam in 2018, jaunts to Valencia and Barcelona in 2016 and a trans-Atlantic trip in 2014 to New York and San Francisco. The same year, she also travelled to Hungary.
While representing an environmentally-conscious party, her Instagram also showed her posing next to what appeared to be a petrol car emblazoned with campaign slogans. In another post, she mocked Brexit.
Denton and Gorton contains some of Manchester’s most deprived neighbourhoods with incomes 25pc below the national average.
But Land Registry documents show Ms Spencer co-owns two houses in the city’s most affluent postcodes with former partner Dr Stephen Holman, a biochemist.
Hannah Spencer celebrates with Green Party supporters after her by-election victory
Ms Spencer and Dr Holman were living in a smart, £280,000 terraced home in affluent Sale, but splurged £750,000 on another property five miles away in Altrincham 18 months ago, which is still a building site.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has vowed to abolish private landlords, tax the rich and bring in rent controls.
In Mumsnet posts, however, Ms Spencer offered tips on making the most of property transactions.
After her mother helped her buy her first home at 24, she has owned several properties – including a £736,000 second home apparently bought in August 2024.
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New MP Hannah Spencer with Green Party leader Zack Polanski
In her posts, Ms Spencer – now the Green Party’s fifth MP – advised others how to squeeze more cash out of people. In one case, where her buyers knew they were paying too much, she threatened them with selling to another buyer until they ‘found’ the money.
She even referred to those who hike offers in increments as ‘stingy and more likely to haggle’.
Ms Spencer also admitted discriminating against those who need to borrow more to meet her asking price. ‘The banks are getting warier by the day’, she said, adding she ‘wouldn’t accept an offer from anyone’ needing to borrow more ‘unless I absolutely had to’.
And she endorses second homes ‘as an investment’, also against Green policy.
One constituent, Paul Hall, 43, an airport worker, said: ‘She came across as a down-to plumber. But to find out she’s got lots of money with two homes is outrageous.
‘How can she stand as a Green candidate when she loves air travel and jetting off around the world? She’s a hypocrite.’
Self-employed Mike Kerr, 49, said: ‘She shouldn’t stand as an MP if she doesn’t do what she preaches.’
A Green Party spokesperson said: ‘Hannah Spencer is a real life, working class, human being. That is why she is proving so popular.
‘The Green Party doesn’t believe people should be deprived of transport or holidays.
‘Ms Spencer has split from her partner but remains on the paperwork for the houses.
‘Hannah’s ex-partner worked hard to save up and put down the deposit on an uninhabitable building that is in the process of being renovated.’
