Reform leader says without evidence that his party’s candidate came first among UK-born voters, as Hannah Spencer takes seat in parliament

Nigel Farage has been accused of Donald Trump-style election denial by the Green party’s new MP for Gorton and Denton, after he claimed her Reform rival “came first” among British-born voters in last week’s byelection.

Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England last week after winning 14,980 votes, more than 4,400 ahead of Reform’s candidate, who came second.