Climate News: Greens become third-largest party in the UK, overtaking Conservatives and ‘on track’ to replace Labour

The Green Party of England and Wales’s membership has now far exceeded that of the Conservative party, making them the UK’s third largest party by membership. They are now on track to supplant Labour as the favourite party in London and for left-wing voters.

A YouGov poll produced for the party asked voters to rank the UK’s five main political parties by how favourably they felt about them. The Greens came second across England, only behind Reform who were placed first by 27% of voters. The Greens received 17% compared to Labour’s 16%, 15% for the Liberal Democrats, and only 14% for the Conservatives.

However, the Green Party came first among Londoners and younger voters. They are therefore on track to replace Labour as the favourite party in London, according to Green Party leader Zack Polanski.

Polanski claimed the number of dissatisfied Labour MPs he had spoken to was in ‘double figures’, adding that the Greens would ‘absolutely’ welcome disillusioned MPs

According to the Guardian, they received 27% of first preferences from London alone, compared to 20% for Labour, 16% for Reform, 15% for the Conservatives, and 14% for the Liberal Democrats. Among younger voters, the lead was even more significant, with 36% choosing the Greens, ahead of 24% for Labour, 14% for the Liberal Democrats, and only 6% each for both the Conservatives and Reform.

Polanski told the Guardian that “the plan has always been to replace Labour at the electoral level,” and said that the Greens would aim for “seats right across London”.

In late October, the Green Party announced that their membership had surged to over 126,000, an 80% increase since Zack Polanski was elected leader in September. They claim to have more than double the reported members of the Liberal Democrats, as well as overtaking the Conservative Party in membership. Their total number of members now stands at over 150,000.

The Greens saw some one thousand new members join just two hours after Polanski announced the results of the poll on the BBC, which officially made the Green Party the third-largest in the UK.

Polanski said: “British politics is changing and support for old-style parties built on privilege and power is shrinking.” He reiterated that a “new kind of politics that offers a bold, hopeful vision of prosperity, equality and unity”.

As reported by The Independent, Polanski claimed the number of dissatisfied Labour MPs he had spoken to was in “double figures”, adding that the Greens would “absolutely” welcome disillusioned MPs, as long as they shared the party’s values.

“We’re about to overtake the Conservatives in membership size and, watch this space, we are about to overtake Labour in the polls. British politics is changing, Greens are giving Britain hope again,” he added.