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The Green Party is already on its way to being the main opposition to Reform, leader Zack Polanski claimed in an interview with PoliticsHome at the party’s conference in Bournemouth.
Polanski, who was elected the new leader of the Greens last month, said British politics is “moving into” a contest between his party and that of Nigel Farage.
“We have this unusual position where Reform, who were a fringe party earlier, are now leading in the polls. So the Green Party’s big position here is to challenge their toxic narratives, their hate and their division, and offer an alternative,” he told PoliticsHome.
Polanski is a self-described “eco-populist” who is expected to push more left-wing positions in a bid to appeal to former Labour voters who are unhappy with the Keir Starmer government. To become leader, he defeated Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay, rural MPs who were expected to represent the party’s more socially conservative elements.
The Green Party has gained over 20,000 members in the last few months, making it the fastest-growing political party in the UK. At its conference in Bournemouth this weekend, deputy leader Rachel Millward said that the Greens had surpassed the Liberal Democrats in terms of members.
On Labour, Polanski said the party is “collapsing in on itself” and that he is “very open to a conversation” with “progressive, particularly left-wing” Labour MPs looking to defect because their “home is in the Green Party”.
“In terms of membership, we’ve seen election after election, we’ve both had the Labour vote collapsing, and the Green Party rising in places like Brighton,” Polanski said.
“We’ve also had defections – we had three defections in Barking and Dagenham last month, where three Labour councillors came over to the Green Party. Again, we’ve seen the collapse of that Labour vote.”
He said that the May elections in Wales, Scotland and London will be the first major opportunity for the Greens to demonstrate that they are ready to dislodge Labour as the leading party of the left.
“I said when I won that I didn’t want to just be concerned with Labour, I wanted to replace Labour, and that starts with next May,” Polanski told PoliticsHome.
Tessa Marshall, the Green Party’s second-ranked candidate for the Senedd constituency of Caerdydd Penarth, claimed that in Wales, the electoral contest is between the Greens, Reform and Plaid Cymru, not Labour vs Reform.
“When we hear Keir Starmer talk about how it’s going to be Labour versus Reform, he’s actually just completely ignoring the context of what’s happening in Wales”, she told PoliticsHome.
“It’s not going to be four years’ time that this battle is played out. This battle is being played out currently, and it’s not being played out between Labour and Reform.”
A Senedd voting intention poll published by YouGov in mid-September put the Greens on six per cent, level with the Lib Dems, but 8 per cent behind Labour on 14 per cent. Plaid and Reform were far out in front on 30 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.
Rob Yates, a Thanet councillor who resigned from Labour to join the Greens in September, said: “With Labour and the Lib Dems sounding closer to Reform every day, by 2029 I predict that the Green Party will be the opposition voice against Reform”.
