YouGov results point to a two-fold increase in public support compared with the same time last year.
The Green Party would claim 12% of the vote at a general election, if current polling is much to go by. This would be the best ever performance for the leftwing political group, and places them just five points behind the Conservatives — Britain’s most historically successful.
Overall, Reform UK still lead confidently, a trend that can be contributed as much to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s poor record as it can the actual policies and performances of the challenger party’s own MPs and local governments.
Last week, Zack Polanski took charge as the new Green Party leader, and has quickly established a reputation as straight talking, highly critical of the current regime, and solution focused.
A significant argument in campaigning since the regime change has centred on presenting a serious alternative to the what Polanski describes as a ‘far right-adjacent’ government being offered by Reform’s Nigel Farage.
Crucially, the two differ on almost all issues relating to the environment and immigration, perhaps other than the opinion both are being mismanaged by Labour, leading to a power vacuum and opportunity given the Conservatives are yet to begin recovering following last year’s devastating election loss. Recent revelations regarding Boris Johnson’s use of government office to maximise on his own business interests while Prime Minister, are just the most recent examples of ongoing issues in the camp of the oldest party in the country.
‘I reached a point a couple of years ago where I realised how much time we were spending complaining about media coverage for the Green party, and I still think that’s legitimate. But I also think at some point you’ve just got to step up and you’ve got to go even if all the odds are stacked against us. The Green party’s role is to cut through and to be able to tell an alternative story,’ Polanski told The Guardian.
‘I keep saying ‘cut through’, and it’s not just being heard. It’s about making people feel things and want to get involved, want to talk to their friends and neighbours and colleagues,’ he continued. ‘It needs the same effective, repetitive messaging, but that’s actually based on the truth and the facts, rather than the lies and misinformation that’s been spun.’
A separate interview, published by Byline Podcast, Polanski was quick to point out his commitment to economic growth. He also pointed to Starmer’s promise of creating the fastest growing economy of any G7 nation, despite defining GDP success as a 1% rise year-on-year.
‘[GDP is] a terrible way to measure the health and wellbeing of a country,’ he explained. ‘Really, we should be looking at lots of other measures. How happy are people? What’s their mental health like? Have we tackled the gender pay gap, the disability pay gap, the ethnicity pay gap?’
‘I don’t mind things growing as long as it’s within ecological boundaries,’ Polanski continued. ‘I think if a market wants to make sure that they’re making more money, that’s all fine. That shouldn’t be the focus, though, of a government – and that shouldn’t be the focus of our politicians and parliament when we’re thinking about health and wellbeing.’
Image: Jon Tyson / Unsplash
More Biodiversity, Climate Change, Biodiversity, Nature & Sustainability:
1/3 of facilities management are unsure about sustainability budgets
Christmas come early? Waitrose claims autumn has already begun
Closer than we thought: Atlantic current ‘tipping point’ within decades
