Greens hit 115,000 members as polls lift under Polanski

The Green Party has announced a surge in membership and rising poll support since Zack Polanski became leader last month, with party figures saying membership has passed the six figure mark and some of the latest voting intention surveys placing the Greens in the low to mid teens. Polanski has framed the momentum as a bid to replace Labour on the left of British politics and said the party is on course to overtake the Conservatives in size if the trend continues.

The party initially said membership had exceeded 100,000 in England and Wales. Polanski has since described the increase as still larger, telling media his party’s membership had risen above 115,000 since his election. Conservative membership figures are not published, but recent estimates put the Tory total at around 120,000. Polling varies: several recent surveys show the Greens up from last year’s 6.7 percent share to roughly 11 to 15 percent in voting intention polling, with one large poll placing them level with Labour on about 15 percent while another recorded roughly 13 percent. Reform UK remains ahead in many surveys.

Polanski has used the membership and polling gains to press his ambition of supplanting Labour....