The Greens in England and Wales have more than 100,000 members for the first time, the party has announced, a near-50% rise since Zack Polanski took over as leader last month.
It puts them on a potential course to overtake the Conservatives and comes little more than a week after the Greens announced they had moved past the Liberal Democrats in membership numbers, getting to 83,500.
If the same momentum continues, party officials say, they could be on course to become bigger than the Conservatives. Tory party membership figures are not made public, but recent reports say the total is slightly above 120,000.
Such numbers do not necessarily translate into electoral success, with Labour having had a peak of more than 500,000 members under Jeremy Corbyn, who lost two general elections. And while one recent poll put the Greens at 15%, most such surveys have put the party nearer to 11% or 12%, not much changed since Polanski took charge.
But the influx of members does point to Polanski’s apparent ability to galvanise attention and enthusiasm for a party that has often struggled to get its message across, with a mass of interviews, social media videos and TV appearances.
The Greens’ surge has caused worries among some senior Labour figures, who believe it could take votes and seats from the party in next May’s local elections in England, particularly in some London boroughs.
Polanski has repeatedly set out what he sees as the Greens’ ambition to supplant Labour. In a speech this month to the party’s annual conference, he said that without action Keir Starmer would “hand this country on a plate” to Reform UK.
Responding to the new membership figure, Polanski said: “More than 100,000 people have now joined the Green movement. That’s 100,000 people who believe politics can be honest, fair and hopeful again.
“When I was elected leader last month, I said that we’re not here to be disappointed with Labour but that we’re here to replace them. I was serious. Because while Labour talks about change, people can see in their weekly shop, their utility bills and crumbling services, Labour are offering more of the same.
“The Greens are the only real opposition left in British politics. Standing up for fair taxes, a livable planet and a future where compassion and courage matter more than corporate interests. People are understandably disillusioned, but we are here to make hope normal again.”
