The number of Green Party members has risen beyond those in the Conservative Party, marking considerable gains for their new leader Zach Polanski, who was elected in September.
Surging beyond 150,000 members, the Greens have become the third largest party in Britain, with London Green party groups surging the most, and Lambeth Greens membership doubling.
A recent Westminster voting intention poll has the Greens polling at 16%, their highest ever result, with Labour receiving their lowest figure ever recorded by YouGov.
This sudden rise in membership for the Greens has surprised many, even Green Party politicians who were unsure of Polanski as a leader during the election.
For many of the party’s politicians, including Baroness Jenny Jones of Moulsecoomb (one of the two Green Party members in the House of Lords), Adrian Ramsay seemed like the logical voice to widen the party’s reach and platform.
However, with the Greens experiencing such a monumental rise in popularity, those within the party have credited this rise to ‘the Polanski effect’.
When asked about the rise in Green Party membership numbers, Baroness Jones said: “The leadership team has caught people’s imagination and people are hearing what they really want to hear from politicians: clear healthy policies that would actually reduce poverty and make life better for everybody.”
Across his campaign, Polanski has routinely stuck to certain talking points, including a wealth tax on the 1%, a proposal to abolish landlords and a pro-Palestine stance.
Among new Green Party members is 24-year-old Lena Jadou, a young financial services professional living in London.
Jadou explained one of her main reasons for joining the Greens was due to Your Party infighting and their perceived inability to effectively organise.
Jadou said: “Reform has icons that people can rally around and on the left we don’t.
“They have people standing up for their values, we don’t have that, we have Keir Starmer pandering to the right.”
She added: “We complain about rising rent prices, food scarcity, child poverty, councils notorious for blowing millions on failed projects and money seemingly disappearing into private contractors — all to pocket an extra £1bn bonus to their CEO for their profit margin.”
The public frustration with inequality and lack of serious leadership is a global phenomena, with Zohran Mamdani’s humanitarian-based campaign for mayor of New York recently proving a hit with voters.
Polanski has been dubbed as the ‘British-Mamdani’, with comparisons between the two proliferating since Mamdani’s election win.
Hackney resident and project manager Dan, 31, who has been a member of the Green Party since the London Assembly elections in 2021 said it ‘feels like a natural home for the left to come to the Greens’.
Dan formally campaigned for the Lib Dems during the 2019 general election and was an official member of the Labour party during the Kier Starmer leadership election.
Dan said: “I’ve got friends who have never been political party members now thinking about the Greens.
“The difference is now: here’s hope, here’s a movement. Just a little bit of hope on the left side of politics, and that gets people moving.”
Polanski ran as Green Party leader on a pledge to address wealth inequality through bold new policies, following the consensus from party politicians who argue Labour policies have been ineffective, especially within local councils.
Martin Abrams, a Green Party councillor for the Streatham St Leonard’s ward in Lambeth, defected from the local Labour Party.
One of his key reasons for resigning was due to the alleged toxic culture and antisemitic bullying he faced from within the party, due to having a pro-Palestinian stance whilst being Jewish.
Abram’s battle with the Labour Party began in February 2024 when he refused to toe the party line and supported a Green Party motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
He was suspended from the party for three months following this vote.
In June 2025, Lambeth Labour reportedly planned to block Abrams from standing as a Labour candidate in the 2026 local elections; he then defected to the Green party in September 2025.
On the differences between both parties, Abrams said: “I think the biggest difference I’ve found is that the Green Party isn’t just a careerist vehicle for people with political ambitions, it is a vehicle to make fundamental material changes, that improve people’s lives.”
He added: “People in Lambeth Labour and other council Labour groups are desperate to become MPs or special advisors in government.
“And I think that means that you’re not focusing on the role as a councillor and the job at hand, which is about improving people’s lives in our communities, and standing up for your local residents at all times.”
Hackney resident, Dan 31 said: “It’s quite difficult to feel the impact of Green councillors, because the council is so Labour dominated, and so a lot of what they do is trying to push Labour.”
With two Labour councillors defecting to the Green Party in Swindon, and now the ex-Southwark Labour chair Kath Whittam having defected to the Greens on 4 November, there is rising concern that Labour might see rising defections as the country approaches the local elections in 2026.
Nicole Griffiths, a Lambeth Greens councillor for Streatham St Leornard’s told the SW Londoner that defections to the party in the run up to local elections wouldn’t be surprising.
She said: “Labour councillors will be thinking, hang on a minute I’d quite like to be re-elected and I’m going to lose my seat as a Labour councillor. They’ll be thinking: I’ll stand for the Greens instead.”
Speaking about the Green’s membership surge, Griffiths added: “Zach’s appearing everywhere, and he’s getting the message out. Our policies have been the same for years, but finally, people are listening because he’s so good at communicating and he’s being given the platform.”
Concerned about Labour’s planned cuts, Griffiths said: “They need to invest in the social fabric of the country, not destroy it.”
24-year-old Londoner, Layomi Coker, recently joined the party, stated that the proposed wealth tax, aimed to tackle inequality, was a big factor in her decision.
She said: “Zach Polanski has made it very clear, how if the Green Party are successful and if they were the government, they would prioritize and allocate money to helping the NHS, helping public services, and giving back to people who are homeless, giving them access to health care, shelter, food and clothes.
“Taxing billionaires and the 1%, not just people who are trying to get by, but people who have unethical amounts of money and who are hoarding it.”
“And that is what labour doesn’t do. So that’s why I Vote Green.”
Featured image credit and ©: Rob Norman, Green Party of England and Wales.
