Who might lead the Green Party – and why it matters

Independent

2 days ago

The Greens may be small but they cannot be dismissed as 'fringe'. The Green Party of England and Wales (our focus here, since Scotland and Northern Ireland have autonomous sister parties) now boasts four MPs, three London Assembly members and more than 800 councillors – arguably bigger than Nigel Farage and Reform UK. In Scotland, they were (until relatively recently) in government, and have notably been in office in Germany.
Britain's ongoing political de-alignment has opened up opportunities for the Greens, but also some challenges. That's the context for the potentially rather important party leadership election that is now underway.
Why is the Green Party having an election?
Greens like to be hyper-democratic and have a visceral resistance to 'strong' leadership. They have leadership elections every two years as a rule, and were due for one last year when the general election got in the way.
The leader, or co-leaders, elected now will only serve an initial term of one year before having the option of doing it all over again next year. And then again in 2028…
Isn't that a bit disruptive?
Yes, but it keeps the leadership on its toes, and greatly empowers the membership – and they prefer things that way. 'Party discipline' is a bit of an alien concept to the Greens.
Who's running?
One of the two present co-leaders, Carla Denyer, no longer wants the job and wishes to concentrate on her role as MP for Bristol Central, having won that seat from Labour last year. The other present co-leader, Adrian Ramsay, MP for Waveney Valley (gained from the Tories a year ago), would like to carry on, and his proposed new co-leader is Ellie Chowns, MP for North Herefordshire (a former Conservative seat).
Their outspoken and charismatic challenger Zack Polanski – often described as an 'eco-populist' – could certainly be a more high-profile personality on the national stage than the MPs, even though he is 'only' a member of the Greater London Assembly. He is the current deputy leader, a post to which he was elected in 2022.
What's the election about?
Where they go next. Former leader and ex-MP Caroline Lucas, who supports the Ramsay-Chowns combo, says the leadership must come from parliament, reform the party's structures and must have climate change and 'environmental and social justice' as the core issue and focus on winning elections. The fear among some is that the party could split unnecessarily on 'culture war' issues and get tangled up with the new Jeremy Corbyn/Zarah Sultana 'Your Party', losing its identity in a Red-Green beetroot-coloured mess.
What do they agree on?
Greens agree on a surprising amount, at least in principle: anti-austerity, pro-wealth tax, pro-public ownership, anti-racism, pro-Palestine, anti-war, anti-Brexit, pro-refugee, anti-Trump and a devout belief there is a climate emergency. But there are also profound differences of view on issues such as trans rights/gender critical views, antisemitism, the status of Israel, tolerance for the kind of social conservatism that exists in some Muslim communities, and the extent of their respective independence of policy and action in the event of any electoral pacts with each other.
What happens if Polanski wins?
It sounds as if he will be the more likely to entertain a closer liaison with the Sultana/Corbyn grouping and, being outside the Commons, will necessarily find himself at odds with the parliamentary party, which will require a de facto leader in any case.
Public disagreements about radical policy options and endorsing the Corbynites in electoral pacts may be healthy and democratic, but tend to put voters off, especially in the kind of previously Tory-held market towns and villages where the Greens have more recently found fertile ground. Polanski's stance on migration and taxation and his closer association with Corbyn may thus prove an obstacle for the party in the counties at a general election.
Polanski, a hypnotherapist in a previous life, also has to cope with having once told female clients that they could have a bigger bust by simply visualising it. He's gay, vegan and lives in Hackney.
What about the deputy leadership?
Many more candidates here – nine in all. None are MPs or 'household names' (some are not even big names in their own kitchens). That could change. The most high profile is perhaps Mothin Ali, a councillor in Leeds. He came to prominence after his victory speech in the May 2024 election, when he said: 'We will not be silenced. We will raise the voice of Gaza. We will raise the voice of Palestine.' He went on to declare: 'Allahu Akbar!' ('God is the greatest!'). In due course, this drew an apology from him. Should Polanski win as a single candidate for leader, then there will be two deputy leaders, and not necessarily of one mind.
What will happen?
If all goes well, and they don't split, and they come to some mutually advantageous electoral arrangement with the Corbyn/Sultana party, there could be impressive electoral rewards as the Greens capitalise on Labour's present unpopularity. The first opportunities would come in the English local, Welsh Senedd, and Scottish parliament elections next year; then, in 2028, the London mayoralty (where anything could happen); and the 2028-29 general election. Why, they might even hold the balance of power after the latter.
On the other hand, they might split the Red-Green vote and let Labour, the Tories or Reform UK win in their most winnable wards and constituencies, and fight themselves into oblivion. That wouldn't be good for them, the country, Gaza or the planet.
When is the result?
Ballots are open now; declaration on 2 September.