Green considerers would rather the party was a general left-wing party than an environmentalist party
Tomorrow, balloting opens in the Green Party of England and Wales’s leadership election. Following a record election result last year, the party now faces a crossroads: current deputy leader Zack Polanski wants to take the party in a more left-wing ‘populist’ direction, while the co-leadership bid of current co-leader Adrian Ramsay and MP Ellie Chowns say they want to focus on winning over a new range of voters concerned about the environment, including former Conservatives.
But while it will be party members who have the final say over which of these two paths the Greens go down, what do the 28% of Britons who are currently willing to consider voting for the Greens at the next election think should be the direction of the party?
This 28% includes 85% of those who voted Green in last year’s general election, alongside 45% of 2024 Lib Dem voters, 43% of 2024 Labour voters and 6-7% of those who backed either the Conservatives or Reform UK last July.
However, just 9% of those who would consider voting Green are not also open to voting for any other major national party.
Six in ten Green considerers (59%) are also open to voting for the Lib Dems, with the same saying so of the soon-to-be-launched left-wing party led by Jeremy Corbyn, while a small majority (53%) would also consider voting Labour in future. One in eight (12%) are open to considering Reform UK, while 10% see the Conservatives as a potential future vote.
Who are the Britons considering voting Green?
Younger Britons are the most open to considering voting Green, with nearly half of 18-24 year olds (47%) and 37% of 25-34 year olds saying they are open to voting for the party.
Three in ten women (31%) say they would consider the Greens, compared to 25% of men. The party also has greater appeal to graduates, four in ten of whom (41%) would consider the Greens, versus just 17% of those with only a GCSE or lower as their highest level of qualification.
What do Green considerers see as the top issues facing the country?
Half of Green considerers (49%) say that the cost of living and the NHS are top issues facing the country. On this, they are not hugely distinct from the public as a whole, 46% of whom see the cost of living as the one of the most pressing issues, while 41% say so of the NHS.
Where they are more distinct, perhaps unsurprisingly, is on the environment, with 37% of Green considerers identifying it as one of the top issues facing Britain today, more than double the rate among all Britons (17%). Similarly, Green considerers are roughly twice as likely as the public as a whole (15% vs 7%) to say the conflict in Gaza is one of the most pressing national issues.
By contrast, just 20% of considerers consider immigration to be one of the major problems in Britain today, compared to nearly half of all Britons (45%), and are also less likely to see crime as a top issue (9% vs 17%).
In terms of the single most important issue facing the country, a quarter of Green considerers (25%) say it is the cost of living, ahead of the environment on 16%, the NHS and the economy in general on 13% each, and immigration on 10%.
Should the Greens be a left-wing party or an environmentalist party?
Among those considering voting Green, there is clearly appetite for Zack Polanski’s proposed approach to the party, with most (52%) believing that the Greens should focus on being a general left-wing party, talking primarily about wider social and economic issues.
This contrasts with being an environmentalist party primarily focussed on climate change, a path favoured by a third of considerers (33%). These figures are about the same among Green considerers who did and did not vote for the party last year.
Green considerers who are also considering the as-yet-untitled Corbyn-led party are most likely to favour the Greens being a primarily left-wing party, doing so by a margin of 66% to 22%, though a majority (53-55%) of Greens who are also considering either Labour or the Lib Dems also favour the left-wing approach.
By contrast, the 9% of 'exclusive' Green considerers who aren't willing to vote for any of the other national parties tend to favour focussing on being an environmentalist party, by 43% to 35%.
There is also an age divide among potential Green voters. While 18-24 year old considerers would rather the party were a general left-wing party by a margin of 66% to 23%, over 65 considerers would rather the Greens focussed primarily on the environment by 46% to 36%.
Should the Greens keep two co-leaders, or change to one?
Since 2016, the Greens have had two co-leaders, an approach Polanski has criticised, saying it makes it harder for the party to get its message across in the media. Green considerers tend to agree with the left-wing leadership candidate, favouring a single leader over co-leaders by 41% to 20%.
Should the Greens agree electoral pacts with other parties?
In recent election campaigns, there have been calls for pacts between broadly similar-minded progressive parties, such as the Greens, so that they do not stand against each other in their respective target constituencies. Although it has not previously been managed beyond a small number of seats, nearly eight in ten Green considerers (78%) would support the party agreeing pacts with similarly-minded parties in the future.
Among those who support a pact, nearly half (45%) see a new left-wing party led by Jeremy Corbyn as a similarly-minded party, with a near-identical number (44%) viewing the Lib Dems as a potential pact partner. Less than a quarter (23%) class Labour as similarly-minded to the Greens, with 11% saying none of the national parties fulfil the criteria.
Should the Greens enter a coalition government?
If after the next general election the Greens do have the opportunity to be a part of a coalition government, Green considerers would rather the party took it, with 59% favouring entering government, far more than the 25% who would rather the party stayed in opposition to avoid compromising principles.
Here, though, there is a gap between those considerers who already voted Green in 2024 and those that did not. While both groups would rather the Greens entered coalition, this is by an 18 point margin of 51% to 33% among the more established Greens, but by a 38 point margin of 61% to 23% among those that backed other parties last year.
What do Green considerers think about high-profile Green politicians?
A problem for all three leadership candidates is that they are largely unknown, even among those who are open to voting for the party. More than eight in ten Green considerers (84-89%) say they ‘don’t know’ how they feel about Zack Polanski, Adrian Ramsay or Ellie Chowns, though this is only slightly more than the 81% who are unsure of their view about former leader Siân Berry or the 76% who say ‘don’t know’ about current co-leader Carla Denyer.
Even Caroline Lucas, who was the party’s first MP and leader, has limited awareness among potential Green voters, with 56% of considerers saying they don’t know how they feel about her. Beyond this, though, opinion of Lucas among considerers is nearly all positive, with 38% of considerers having a favourable opinion of the former Brighton MP, versus just 6% with an unfavourable view.
What areas are strengths and weaknesses for the Greens?
Although 28% of Britons would consider voting Green, a much smaller number are currently saying they would vote for the party (in YouGov’s latest voting intention poll, just 11% of those who would vote). Key to winning over some of these voters is likely to be addressing their concerns in certain areas.
Defence policy is a particular weakness here. Among Green considerers who did not vote for the party last year, more do not trust the party on the issue (41%) than say they trust them (33%), making it the only area polled where the Greens have a net negative score (-8) with this group. It is also the only policy area polled where less than half of Green considerers who voted Green in 2024 (43%) trust the party.
Immigration, the economy, crime and taxation are at the weaker end of areas polled among Green considerers, though the party still gains net trust scores of between +17 and +23 among considerers who did not vote Green in 2024.
At the stronger end is the environment, which has a net trust rating of +90 among both types of Green considerer, followed by animal rights and energy, which both hold scores of between +78 and +85. Among the public as a whole, the Greens have a net positive trust score for four of the policy areas polled: animal rights (+28), the environment (+19), energy (+7) and LGBT rights (+7).
Would you consider voting Green? What do you think about the Green Party in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
