Reviewing politics
and culture since 1913

  1. Politics
  2. UK Politics
21 October 2025

Zack Polanski shows off his pulling power

Green members now outnumber Conservatives

By The Pygge

Ten years ago, the Green Party was a little-known political force in Britain only just scraping an invite to BBC leaders debate during the 2015 general election. Today it’s the third largest party in the UK. A grinning Zack Polanski told Victoria Derbyshire (not Laura Kuenssberg) on Sunday Morning that the Greens had 125,000 members (2,000 more than the Tories’ last reported 123,000).

And the Polanski surge keeps going. Two hours after his appearance on the Sunday broadcast round, the Greens had gained a further 1,000 new members. As of Monday morning, the party had 130,000 members (an increase of 6,000 since Polanski’s Kuenssberg appearance). This means the party’s membership has increased by 80 per cent since eco-populist Polanski was elected leader in early September. It also means, as an insider pointed out, that the Greens have now had more people join since Polanski was elected than the Lib Dems have total members.

“The old two-party system is broken,” said Polanski, “the Green Party is growing because we speak to the real challenges of the moment.”

The Tories, meanwhile, have been conspicuously silent.

[Further reading: Snubbing Powell will “hasten Keir’s demise”]

Content from our partners
Why Labour’s growth plan must empower UK retail investors
Housing to curate communities
Getting Britain's over-50s back to work

Treat yourself or a friend this Christmas to a New Statesman subscription from £1 per month