Since Zack Polanski was appointed leader of the Green party in England and Wales in a landslide victory, on the 2nd of September 2025, the party’s membership has soared past the Conservatives and nearly doubled to 130k. Recent polls put the Greens ahead of the current government, with 15.31% of British adults saying they would vote them in over 15.23% for Labour, similarly a recent YouGov survey showed 30% of 18-24 year olds claim they would vote Green in the next election.
In a Political favourability ratings poll carried out by YouGov in October 2025, Zack Polanski polled 8% more favourable in the period of 13-14th of October than his predecessor Carla Deynor and 12% more than Adrian Ramsey, in August 2025.
With such a recent election as party leader, Zack Polanski has already made himself well established in the political playing field. Launching a brand new political broadcast at the start of October, titled Letโs Make Hope Normal Again, Polanski outlined his plans for the Green party, linking to his life growing up in the North of England, connecting with those of a similar background, upbringing and experiences. He spoke of the resonating feeling of hopelessness throughout the country: โpeople who are too tired to fight, too tired to sleep. Kids going to bed hungry. Parents lying awake in the next room knowing, powerless to change thingsโ and used such to begin laying out what he would do in power.
Under Polanskiโs leadership, he stated his belief in wealth tax: โa 1% tax on the assets of the super richโ as he referred to it, a plan that he believes would help reduce inequality, restore our NHS, lead to free universal child care and much more.
However, Polanski has also, more controversially, suggested that under his leadership, the UK would leave NATO, primarily due to the U.S. President, Donald Trump. Speaking to Byline Times, prior to his appointment as party leader, he suggested that the UK needed to take alternative approaches to policy and defence, starting with a withdrawal from NATO. He commented that the countryโs policy with The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was out of date and due to the re-election of Donald Trump, had become increasingly more complicated, alongside his attempts to annex Greenland. He instead argues for the establishment of new โEuropean focusedโ organisations with goals of diplomacy, democracy and international peace.
But what does this mean for British politics? The 2024 general election saw the rise of Reform UK, who achieved a 14.3% vote share, putting them below Labour and the Conservatives but above the Liberal Democrats and the Green party. This rise of the far-right has also seen the establishment of new opposition, with Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s, Your Party, one that offered a bright new hope to left wing voters, but seemingly crashed and burned just as quickly as it appeared, with inner party fighting only months after the announcement.
Reform UK led by former UKIP and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, currently have 261,680 members according to their live membership tracker (19.10.2025), this puts them only 38,320 members below Labour’s around 300.000. If Reform were to achieve this number, they’d then become the biggest political party in the UK, shifting the dynamic of politics and ending Labour and Conservatives reign at the top. Under the leadership of Kemi Badenoch, around 20 Conservative MPs have defected to Reform UK after their landslide defeat to Labour, following 14 years in power.
With 4 years until the next UK general election is set to be held, it seems unpredictable who will take the lead in the โtwo party systemโ currently in place. With doubling membership in such a short period of time it certainly opens a potential gateway for the Greens to finally take its place as one of the UKโs two biggest political parties but will it be alongside the also growing Reform UK or a redemption arc from Labour. It seems unlikely that the Conservative party will make a comeback anytime soon and will eventually see its demise to Nigel Farage.
Green party of England & Wales vs. the Scottish Greens
Once different branches of the same โEcology partyโ, the Scottish Greens have been a separate entity since 1990, however, have always remained formally associated, with close ties between the parties. This was until 2022, when the Scottish Greens, under the leadership of Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, voted to suspend ties with the Green party of England & Wales due to concerns over LGBTQ+ issues, with the Scottish Greens accusing those in power of โtransphobic rhetoric and conductโ.
The Scottish Greens, now co-led by Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay, hold 7 out of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and have 34 councillors throughout the nation. The party holds similar policies to the Green party of England and Wales, while also sharing the same stance on Scottish independence and independence related issues as the SNP, a party the Scottish Greens have worked closely alongside.
The Bute House Agreement, signed in 2021 under Nicola Sturgeon and carried on under Humza Yousaf, saw a cooperation agreement between the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Greens. The Bute House Agreement involved the two parties working together on a โshared policy platformโ – with the exception of certain issues, and the backing of the Greens during SNP votes of confidence and helping to gain a majority in parliamentary votes. The agreement came to an end in 2024, leading to calls for a vote of no confidence against Humza Yousaf, who resigned before it could take place.
At the Scottish Greens party conference in October 2025, Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay announced their intentions to rekindle the relationship with Zack Polanskiโs Green party while speaking to the Sunday National.
