Responding to shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick telling the Ring Rob programme on Talk: “I probably would ban the burqa”, Green Party co-Deputy Leader Mothin Ali said:
“This is just the latest in an ever-lengthening list of rage-bait statements from the Conservative front-bench aimed at fostering racist divisions in our communities. What women decide to wear is for women to decide – not this or any other man.”
The Green Party of England and Wales’ membership has surged past the Conservative Party, making the Greens the third largest party in the UK [1]. From this position, and with Labour’s clear shift to the right, it’s clear that the Greens are now the Party of choice to counter Reform and their brand of divisive politics.
In just over two hours, the Green Party saw 1,000 new members join on Sunday morning after Zack Polanski announced the news on BBC One’s Laura Kuenssberg show. The Green Party membership now stands at over 126,000. This latest milestone marks an 80% increase since Zack Polanski was elected Leader of the party last month. The Greens now have more than double the reported members of the Liberal Democrats.
Green Party Leader Zack Polanski said:
“More than 126,000 people have now joined the Green movement, showing that British politics is changing and support for old-style parties built on privilege and power is shrinking. Increasing numbers of people are walking away from the politics of austerity, inequality and division and choosing a new kind of politics that offers a bold, hopeful vision of prosperity, equality and unity”.
“Our membership boom reflects growing public frustration with the political status quo and a hunger for genuine alternatives”.
Since Polanski was elected leader, the Greens have become a clear voice on the cost-of-living crisis, climate breakdown, and the collapse in political trust.
Polanski added, “This milestone shows that people are ready for something new. The old two-party system is broken. The Green Party is growing because we speak to the real challenges of this moment, and it’s clear that with our message, people can see that politics can be a force for good”.
The Green Party is now preparing to launch a series of autumn campaigns on fair taxation and tackling the cost-of-living crisis, as the Labour Party prepares what is likely to be another austerity-driven budget.
ENDS
[1] The last publicly available membership figure for The Conservatives is 123,000, although it is widely assumed to be now considerably lower. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/07/23/tory-membership-falls-under-badenoch/
The Green Party’s membership is based on the membership of the Green Party of England and Wales. The Scottish Green Party and Northern Irish Greens are separate political parties. The Scottish Green Party recently announced its own membership had grown to over 8,000 members.
Responding to the news that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being banned from attending a football game against Aston Villa next month Green Party Deputy Leader, Mothin Ali, said,
“Everyone should be able to feel safe when they attend a football match, that’s non-negotiable. It’s irresponsible for Keir Starmer to question a safety decision of a local authority, especially when he is responsible for their chronic underfunding.
“Under normal circumstances, supporters from across the fanbase should be allowed to attend and provision taken to ban violent elements such as The Ultras. But these are not normal circumstances: these games are taking place in the context of thousands of civilians being killed in Gaza, the illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and the upholding of a system of apartheid.
“This raises serious moral questions for the UK, UEFA, and the wider football community. We need a sporting and cultural boycott of all Israeli teams, like we saw for South African teams under apartheid. International sporting bodies can and must take a stand when basic human rights are being violated.
“Football should be a force for peace and justice, not a tool to sportwash atrocities.”
Responding to the latest poll that puts The Green Party level pegging with Labour on 15%, Green Party Leader Zack Polanski said,
“When I was elected, I said we weren’t here to be disappointed in Labour, we’re here to replace them. And I meant it. Our membership is surging – already over 115,000, up 70% from when I was elected last month. We’re about to overtake the Conservatives in membership size and watch this space, we are about to overtake Labour in the polls. British politics is changing, Greens are giving Britain hope again.”
The Green Party of England and Wales has today announced that its membership has surged past 100,000 members, the highest in the Party’s history. This marks over a 45% increase since Zack Polanski was elected Leader of the party last month.
The news comes as the recent polling shows Greens on 15% nationally, their highest-ever figure, and just two points behind both Labour and the Conservatives.
The announcement comes just one week after the Greens announced they had a bigger membership than the Liberal Democrats. Since then, it has been shown that the Liberal Democrats’ membership is actually just 60,000, and the Greens have grown an additional 17,000 in a week.
Green Party Leader Zack Polanski said:
“More than 100,000 people have now joined the Green movement, that’s 100,000 people who believe politics can be honest, fair and hopeful again.
When I was elected Leader last month, I said that we’re not here to be disappointed with Labour but that we’re here to replace them. I was serious. Because while Labour talks about change, people can see in their weekly shop, their utility bills and crumbling services, Labour are offering more of the same.
The Greens are the only real opposition left in British politics. Standing up for fair taxes, a liveable planet, and a future where compassion and courage matter more than corporate interests. People are understandably disillusioned, but we are here to make hope normal again.”
Under Polanski’s leadership, the Party has seen a wave of new members, driven, in part, by growing frustration with the other parties’ failure to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, the climate emergency, and the collapse in trust in politics.
The record-breaking membership figures follow the Greens’ recent electoral success in local and parliamentary elections, alongside growing national visibility from high-profile media appearances, including Polanski’s BBC Question Time performance, which sparked widespread praise online.
Polanski added:
“This milestone shows that people are ready for something new. The old two-party system is broken. The Green Party is growing because we speak to the real challenges of this moment. Because we still believe that politics can be a force for good. The message is simple: if you want courage, integrity and hope, come join us.”
The Green Party is now preparing for major autumn campaigns focused on fair taxation, and the cost-of-living crisis, as Labour scramble to present another austerity budget.