Current and former leaders of the Green party have warned that the party must listen to the concerns of Reform UK voters in order to effectively tackle inequality in Britain. Zack Polanski and Caroline Lucas made the remarks on Saturday, emphasizing the need to understand why voters affected by the cost of living crisis are drawn to Nigel Farage’s party.
Polanski, who has previously stated he would welcome Reform voters into the Green party, spoke at a conference organized by the leftwing campaign group Compass in east London. The latest polling indicates that 27% of the electorate would vote for Reform if a general election were held, potentially paving the way for Farage to become prime minister.
Understanding Reform Voters
“I could stand here and spend the rest of the evening talking about why Reform are bad, and I’d feel great,” Polanski said. “But there’s a really important distinction that needs to be made. Nigel Farage, the Reform MPs, the people who speak for them, are very different to people who might be thinking about voting for Reform.”
He added: “They are the exact people we need to be caring about. Because when we say people feel left behind, they don’t feel left behind – they have been left behind, by decades of austerity and by successive governments, by politicians who far too often speak to them like they’re stupid – that’s if they’re even speaking to them at all.”
Polanski argued that the Greens must reach out with a message focused on inequality. “Ultimately we need to point out that when multimillionaires and billionaires are taking more money than ever before, the problem is not someone who is fleeing for their lives and might be travelling by small boat. The problem is flying above our head by private jet.”
Caroline Lucas’s Perspective
Caroline Lucas, a former MP and former Green party leader, was in the audience for Polanski’s speech. She stressed that listening to Reform voters is a crucial starting point. “Many of their concerns are perfectly legitimate,” she said. “We would disagree on the solutions they are reaching for, but when they have had the cost of living crisis for 20 years, and when they have had endless promises from other national governments that simply don’t deliver, you can’t be surprised that they act with a sense of desperation.”
Lucas added that if another party offers something that appears better, voters may feel it is worth trying. She also expressed satisfaction that the Green party had not “thrown the kitchen sink” at the Makerfield byelection, where Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is seeking a return to parliament. This byelection is widely seen as a pitch for the Labour leadership.
Challenges in Makerfield
Burnham is expected to face a strong challenge from Reform, which won nearly 50% of votes in the constituency’s eight council wards in the May elections. However, Reform’s candidate, Robert Kenyon, has faced widespread criticism for his social media posts. The party also faces competition from the new hard-right party Restore Britain, led by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe.
Lucas stopped short of suggesting that the Green candidate, Sarah Wakefield, should withdraw to avoid splitting the leftwing vote. However, she described the byelection, scheduled for 18 June, as “so consequential” because of Burnham’s support for electoral reform and proportional representation, which the Greens have long advocated. “This is the only way we are going to fix Britain’s democracy once and for all,” she concluded.
