Green Party
Green Party of England and Wales; won control of Hackney and Lewisham in May 2026.
The Green Party surged 14 points into second place in Norfolk's Old Catton by-election on 16 July 2026 and gained Fletton and Woodston from Labour the same day, its fastest polling movement of the parliament.
Last refreshed: 24 July 2026 · Appears in 3 active topics
Can the Greens turn Hackney and Lewisham mayoralties into a durable third force?
Timeline for Green Party
Mentioned in: Clacton draws a record 34 candidates
UK Local Elections 2026Gained Fletton and Woodston from Labour
UK Local Elections 2026: Labour crumbles in two more wardsSurged 14 points into second place
UK Local Elections 2026: Reform loses Old Catton to the ToriesReform plateau breaks after five weeks
UK Local Elections 2026Mentioned in: Clacton by-election set for 13 August
UK Local Elections 2026Background
The Green Party of England and Wales was founded in 1973 as the Ecology Party and renamed in 1990, returning its strongest Westminster result at the 2024 general election with four seats. Zack Polanski has led the party since September 2025.
The party also co-anchors the cross-party Westminster Coalition opposing UK involvement in the 2026 Iran operations, alongside Your Party and Labour backbenchers, its MPs forming the most consistent anti-war parliamentary bloc since the 2003 Iraq debates.
That combination of a rising domestic profile and an established foreign-policy identity has let the party position itself simultaneously as an insurgent at the ballot box and as an established voice in Westminster debate.
The Greens draw level with Labour
A YouGov poll in early April 2026 placed the Greens level with Labour at 16% Westminster voting intention, the first time in modern polling history the two parties have drawn level.
The momentum held through the summer: YouGov's 12-13 July fieldwork broke a five-week Reform plateau and put the Greens at 15%, up two points and their fastest movement of the Parliament, with the Conservatives and Labour tied at 19% and Reform down to 24%. Under leader Zack Polanski, in post since September 2025, party membership has tripled to 220,000.
Greens convert polling into council power
On 7 May 2026 the Greens won outright control of Hackney and Waltham Forest and took the mayoralties of both Hackney and Lewisham, the first Green elected mayors of any London borough.
The advance continued into July: the party surged 14 points into second place in Norfolk's Old Catton by-election on 16 July and separately gained Fletton and Woodston on Peterborough City Council from Labour the same day, converting national polling gains into actual seats rather than headline percentages alone.
Wales Greens hold Plaid's government together
The Wales Green Party's two Members of the Senedd provided the confidence-and-supply votes that made Rhun ap Iorwerth First Minister of Wales on 12 May 2026, ending 27 years of Labour devolved government, without a written agreement committing them to future support.
Every contested vote in the 96-seat Senedd now needs both Green votes, since Plaid governs as a minority of 43; a breakdown in relations would collapse Plaid's Welsh government entirely, giving the Wales Greens leverage well beyond their seat count.