Greens take bite out of Labour’s vote share

Compared to Britain’s dominant parties, the party may seem small, but for the Green Party the election results were big: the small, left-wing party now has four members of parliament, its best election result ever.

For years, the party, which campaigned on pro-environmental policies, has struggled to gain a foothold in parliament. Since 2010, the party has had only one MP, who did not contest this election.

But this year, some voters appeared to be turning away from the two main parties, Labour and the Conservatives, as more seats went to smaller parties and independent candidates. Greens co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay won seats on Thursday, a minor blow to the new Labour government, which has moved to the centre under Keir Starmer.

Ms Denyer defeated Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s lawmaker responsible for arts and culture, and told the BBC that some people voted Green because they were “frustrated by Labour moving closer to the Conservatives”.

Mr Ramsay promised the Greens would “push the government to be bolder.” In its latest manifesto, the party said it wanted to introduce a wealth tax, build more social housing and take the railways, water companies and major energy firms into public ownership.

Just under two million people voted for the Greens, giving them seven percent of the vote nationally. The party is generally relatively popular among young peopleespecially for people under 30 years old.