Green Party gains 2,000 new members in 24 hours

Left Foot Forward

Green Party membership has reportedly overtaken that of UKIP.

Green Party membership has reportedly overtaken that of UKIP

As of today, membership of combined UK Green parties stands at 43,829. UKIP has 41,966 members.

The Greens are devolved into three parties, and have 35,481 members in England and Wales, 322 in Northern Ireland and 8,026 in Scotland.

On 13 January a YouGov poll put the Green Party of England and Wales on 22 per cent among young people. This means that they are tied at second place with the Conservatives among 18-24 year-old voters.

The Greens are currently polling at the highest levels ahead of a General Election since 1989. Yesterday, they gained 2,000 new members, a surge unprecedented in volume and speed.

The party in England and Wales will stand candidates in 75 per cent of seats in May. That means 50 per cent more people will be able to vote Green in this election than in the last.

Leader Natalie Bennett told London live that “there was an hour yesterday when a new person was joining every 10 seconds.” The media coverage placing the Greens ahead of UKIP is likely to have contributed to the surge.

In light of this, the party’s continued snub by the ITV Leaders’ Debates looks even more ludicrous. Yesterday Bennett wrote a letter to Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage urging them to agree to include the Greens in the debates.

She said that the presence of the Greens would ‘appeal to a wider audience – particularly amongst young people’.

The next few weeks will be crucial for the Greens as their membership numbers continue to determine how seriously they are taken by voters.

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8 Responses to “Green Party gains 2,000 new members in 24 hours”

  1. Josiah

    Latest figures are 6,000 new members on Wednesday and Thursday – roughly half the size of GPEW when Caroline Lucas was elected MP in 2010.

  2. TN

    It’s not a party of protest. It actually HAS policies.

    This is a typical response from Labour who can’t stand that some of their supporters are looking elsewhere.

  3. Leon Wolfeson

    It’s not a decent substitute for those of us on the left, though.
    There’s no coincidence that under PR, countries have different left and green parties.

    Support electoral reform, thanks!
    (<– not a Labourite, and you'd still do far better under PR)

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