Two-party politics is dead and buried. The new politics is Green versus Reform.
In the quiet arithmetic of local democracy, something long-gestating broke into the open across England and Wales: the Green Party, once a fringe presence, won control of three councils and two mayoralties, placing them statistically ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives in national vote share. Their leader declared the old binary of British politics not merely weakened but finished, and the numbers — gathered across more than a thousand wards — did not contradict him. Whether this is a genuine realignment or a moment of exhaustion with the established order remains the deeper question, but the map of British political possibility has visibly shifted.
- The Greens claimed Norwich, Hastings, and Waltham Forest, and elected their first-ever mayors in Hackney and Lewisham — results that would have seemed implausible just a few years ago.
- Polling across 1,000+ wards placed the Greens at 18% nationally, edging ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives, each stranded at 17%, with only Reform UK higher at 26%.
- Leader Zack Polanski declared two-party politics 'dead and buried,' reframing the contest as Green versus Reform — a provocation that the vote data did not entirely refute.
- The party faces an immediate test of interpretation: are these gains driven by genuine Green enthusiasm, or by voter exhaustion with a Labour government that has lost significant public confidence?
- Analyst Sir John Curtice confirmed this as the party's strongest-ever local election cycle, but the durability of the surge — and whether it survives the pressures of governing — remains unresolved.
The Green Party of England and Wales woke on Friday to results that would have seemed impossible a decade ago. They had won control of three councils — Norwich, Hastings, and the London borough of Waltham Forest — and elected their first-ever mayors. In Hackney, Zoë Garbett defeated the Labour candidate; in Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava did the same. Across Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Oxford, and Exeter, Green candidates were winning seats in places the party had barely registered before.
Party leader Zack Polanski stood in the aftermath and made a declaration that would have sounded like fantasy just months earlier: the old Labour-versus-Conservative binary was not dying — it was dead and buried. What was emerging instead was a new contest between the Greens and Reform UK, with the traditional parties watching from the margins. The voting data gave him grounds for confidence. Across more than a thousand wards, the Greens were projected at 18% nationally — ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives, each at 17%, with only Reform UK higher at 26%.
Polanski acknowledged the results reflected both genuine Green enthusiasm and deep disillusionment with the Labour government. Deputy leader Rachel Millward described the London results as a 'massive breakthrough' and said gains in Manchester had exceeded even internal expectations. Asked whether Prime Minister Keir Starmer should resign, Polanski answered plainly: yes — framing it as the country's verdict rather than his own demand.
Polling expert Sir John Curtice confirmed what the raw numbers suggested: this was the Green Party's best-ever local election performance. Whether it marks a durable realignment or a high-water mark will depend on what follows — whether the Greens can govern credibly, whether Labour can recover, and whether Reform UK's surge holds. For now, the arithmetic of British politics had visibly, undeniably changed.
The Green Party of England and Wales woke up on Friday morning to numbers that would have seemed impossible a decade ago. They had won control of three councils—Norwich, Hastings, and the London borough of Waltham Forest. They had elected their first-ever mayors. In Hackney, Zoë Garbett defeated the Labour candidate. In Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava did the same. Across the country, in Manchester and Sheffield and Leeds and Oxford and Exeter, Green candidates were winning seats in places where the party had barely registered before.
Zack Polanski, the party's leader, stood in the aftermath and made a declaration that would have sounded like fantasy just months earlier. Two-party politics, he said, was not dying. It was dead. It was buried. The old binary—Labour versus Conservative—was finished. What was emerging instead was something new: the Green Party versus Reform UK, with the traditional powers of British politics watching from the margins.
Polanski's confidence was not mere rhetoric. The voting data backed it up. Across more than a thousand wards where the BBC collected detailed results, the Greens were projected to hold 18 percent of the national vote. That placed them ahead of both Labour and the Conservative Party, each stuck at 17 percent. Only Reform UK, at 26 percent, stood higher. For a party that had spent decades as a fringe movement, the shift was seismic.
The question Polanski faced immediately was whether this represented genuine enthusiasm for the Greens or simply exhaustion with Labour. He acknowledged both were true. Some voters were clearly disillusioned with the government, he said. But he insisted something deeper was happening too—that people were not just rejecting what they had, but actively excited by what the Greens were offering. Rachel Millward, the party's deputy leader, echoed this, describing the results as a "massive breakthrough" in London and gains in Manchester that had exceeded even internal expectations. The party had increased its vote share nearly everywhere it had fielded candidates.
When asked directly whether Prime Minister Keir Starmer needed to step down, Polanski did not hesitate. Yes, he said—but he framed it as the country's verdict, not his own demand. The message from voters was clear enough without him having to spell it out. The government had lost the confidence of a significant portion of the electorate, and the Greens had positioned themselves as the alternative those voters were reaching for.
Sir John Curtice, the polling expert who analyzed the results, confirmed what the raw numbers suggested: this was the Green Party's best-ever performance in a local election cycle. The party had moved from the margins into genuine contention. Whether that translates into sustained momentum or proves to be a high-water mark will depend on what happens next—whether the Greens can consolidate these gains, whether the government can recover ground, and whether Reform UK's surge represents a durable shift or a temporary protest vote. For now, though, the arithmetic of British politics had visibly changed.
Citações Notáveis
Two-party politics is not just dying, it is dead and it is buried. The new politics is the Green Party versus Reform.— Zack Polanski, Green Party leader
People are both sick of Labour but also really excited by a Green alternative.— Zack Polanski
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When Polanski says two-party politics is dead, is he describing what voters actually did, or is he making a prediction about what comes next?
Both, I think. The results are real—they won councils, they won mayoralties. But when he says the old binary is finished, he's reading the direction of travel. He's saying this isn't a blip. It's a realignment.
But Reform is at 26 percent in these projections. Doesn't that suggest voters are fragmenting in multiple directions, not coalescing around the Greens?
Exactly. That's the thing Polanski is actually claiming—that the new politics isn't two-party anymore. It's multipolar. The Greens and Reform are both insurgent forces. Labour and the Tories are the ones being squeezed.
So when he says people are "sick of Labour but also excited by a Green alternative," is he worried that's unstable? That if Labour changes, those voters drift back?
He doesn't seem worried about it in the moment. He's riding the wave. But yes, that's the vulnerability. A lot of this is protest energy. Whether it hardens into something permanent depends on whether the Greens can actually deliver in the councils they've won.
What does it mean that these victories are concentrated in places like London, Manchester, Norwich? Are the Greens a metropolitan phenomenon?
That's the pattern so far, yes. Urban, educated, younger-leaning areas. The question is whether that's a ceiling or just where they started. Reform's strength seems more distributed. That might matter more in a general election.