Structures, groups & factions, membership, internal elections, rules, finances, policy-making, training, history & electoral peformance & polling
Comparative study of Green Parties within the UK in comparison with the Labour Party and Your Party
Institutional data on structures, groups & factions, membership, internal elections, rules, finances, policy-making, training, history & electoral peformance below
2026 Green Conference & Internal Elections on Current News page. Archive of articles on Narratives/Archives page.
Leadership and Main Public Elected Representatives
Leadership and Green Parliamentary Party
Leadership
Leader: Zack Polanski
Deputy Leaders: Mothin Ali and Rachel Millward
Parliamentary Leader of the Green MPs: Ellie Chowns This is a required Parliamentary Role and is not part of the Greens internal democratic structures. However it does inadevertantly create something of an innovation a bit similar to the "tripartite" distributed Leadership system of the German SPD (and possibly other German parties in its federal and high "separation or powers" constitutional system?) which has Co-leaders elected by members, a Parliamentary Floor Leader elected by MPs and also a Candidate for Chancellor normally elected by its conference.
Senior Elected Representatives
5 seats in the House of Commons: Ellie Chowns, Sian Berry, Carla Denyer, Adrian Ramsay, Hannah Spencer
2 members of the House of Lords: Natalie Bennett and Jenny Jones
2 Welsh Senedd Members - see more in Welsh section
3 London Assembly Members: Zoë Garbett, Zack Polanski, and Caroline Russell
Note: 15 Scottish Parliament Members represent the separate Scottish Greens - see below
Senior Staff
Senior Staff: CEO Harriet Lamb, Deputy CEO and Head of Elections Chris Williams.
Key Messages
Key Comparator Stats with other parties
Vote Share in 2024 General Election: 7%
Parliamentary Short Money: £0.5m - significant amount no doubt paying for staff which because it is part allocated on vote share creates a financial incentive to run a full slate at parliamentary elections now the Greens have a group of MPs
Parliamentary Candidates in 2024: 574 + 44 Scottish Green candidates = 618 across UK
Latest Vote Shares in GB PR based elections of which they fought over 20 over the last 27 years:
Scottish Parliament 2026: 14% (Scottish Greens are a separate Party)
Welsh Senedd 2026: 7%,
London Assembly 2024 : 12%.
PR election vote shares are useful to understand the Party's underlying vote without any FPTP squeeze on it.
Most recent local election SoPN metric for % of local candidates stood: 98%
Membership: 230,000 - see more detail below + 10,000 Scottish Green + 800 NI Greens = 240,800 across UK
Democratic Structures
The Green Party's own Guide to its structures
How the Green Party Works - a video by a Green Party Member
Executive Level
The Executive (GPEx) Manages the day-to-day operational direction, finances, staff, and public representation of the party.
The Green Party Council (GPC) Composed of representatives from regional parties. It reviews party well-being, advises GPEx, and ensures the strategy aligns with the membership's interests
Other National Committees
Important to note these are not sub-committees of the Executive and have directly elected reps in their own right
Policy Development Committee - See Policy below
Green World Editorial Board - See Green Media below
International Committee - See International Affiliations below
Rules/Regulatory Level
Disciplinary Committee Investigates complaints and provides panel members for hearings - see Constitution and Rules below
Alternative Disputes Resolution Committee - see Constitution and Rules below
Conference Management
Conferences Committee - Conference on News page
Standing Orders Committee - Conference on News page
Conference Level - Decision-Making
Party Conference which meets twice a year (typically in the Spring and Autumn) - see more details on News page. Every single paid-up member has full voting power at the conference. They can debate, vote on motions, and directly decide the party’s constitution and official platform
Nations/Regions/Local
Nations/Regions - Welsh Greens and 9 English Regional Parties - see section below
Local Branches Over 200 local branches (broadly based at Unitary local Council level similar to the Lib Dems perhaps reflecting a Local Council election focus of the past) drive local council election campaigns, run community initiatives, and select parliamentary candidates. The Party had 284 Accounting Units in 2023 further confirming the 200 Branch number. See below some data on a range of branch membership sizes across its English Regions.
International Affiliations
It's possible UK Greens may be more to the ideological left of their European colleagues, where due to PR elections there may be a former Communist now Left Populist party or parties which more eco-socialist types are attracted to. An example here is the comparison between the long-standing German Greens (often in government at national and Lander level) and UK Greens which have not has as much experience except perhaps in Scotland in more recent times?
Other
Analysis
In view of the Green Party's dominant politics it is probably best to look at the structures from a comparative Labour Left "CLPD ideal" where the party has some similarities but also important differences:
Leader elected every two years by a member OMOV ballot. They do not have a big office and has one vote at party bodies and no patronage. That might change if the Party elects more MPs and the Leader is always an MP. The Greens currently have an inadvertant separation of powers - see above - between Leader and Parliamentary Leader like the German SPD but whether that would become a sort of approach the Greens would permenently develop or the leadership become more like a Bennite CLPD "take the power" "LOTO" with more MP's can only be a theoretical point at present,
Party Bodies elected by OMOV STV so perhaps much harder for a too narrow a group to win control. which tends to go against CLPD Bennite FPTP "take the power" mindset.
Party Staff seem to act neutrally in terms of party disputes with the Party having a CEO rather than a General Secretary. Whilst that frame sounds more "capitalist" by not calling the job "General Secretary" (which in TUs and Labour is seen very much in political terms) the Greens have perhaps used a term which is actually more "apolitical" to encourage that staff culture?
Selection of candidates tends to be very local with no national/regional interference so in line with CLPD views
Reselection/Deselection of candidates are broadly a CLPD approach and indeed may be stronger with a 20% trigger.
Party Whip. None, so very much non CLPD Bennite "take the power" mindset with dissent allowed as long as party is not misrepresented
Party Disciplinary Process. Stronger than some might think with quite detailed rules. How it addresses some current issues around racism/antisemitism/gender issues will put it to the test in a much larger party. It's likely minor levels of entryism by Leninist groups like the AWL will be ignored as a minor issue in a much larger party or seen in terms of 1980s Bennite soft boundaries/better political education approaches. At this stage unlikely to be seen in terms of "different internationals" or yet as a risk to party safeguarding rules due to Leninist Groups having their own disciplinary rules that could come into conflict with safeguarding as the SWP "Comrade Delta" case showed.
Party Policy. In effect decided by national committees rather than MPs so a CLPD approach
Some further analysis of these issues is also covered in the Rules section below
Special Interest Groups
Officially promoted groups
Self-organising internal groups representing specific demographics/equality strand or causes (e.g., Young Greens, Global Majority Greens, Green Party Trade Union Group). Lists here and here and here.
Some analysis of their faction level role is below the listings
The Association of Green Councillors Less a Special Interest Group and more a practical organising network for over 1,300 sitting Councillors and perhaps a similar number who are working hard to get elected. Now it is at this size it may play a similar role to the ALDC in the Liberal Democrats which is very successful in getting its people elected to party committee making key decisions that impact on their group.
Green Party Trade Union Group Most of its focus seems to be on promoting the Party's "Workers Charter" policy - see below. Unlike all the tick box name checking of trade Unions in Your Party, the Greens place less emphasis on trade unions (apart from some Green Leaders showing their face at the TUC) perhaps recognising the TUC with Labour's 11 affiliates having 69% of the TUC Congress vote - see data here - are not going to substantially shift their allegiance. However Green voters are likely pretty strong in non-affiliated to Labour education unions NEU and UCU so maybe they will do more individual TU work with them?
Green Party Women - see also the groups where there is a dispute section below
Global Majority Greens - has received some media coverage over motions it has been promoting so may act to a degree as a faction in the Greens.
LGBTIQA+ Greens - see also the groups where there is a dispute section below
Young Greens These cover up to the age of 29 & now have 50,000 members (22% of Party membership) so may develop as a faction a bit like the Young Liberals operate within the Liberal Democrats? Comparatives here may be Young Labour at 30,000 & Young Conservatives at 15,000 though age ranges of all 3 differ with Labour a younger cut-off and Tories an older one.
Jewish Greens - some online coverage over whether their committee elections have shifted their position on the Zionism is Racism motion they opposed in the Spring. In Labour the most up to date narrative of their similar conflicts now is that there was an attempt to take over JLM that failed leading to the formation of JVL.
Groups where there is a dispute
There is a conflict over Gender Based Rights and the Supreme Court Ruling with the Party passing on details of some Groups to members but not others
Feminist Greens against the Supreme Court Ruling - promoted by the Party to members
Green Women's Declaration for the Supreme Court Ruling - not promoted by the Party to members
Lesbian Greens for the Supreme Court Ruling - not promoted by the Party to members
Not officially Promoted Groups
Greens for Palestine Currently promoting the Zionism is Racism Motion
Special Interest Groups as Factions analysis
For all the talk of ideological factionalism it is quite possible in a much larger party with a lot of established interest groups that Identitarian issues will develop stronger factions and supportive closer connected networks than a simple left or right, and simply because it will be hard to identify ideological opponents in the same way as the broader left/right ideological divides in the Labour Party. There already seems to be examples of this "Interest Group Slateism" and I will list any here:
Its possible there will be conflicts between the party bureaucracy/establishment (ie an incumbent leadership at any given point whatever its politics) simply because the dynamic of its interest groups pushing for a new more radical positions comes up against its leadership who may want to develop the position in presentational terms more slowly?
Left/Right Factions
History
Green 2000 - "realo" group who did a lot to develop the Green's constitutional arrangements in an era of debates between "realos" and "fundis" which used to be a 1980s/90s description of right/left politics within emerging Green parties across Europe eg debates about the German Greens.
Association of Socialist Greens - Eco-socialists opposed to Green 2000 which later became the Socialist Green Federation
A very brief history of left wing factions in the Green Party | Derek Wall
Current Groups
Green Left A long-established left group established in 2006 with the Headcorn Declaration.
Greens Organise More here A distinct left-wing internal organisation set up in 2025 focused on scaling up political education and campaigning infrastructure
Alliance for Workers Liberty Reconnaissance in the Greens. AWL a 180 member Leninist Group is conducting an organised reconnaissance in the Greens (a sort of light, lower commitment form of entryism practiced by Trotskyist Leninist Groups) on top of remaining interventions in campaigns at the edge of Labour Party and perhaps nowadays to a lesser degree in Your Party.
Ideological Factional Analysis
Russell Warfield in his book "The Green Socialist" argues that the Green Party has been "watermelon" red-green eco-socialist for at least 10 years. I would agree (as does former member Darren Johnson's in his comment below) and suggest what was already its largest group for a long-time has become even more dominant since the 2008 crash and 2010/11 student protests. It can also be seen in the membership shifts below between Labour and the Greens in the 2015-2024 period.
The now (perhaps cul de sac?) of the Corbyn era and its 5 year relitigating aftermath obscured this until the Greens had a 2025 85%-15% ballot (ironically between candidates who probably agreed 90%+ on policy). This may have sent a key "signal" to a wider number of people that the party was "the right one to join" after Labour's post 2021 "institutional turn" (see Labour Dashboard) and chaotic Your Party launch (with 800,000 showing initial "interest") reinforced by the core Corbyn team later narrowing Your Party with its massive CEC rows - see YP Aggregator. As I say in my introduction a greater percentage of people who may see "my political party as how I express my politics" may explain what some might see as "flitting" between parties until people have perhaps finally settled on the Greens?
However the above history might also suggest that membership level of institutionalised and instrumentalist commitment is low so a big row/split could see people up sticks in protest at something? Whether the Greens build institutionalised induction anchors to retain members is an issue that is of great interest to the aims of this website,
As for any party "right" there is not really anything outside the dynamic of any existing Leadership/Staff/establishment ocasionally resisting the speed of new more radical reformulations of policy from its interest groups as mentioned above. As such from a number of anecdotal cases I have picked up any actual party "right" is more rural and suburban (and thus far smaller than the now more urban membership) and seems less focused on issues such as Palestine and more on local issues. As a result its unlikely to seek to win control of the party and as long as the urban majority leave it alone it is likely simply to continue with its local activity under the Green branding especially those areas where the Lib Dems are weaker. In the unlikely event the eco-socialist majority did try to heavily impose things on it those people would simply decamp to the Lib Dems or become localist Independents.
If I have a current long-term speculative view/hypothesis at present it would be the Greens are now at a "critical mass" in terms of elected representatives in a fragmented stronger multi-values 5+ party system to likely remain as a bigger 4%-14% party with a largish more expressive membership, whilst Labour will also remain as the larger (due to its MP/Cllr/TU base) more instrumentalist party? At the same time when the current "Core Corbyn LOTO" Leadership running Your Party retire at some point in the early 2030s, Zarah Sultana (or similar) will likely take over what remains of Your Party and that will remain as a more explictly anti-capitalist ideological subset, especially also on some international/anti-imperialist "Global Issues". Also the WPB under George Galloway or successor will remain as a small but more explicitly pro-Russia/Iran/China anti-woke subset too (a bit like the German BSW?). Thus there will be strong differences between people across a now larger range of political parties that most briefly tried to cohabit within the Labour Party in 2015-19. However the data here , especially the 20+ GB PR elections evidence over the last 25 years, Short Money incentives to stand a near full PPC slate & now large local parties increasing SoPN metric full Council slates, means the Greens will likely be the overwhelmingly dominant force among left of Labour parties.
Another thing to flag which is not covered elsewhere, is the Greens may still have a significant number of members who may see themselves as "Lifestyle Greens" committed to a low impact to almost off-grid lifestyle, who may well hold radical ideological views but in the the end most identify through their lifestyle decisions. This may have been a larger percentage group when the party was new and small, but may now be a smaller subset of a much larger, perhaps more mainstream party?
AI generated broad brush ideological description - to be edited
Note: I inserted this AI note below as it seemed like a useful explanation of broad ideological positions (perhaps more dominating different special interest groups above) as opposed to explicit factions. Former senior Green Darren Johnson who understands the party very well says: I think of the three ideological factions you list (red-green, mangoes, deep greens) only the first had any real organised presence and beyond that things were very, very fluid. All the evidence I have seen is the eco-socialist wing has been strong and apart from perhaps Green 2000 - see above - and activist in the focused from the 2010s onward on building a Councillor base there has not been an organised right-wing of the Greens.
AI Text below
Internal factions within the UK Green parties (specifically the Green Party of England and Wales and the Scottish Greens) generally fall along ideological, strategic, and geographic lines. As the parties have transitioned from small environmental pressure groups into mainstream electoral forces, distinct camps have emerged. [1]
1. The "Watermelons" (Eco-Socialists)
The Concept: "Green on the outside, red on the inside." [1]
Ideology: This faction views environmental destruction as a direct consequence of capitalism. They argue that climate justice cannot be achieved without radical economic redistribution, higher taxes on wealth, and public ownership of major industries and utilities. [1]
Presence: This is the dominant ideological force in both parties. Within the Green Party of England and Wales, they are represented by formal internal groupings like Green Left. In the Scottish Greens, the Green Futures Group successfully pushed the party to formally back building a democratic eco-socialist system in 2021. Many members of this faction joined from the left-wing of the Labour Party. [1, 2, 3]
2. The "Deep Greens" (Ecological Purists)
The Concept: "Green all the way through." [1]
Ideology: The oldest faction in the movement, Deep Greens focus almost entirely on environmental science, conservation, and systemic ecological survival over traditional left-right economic politics. They tend to be more prevalent in rural or suburban branches. [1, 2]
Tensions: Elements of this faction sometimes lean socially conservative or Malthusian compared to the highly progressive leadership. Under recent leadership shifts—such as the election of Zack Polanski as leader of the Green Party of England and Wales—some older Deep Greens have expressed frustration that the party has become too bogged down in urban cultural issues and radical economic stances at the expense of pure environmentalism. [1, 2]
3. The "Mangoes" (Progressive Liberals)
The Concept: "Green on the outside, orange on the inside." [1]
Ideology: Heavily influenced by former Liberal Democrats, this group prioritises constitutional reform, electoral alliances, proportional representation, and civil liberties. [1, 2]
Strategy: They generally favour a pragmatic approach to politics, advocating for environmental solutions within a regulated market framework rather than dismantling capitalism entirely. [1]
Sympathetic Think Tanks
Some may have no direct connection with the party
Green House Think Tank formed in 2011
Verdant formed in 2026. This does claim to be linked to the Greens.
Green Focused Media
Green World The Party official online publication which replaced its Members Magazine of the same name
Green Elects - seems to be having some issues at the moment.
Green Party England and Wales Membership
Quick Analysis of the data below
Green membership has only become a significant in just over the last decade. Until as recently as 2013 the Green party membership was small averaging at most 22 members per constituency despite is concentration in some places.
Then in 2014-15 it surged to over 60,000. I noticed it in the aftermath of the Scottish Independence Referendum when SNP membership also surged too as if the Independence 45% vote had a wider UK radicalising effect?
However the surge was short-lived and the election of Jeremy Corbyn saw an exodus to Labour and it fell back but only as low as 39,000.
But when Brexit ambiguity afflicted the Corbyn leadership it soon rose back to over 50,000 in 2019 possibly picking up another 5,000 ex-Lab after the election of Keir Starmer and further 5,000 rise before the 2024 General Election. Even before the election of Zack Polanski it has risen a further 9,000 under the Starmer Govenment.
How much Zack Polanski drove the membership rise is something to explore more, but I also suspect the 800,000 signing up for more information at the disastrous launch of Your Party became a sort of prefigurative moment where people decided "what should I do next?" After Your party had big splits between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana and the Greens with their now expanded base of over 60,000 were ready for when some of the 800,000 then chose them instead. In other words Zack Polanski was possibly not the direct inspirational story driver (ie "I was inspired by Jeremy Corbyn" prophet in the wilderness narrative of 2015-17) but more a "signal" with an 85% election result that the Green Party was a confortable "safe space" (ie it did not have a minimum 38% opposition that Labour would have) to join after the Your Party launch failed.
Having risen over 200,000 the membership rise seems to have slowed and a big question based on past Green and other party membership behaviour and some controversies around the Greens and the rise of power of Andy Burnham, is will we now see them drop back a bit in the coming months, though its quite likely they will stay above 200,000?
Useful sources
Party Membership Data - General Points
Most parties tend to have two key figures: "Paid Up Membership" and "Total Membership" comprising Paid Up membership and Members in Arrears. Parties tend to publish the latter larger number including arrears
Assuming most parties use internal elections to reduce arrears Paid Up members tend to have voting rights in ballots whilst those is arrears do not
In the Green Leader election result announcement of 2025 the Greens claimed 68,500 members yet only 64,581 had a vote so its likely 5.8% were in arrears. 3-6% is about standard nowadays when most Parties membership is recruited to continuous payment schemes, though Labour's arrears did rise to 8%-11% in 2021 when a lot of members resigned.
The data below should therefore be assumed to be a Total membership including Paid Up and also those in Arrears.
Annual Membership Figure
1972: Party founded. Membership was under 500 for most of the decade.
1977: 400
1978: 650
1979: 5000. Membership rose from 650 to 5,000 after the General Election when it ran 53 candidates and had a Party Political Broadcast
1982: 3,000
1980s: Membership rose in later Thatcher era to 7,500 after Chernobyl and CFCs become issues and the Poll Tax where the party was active in the campaign
1990: 19,000. Membership rose to 11,000 after the party rise to 15% in the 1989 Euro-Elections and up to around 19,000
1992: 6,500. Membership had dropped back after the Party could not process its surge & David Icke's 6 month high level involvement made the party look like cranks.
1995: 3,500. Membership continued to drop and at the start of the New Labour era was down to 3,500
1990s It was 5,000 members between 1998 and 2002. Despite winning MEPs, and London Assembly seats (&MSPs in Scotland), membership did not rise much
2002: 5,268
2003: 5,858
2004: 6,281
2005: 7,110 - Membership up 1,900 from 2002 perhaps from people leaving Labour to join the Greens over the Iraq War?
2006: 7,019
2007: 7,441
2008: 7,553
2009: 9,630
2010: 12,768 - First full MP elected
2011: 12,842
2012: 12,619
2013: 13,809
2014: 30,900 - The Green Surge. This and the next year are significant with it noticeable most after the Scottish Indy Ref which featured the rise of online "Cyber Nats"
2015: 63,219 - The Green Surge. Again significant & pre-dated surge of members into Labour for 2015 Leader election & first told me of a significant change in behaviour
2016: 45,643 - Lots leave to likely join Labour. Membership in London dropped from 12,000 to 6,000 between 2015 and 2016.
2017: ?
2018: 39,350
2019: 50,000 - Lots Leave Labour to rejoin the Greens over Labour's Brexit Ambiguity?
2020: ? Covid Lockdowns
2021: 54,306 - Some Leave Labour to rejoin Greens over Labour's change of Leadership?
2022: 53,126
2023: 53,000?
2024: 59,000
2025: 68,500. The figure 64,581 was the total electorate for the leadership election - see arrears point at start of this section.
2026: 230,000 - The Post Polanski Win membership surge. A number given in June so may suggest it has plateaued?
Latest News on Green Party of England WalesMembership
Example Local Green Party Membership rises 2025 to 2026
I will add more as I find them to help with regional membership estimates
North East
Darlington 167 to 400
Stockton and Hartlepool now 500
Gateshead now 750
Yorkshire and Humberside
York 468 to 1,457
Doncaster 259 to 544
Sheffield 1,332 to 4,059
Wakefield now 550
Bradford 454 to 1,402
Hull and East Riding 300 to 900
North West
St Helens 70 to 355
Manchester 900 to 4,500
Wigan 132 to 704
Hyndburn now 170
Sefton now 600
West Midlands
Worcester 235 to 518
Coventry now 650
East Midlands
East Midlands Region - 13,000 - see here.
North Northamptonshire 311 to 1020
Nottinghamshire 675 to 2,307
Lincoln 200 to 700
Eastern
Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire 800 to 2100
Breckland now 304
Norwich now 1,000
Southend now 600
Welwyn Hatfield 100 to 315
South West
Bristol now 5,000
Cheltenham 176 to 588
Swindon 150 to 600
South East
Brighton 1,800 to 3,448
Oxford City 400 to 1,200
Worthing 183 to 658
West Berkshire 182 to 516
Dartford now 220
Shepway now 500
London
Islington 700 to 1,789 Note: this compares to 623 in Islington Your Party - see data on YP Aggregator & suggests the Greens may see themselves as successors to Corbyn?
Barnet 446 to 1,059
Bromley 390 to 1,260
Redbridge 127 to 655
Lewisham now 2,000
2025/2026 Green Membership Surge
See my introduction and the ideological/factional analyisis points above for some of my current views on this
Article in The Guardian.
2014/2015 Green Surge
This deserves more research as it happened after the Scottish Independence Referendum and before the 2015 Labour Leadership membership rise and suggested a change in online driven behaviour. It was noticeable to me at the time and led to my Feb 2015 "Party as a "Platform" to express views versus Party as a "Gateway" to be inducted into hypothesis which later dovetailed into expressive v instumentalist research/segmentation and also now low instutionalised "Hyperpolitics" current narratives:
Covers Separate Scottish and Northern Ireland Green Parties as Welsh Greens and GPEW English Regions
Scotland
Note: Separated from GPEW in 1990
Co-Leaders: The party is co-led by Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer,
15 MSPs
Scottish Parliament List Vote Share 2026: 14%
32 Councillors
Membership
2014: 5,000
2015: 9,001
2021: 7,500
2023: 7,646
2025: 8,279 rising to 9,000
2026: 10,000
Northern Ireland
Note: In its current form from 1990 when it split from GPEW. Since 2006, the party has operated as a region of the 3,200 member Green Party of Ireland
Leader: Mal O'Hara
Deputy Leader: Lesley Veronica
Northern Ireland Assembly Election Vote Share 2022: 2%
5 Councilors
Membership
2015: 322
2020: 700-800
Wales
Note: this is a part of Green Party of England and Wales as a semi-autonomous Nation Unit operating within the GPEW structure
Leader: Anthony Slaugher (led since 2018)
Co-Deputy Leaders: Phil Davies and Linda Rodgers
2 Welsh Senedd members: Anthony Slaughter (Caerdydd Penarth) and Paul Rock (Caerdydd Fynnon Taf)
Welsh Senedd Election Vote Share 2026: 7%
14 Councillors
Membership
2018: 1,500
2023; 1,800
2024: 2,006
2025: 6,000
2026: 8,000 - interestingly proportionately now bigger than the Scottish Greens in comparison to population
England's Regions
The 9 English Regions have Regional Bodies of which the following is of note:
London Green Party is the largest Region with roughly 40,000 members 17% of GPEW members and 17% of UK wide Green members.
London Greens Produce a London Mayor Manifesto
A Green Party Regional Membership Distribution Rough Estimate
If we include the Welsh National membership at 3% and East Midlands at 6% with London on 17% we have data on 26% of the regional distribution of GPEW. Using the branch data we have seen and comparisons with Labour Party, Coop Party and Your Party we can make the following approximate estimates of Green Regional membership distribution with confirmed data in bold. I also flag for larger Regions some cities/towns where Green membership is known to be larger/more active. This estimate is not definitive and will be subject to more revision as I collect more data.
London - 17% 40,000 - has eastern half of London with many 2024 runner up spot seats
South East - 14% 32,000 - has Brighton and Oxford
South West - 13% 30,000 - has Bristol - this region may be overstated?
North West -13% 30,000 - has Greater Manchester
Yorkshire/Humber - 11% 25,000 - has Sheffield
Eastern - 10% 23,000 - has Cambridge and Norwich
West Midlands - 7% 16,000
East Midlands - 6% 13,000
North - East - 6% 13,000
Wales - 3% 8,000
If anyone has any other Green Regional data, let me know and I will add and adjust the above data accordingly.
Regional Estimates of other parties that are set out below for comparison
Labour Party
Nations/Regional Distribution of the Labour Membership in CLPs
London - 22% (+1)
North West -12%
South East - 12% (+2)
Yorkshire/Humber - 9%
West Midlands - 7% (-1)
Eastern - 8%
Scotland - 5% (-2)
East Midlands - 7%
Wales - 5% (-1)
South West - 8% (+2)
North - East - 5% (-1)
Coop Party
A useful comparator with Labour is the is it's sister Party, the Cooperative Party. It's 2026 Nations/Regional breakdown is very similar pretty much confirming the most recent Labour breakdown:
London - 20%
North West -13%
South East - 12%
Yorkshire/Humber - 8%
East Midlands - 8%
Eastern - 8%
South West - 8%
West Midlands - 7%
Scotland - 6%
Wales - 5%
North - East & North Cumbria- 5%
By comparison with Labour, the Coop Party also had a big rise from 2015 to 2018, then a drop and a further rise up until 2021 when it reached record numbers for its history. Though there has been a small drop it is small compared to Labour's recent changes and recently seems to have risen again to over 13,000 members.
Your Party
Regional Membership Breakdown
Final Country Totals:
England — 46,717 - 89%
Scotland — 3,913 - 7%
Wales — 2,547 - 5%
Northern Ireland — 327 - 1%
Total - 53,504
Totals per English Region: (Total number - National % - English %)
London — 8,204 members - 15% - 18%
South East — 7,172 members - 13% - 15%
North West — 6,767 members - 13% - 14%
South West — 6,210 members - 12% - 13%
East of England — 4,488 members - 8% - 10%
West Midlands — 4,383 members - 8% - 9%
Yorkshire and the Humber — 4,329 members - 8% - 9%
East Midlands — 3,108 members - 6% - 7%
North East — 1,856 members - 3% - 4%
Total England: 46,717 members - 89% - 100%
Internal Elections
Past Results:
Current Elections covered on News Page
Analysis
A thing to note with the Greens is whilst their "second order" (eg executive committee places) election turnout is similar to other parties/trade unions their "first order" (eg Leader/Deputy Leaders) election turnouts have been much lower than other major parties (who tend to get 50%-75%), generally averaging 25% and only rising to 38% (+16% on 2021) in the most recent 2025 election. This may reflect a decentralised anti-leadership mindset among some members reflecting it's past "co-spokesperson" arrangements for the party?
This covers the Constitution and Rules of the Greens in England and Wales
Core Rules Documents and Webpages
Constitution - Green Party Also here is the most up to date version in Pdf format
Guidance Notes
Conference Procedural Rules
Current Disciplinary Issues
Statement Regarding False Claims About a Member Suspension This likely relates to the Eleanora Folan "Stats for Lefties" case
Key Points on Green Party Rules
The Philosophical Basis of the Party may be changed only by a two-thirds majority at Conference or by a two thirds majority vote of the membership through a party-wide ballot.
The Constitution may be revised by a two thirds majority vote, at an Annual Conference or an Extraordinary Party Conference called by an Annual Conference in a resolution explicitly delegating this power.
The Constitution may also be revised by a two thirds majority vote of the membership through a party-wide ballot. Such a ballot will be initiated by an Annual Conference in a resolution explicitly delegating this power. Such a resolution may only be proposed in advance of an Annual Conference through the normal First Agenda process. A simple majority at Conference will be required to pass the motion to initiate the ballot.
Membership is open to any person who subscribes to the object of the Party, and is not already a member of another political party, other than Green Parties abroad.
The Green Party Council shall have the power to expel or suspend any person from membership and/or refuse membership to any person for a specified period if in its opinion it is in the Party's interest to do so. Where necessary to avoid or reduce the likelihood of further harm to the Party, a member under investigation may be suspended temporarily by decision of the Council or those members of it empowered to act on its behalf while that takes place, but no member may be expelled without proper consideration. The Local Party shall not offer Associate Membership to any person who has been expelled from or refused membership of the Green Party.
No member may be elected to the same post or sit on the same body for more than 5 terms consecutively, nor be a member of the Green Party Council for more than 3 terms consecutively.
All elections in the Green Party shall be conducted by the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional representation. Elections for single seats are instant run-off (AV) and multiple seats by STV
The Leader and Deputy Leader(s) or Co-Leaders shall be elected every two years.
There is no whip for elected members. Elected members and other representatives have a responsibility to promote the policies of the national and local green parties, as expressed in the PSS and national, regional and local manifestos. Where they do not agree with Party policy and publicly state their own position, they should at the same time state and explain the position of the Green Party.
A ballot on whether to de-select a Parliamentary candidate will be held if a petition demanding one is supported by at least 20% of the Party members in the territory originally balloted. The result of that ballot shall be decided by a simple majority of votes cast.
Green members of the House of Lords are on an appointment list elected by Green party members
Members who express opinions in a situation in which their membership of the Green Party is known must take care to not bring the party into disrepute.
Major elaborations of policy shall be considered as Policy Statements by Green Party Council in accordance with its Standing Orders. When such policy statements are approved they shall be published in the Party's 'Record of Policy Statements' (RoPS).
The contents of manifestos for Westminster elections shall be considered as Policy Statements by the Green Party Council. The final editing and presentation of such manifestos shall be the responsibility of the Elections Co-ordinator.
Rules Analysis
In many ways a party that is institutionally one where CLPD's original 1973 Labour Party proposals on Leader/Manifesto/Selections have been implemented (no Party Ombudsman though!!:). However the lack of whip for elected members means the classic Bennite "take the power" narrative is qualified by the use of STV in internal elections, a degree of individualism over elected representatives and perhaps a long mindset of not wanting too much power?
Two-thirds majorities for the constitution is likely to ensure institutional stability, but also may mean slower change when a majority realise they do need to change the rules a little in response to a large influx of new members.
Disciplinary rules are actually quite strong and clearly the party can and will expel members for bringing it into "disrepute" like other parties. However it is possible its disciplinary panels may have a high threshold for when its "reputation" is damaged than other parties?
Membership is open to anyone "who is not already a member of another political party, other than Green Parties abroad" so it formally discourages entryism which has generally not been an issue for Green parties compared to the Leninist Party attempted interventions in Labour from 1922 to 2022 . However it is possible that may change and the Alliance for Workers Liberty Reconnaissance in the Greens may be the start of a new evolution on UK Leninist Party's taking more interest in the Greens as they reinforce their electoral dominance in the Left of Labour political space. How they handle that compared to Labour's generally strong and mostly consistent rejection of such parties will be interesting to observe with a range of options such as ignoring it due to possible continued small size impact, political platform recognition, or setting clear boundaries.
The Greens pride themselves on direct democracy/participatory democracy (ie no delegate conference) and that clearly worked for many years as a smaller party, but now it is much larger it is perhaps understandable that at least some in the party are looking at a rules revamp that may impact on who can vote at conference.
An issue that relates to the previous one is how they filter/prioritise policy-making at their conference - see also the section below on that. The Labour Party has a two stage filter which involves 683 organisations (eg 651 CLPs, 11 TUs 21 Socialist Societies) having policy submission rights followed by delegate prioitisation by conference delegates in two sections (eg 651 CLPs in one and 11 TUs & 21 Socialist Societies in the other). The Greens seem to have a one stage filter of members voting in an online ballot on motion prioritisation. Due to relatively low turnout in such member ballots that may mean well-organised party interest groups - see organisations/factions section above - can get a subject which may have low salience to most other members near the top of the agenda?
A Quick Rules Summary - AI generated but being edited
1. Membership Rules & Restrictions
Exclusivity: No Green Party member may be a candidate for any other political party. Similarly, members of other parties cannot stand as Green candidates, except in designated joint candidacies. [1]
No Independent Runs: Members are prohibited from running as independent candidates against an officially selected Green Party candidate. [1]
Campaigning Restrictions: Members cannot actively campaign for any candidate running against a properly selected Green representative. [1]
Suspension & Expulsion: The Green Party Council holds the ultimate power to suspend, expel, or refuse membership to anyone if it is deemed in the best interest of the party. [1]
2. The Code of Conduct
All members and volunteers must adhere to the Green Party Members Code of Conduct, which forms part of the national disciplinary framework: [1]
Public Communications: Public messaging and social media use must uphold Green values. Public criticism of other party members, staff, or internal party decisions is explicitly forbidden to protect the party from disrepute. [1, 2]
Disclosures: Members running for internal office or public election must disclose anything in their personal history or past opinions that could potentially bring the party into disrepute. [1]
3. Democratic Governance Structure
The party functions as a decentralized, member-led democracy: [1]
The Party Conference: The Autumn and Spring Conferences serve as the supreme decision-making forum. All paid-up members have the right to attend, debate, and vote on internal policy and constitutional adjustments. [1]
Voting Systems: Internal elections for executive roles, councils, and committees are decided using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) proportional system with a "Re-Open Nominations" (RON) option. [1]
The Leadership Structure: The party elects either a single Leader and Deputy Leaders, or Co-Leaders who serve as the public faces of the party. Day-to-day operations are handled by the Green Party Executive (GPEx), while long-term strategy is steered by the Green Party Council (GPRC). [1]
4. Ethical Donation & Financial Rules
The party maintains strict financial guidelines governed by its Ethical Donations Policy: [1]
Acceptable Funding: Funding is proactively sought from organizations aligned with Green principles, such as renewable energy, fair trade, organic farming, ethical banking, and workers' co-operatives.
Prohibited Funding: The party completely rejects donations or advertising revenue from industries tied to fossil fuels, aviation, nuclear power, arms manufacturing, tobacco, animal testing, and genetically modified foods. [1]
(Note: The separate Scottish Green Party and Green Party Northern Ireland operate entirely under their own independent rulebooks, leadership teams, and constitutional frameworks.) [1]
Finances
Analysis
One thing that may become of political interest is the Greens may receive more large donations from wealthy individuals which no doubt they will tranparently declare. However this may make Green party membera a bit uncomfortable when criticising other parties, so will they end up setting a "maximum donation cap to minimise risk of political influence" for their internal donation policy?
Green Party Policy
Wales and London Policy Manifestos - see above
Green Party Policy Making
Green Party Conference Agenda - a SOC collation of motions
Key Policy Making Points
Conference is the supreme forum of the Green Party. All paid-up members of the Green Party are eligible to attend and vote.
Policy vote decisions are by a simple majority
The Green Party’s Policies for a Sustainable Society (PSS) represents the policy foundation which the Party stands upon. Every policy in the PPS has been approved by Green Party members at Conference. All Green Party Manifestos and the Political Programme are drawn from the PSS. The PSS can be amended by members at each Party Conference.
The Policy Development Committee works to help members submit policy proposals.
Policy Working Groups are open to all members of the Green Party to discuss and develop policy on various topics. Policy Working Groups, and others intending to propose new policy, are encouraged to contact the Policy Development Committee to follow the accreditation process.
Policy Fests are events organised by the Policy Development Committee with the aim of advancing party policy development and helping members understand how the process works.
Analysis
The Party policy system was designed for a 6,500 member party, but may need to review it's single stage filter, voting systems even it wants to retain being a participaorty democracy rather than a delegate democracy over policy.
Clearly there are some conversations going on about that here and here.
A Quick Policy Summary - AI generated but being edited
Core policies on environmental protection, a larger state-led economy, and social justice. [1, 2, 3]
Environment and Climate
Net Zero & Energy: Rapid transition to renewable energy by ending new fossil fuel licenses, insulating homes, and nationalizing energy companies.
Nature Act: Protecting 30% of UK land and seas for nature recovery and wildlife protection. [1, 2, 3]
Economy and Tax
Taxing Wealth: Implementing a wealth tax on multi-millionaires, equalizing capital gains tax with income tax, and introducing carbon and land value taxes. [1, 2]
Public Spending: Borrowing to invest in public services and infrastructure, alongside nationalizing water and rail. [1]
Workplace Reforms: Raising the minimum wage to £15 per hour, introducing a four-day working week, and repealing restrictive trade union laws. [1]
Housing and Public Services
Housing: Building 150,000 new council homes a year, introducing rent controls, and ending no-fault evictions and the Right to Buy scheme.
NHS: Reversing privatization in the health service and guaranteeing access to NHS dentists. [1]
Democracy and Foreign Policy
Electoral Reform: Replacing the first-past-the-post voting system with proportional representation and lowering the voting age to 16.
Foreign Policy & Defense: Dismantling the Trident nuclear deterrent while keeping the UK in NATO, and pushing for an immediate ceasefire and arms embargo related to the conflict in Gaza. [1, 2, 3]
Training and Induction
Training 2026 - Green Party - Conference Training
Analysis
This looks to be poor as focused on training for campaigners but little for year long induction of the 150,000 new members so far showing the party has not learned from the mistakes made by Labour when it had an influx of 300,000 members. Labour has significantly improved its training offer at Labour Learn but both parties could do even more in institutional induction into the culture and social norms of long-standing organisations.
History
Green Party (UK) Pre-1990 Party History
The first Green councillor breakthrough and the founding of the AGC
Electoral Performance
Analysis
A few points I make above in Key Party Comparator data but also worth reiterating below
Since 2010 the Greens like UKIP/BXP/Reform have both benefitted from the collapse of the Lib Dems as a traditional 13%-26% cross-values protest party in a 3-party system to an 8%-13% party means there is more political space for more values focused parties at either end of the political spectrum.
Whilst this change became apparent with UKIP quickly as larger space on the right (13% by 2015) the Greens were benefitting too (4% by 2015), but that was then hidden due to the combination of what might now be seen as an "accidental Corbyn era" cul-de-sac of many Green members joining the far more ideologically diverse Labour Party (even at peak they could only be part of a 2016 62% vote majority not the 85% vote within the Greens by 2025) and also due to the "Brexit Binary" playing to UKIP's political agenda but squeezing out the Greens.
However since 2020 with the exit of many from Labour to the Greens and 1m ex 2019 Lab voters voting for them has seen post 2010 trends, that were disrupted for 5 years resumed.
Evidence for the above point has been the Green's Vote Shares in GB PR based elections of which they have fought over 20 over the last 27 years and increased their vote share:
Scottish Parliament 2026: 14% (Scottish Greens are a separate Party)
Welsh Senedd 2026: 7%,
London Assembly 2024 : 12%.
PR election vote shares are useful to understand the Party's underlying vote without any FPTP squeeze on it.
When they were smaller the Greens did not contest everything but in 2024 fought most Parliamentary Seats (which the election of 4 MPs and £0.5m Short Money - which is part based on vote share - will incentivise them to continue) and in the 2026 Local Elections had a SoPN metric of contesting 98% of Council seats. This level of electoral contest looks likely to continue.
Polling Articles
Examples from Polling data that may be relevant to current and future Green Party Electoral Performance
Analysis
Greens polled 7% and elected 4 MPs in 2024 gaining 1m ex2019 Labour voters. Their vote share continued to rise in the early part of the Labour government so even under the Denyer Ramsay leadership polled 8.6% in August 2025.
Zack Polanski's 85% Leadership victory - see above and also Home/News page introduction - likely became a trigger after the Your Party 800,000 interest/disaster of a launch for people to feel the Greens were ideologically safe to join.
Due to Keir Starmer Zack Polanski took the Green vote share up to 15% and they won the Gorton & Denton by-election and 18% in the local elections and won 400 Council seats. At this time of some hubris he talked about "Replacing Labour".
However his social media behaviour came under criticism (eg he seemed to be in a feedback loop with his activists) and Labour responded to defeat by changing its leader with a far more down to earth, human popular one.
As a result Zack Polanski's own polling numbers declined as did the Green party and their message now claims to "Influence Labour". In many ways in modern day post-2020 Hyperpolitics he seemed to do a "Labour 2015-17" period but in just 9 months.
If he loses badly in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election and his poll ratings and that of the Party stay poor, due to the Greens facing a Leader election every two years, he may face a challenge. Looking at the Green vote numbers with a strong core of young women, if they can't find a "Mamdani man" the logic would be to find the nearest equivalent of a "tattooed, heavy metal loving Die Linke woman".