Greens plan to power PR voting system, wealth taxes and quicker Net Zero by holding ‘steadiness of energy’ in hung Parliament after election… with the Right divided
The Greens are hoping to exploit divides on the Right to force through radical change after the election.
Zack Polanski said he wanted the party to win enough MPs to hold the ‘balance of power’ in Parliament.
He suggested that would give them maximum leverage to secure policies such as proportional representation, a wealth tax and faster progress on Net Zero.
The comments, on the BBC‘s Political Thinking With Nick Robinson podcast, came after the Greens put Labour to the sword in the Gorton & Denton by-election.
The party has been seeing a bump in the polls as it hoovers up left-wingers and Muslim voters disaffected with Keir Starmer.
The latest YouGov research this week put Reform ahead on 25 per cent support with the Greens in second on 19 per cent. But the Tories and Labour were on 17 per cent, and the Lib Dems on 14 per cent.
Zack Polanski said he wanted the party to win enough MPs to hold the ‘balance of power’ in Parliament
The kind of figures currently being seen in poll would almost certainly produce a hung Parliament at a general election, and intense haggling between parties attempting to form a government
Those kind of figures at a general election would almost certainly produce a hung Parliament and intense haggling between parties attempting to form a government.
Other eye-catching Green policies include legalising hard drugs, pulling out of Nato and unilaterally giving up the nuclear deterrent.
Mr Polanski said becoming Prime Minister was ‘in his mind’, but indicated that wielding influence was the more likely ‘next step’.
Hannah Spencer became only the party’s fifth ever MP when she stormed the traditional Labour stronghold of Gorton & Denton last month.
Mr Polanski said he was talking about securing 30-40 MPs when he ran for leader.
‘Now, saying that it feels under ambitious and actually as our poll ratings are tripling, we’re getting more and more members. When I became or when I ran for leader, we had about 55,000 members. We’ve just hit over 220,000,’ he said.
Asked if he had reached a stage where he could think about becoming Prime Minister, he replied: ‘That really isn’t the target right now.
‘It’s definitely in my mind because I get asked about it all the time.
‘The next step is to win a lot more MPs and potentially hold the balance of power and then I think that’s really interesting because you’re having conversations about proportional representation, a wealth tax, climate action and various other policies to reduce people’s cost of living and make life better for everyone in this country.’
Hannah Spencer (left) became only the party’s fifth ever MP when she stormed the traditional Labour stronghold of Gorton & Denton last month
He described changes to the voting system as ‘a huge prize’ with proportional representation a ‘burning ambition’.
Mr Polanski also reiterated his apology after being dogged by questions over his claim in 2013 that hypnosis could increase a woman’s breast size.
‘It does make me cringe. It’s embarrassing,’ he said. ‘At some point, I think it’s important that I keep putting forward actually what I’m doing right now. I made a mistake and I acknowledge I made the mistake.’
