UK Green Party Gains in Polls, Drawing Increased Media Coverage of Policies and Candidates

LONDON (Substrate) — The Green party has risen up the national opinion polls in the UK, prompting a surge in media attention on its policies and personnel ahead of elections. The Sun also warned that the Greens would drop the Church of England as the UK’s established church if they win the election and stated that the Greens intend to ban horse racing.

The same paper disclosed that another Green candidate believed Britain should hand back the Falklands to Argentina.

These exposures came as the party faced allegations of antisemitism, with two Green candidates standing for Lambeth council arrested over allegedly antisemitic posts on Thursday. A Green candidate in Walsall referred to 'Jewish cockroaches' in a 2023 social media post. This week, two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green, an incident that heightened tensions around community safety.

Following the Golders Green stabbing, Polanski shared a social media post this week criticizing police officers for allegedly 'repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head' when he was already on the floor. On Saturday, the Greens engaged lawyers over a cartoon in The Times that portrayed their leader Zack Polanski. Polanski became leader of the Greens in September 2025.

The party won a byelection in Gorton and Denton in February. Despite the recent spotlight, the Greens have historically received limited broadcast coverage; they were referenced in 32 items by broadcasters in 2025, behind the Conservatives (375), Reform UK (213), the Liberal Democrats (116), and the Scottish National party (46), and ahead of Plaid Cymru (10), according to the enhancing impartiality project led by academics at Cardiff University.

The Greens appeared on four episodes of BBC Question Time last year.

Jenny Jones, a former deputy mayor of London and current member of the House of Lords, noted that the party once had to 'pester' for media attention but now receives frequent requests for appearances on outlets like Times Radio and the BBC. She praised Polanski's combative response to media stories, saying, 'Rolling over and letting people bite your belly is not the best option.

Labour party officials have contributed to the coverage by sharing Green party stories with lobby correspondents.

One journalist covering the Greens remarked that the party features 'colourful characters with mad policies,' making for engaging stories rather than reflecting fears of an electoral win. As polling numbers remain high, the Greens can expect continued media focus.