Hot on the heels of the Greens surge in the polls ahead of the May 22 European Elections, polling out today (May 14) shows the Greens have jumped five points and are polling at 8% in non-European polling (1) ahead of next summer’s General Election.
Reacting to the Ipsos MORI polling, a Green Party spokesperson said:
“The Greens have not polled this strongly in non-European polling ahead of a General Election since 1989, the year the Green Party secured 15% of the vote. Our message of real change for the common good is clearly striking a chord.”
Reacting to the Ipsos MORI poll, The London Evening Standard (2) reported that, “today’s big winners are the Greens, whose support has shot up from three to eight points on the back of higher exposure in the campaign period.”
Green leader Natalie Bennett attributed the strong polling to the popularity of Green Party policies when given more media exposure and to voters’ disenchantment with the big parties. Speaking from Leeds, she said the polls “chime with what I am hearing around the country”.
According to ICM’s European Elections polling released May 12, the Green Party is polling (3) at 10% ahead of the May 22 European Elections, putting it firmly in fourth place and three percentage points ahead of the ailing Liberal Democrats (7%).
The Greens are within touching distance of meeting their target of trebling their number of MEPs from two (Jean Lambert, London, and Keith Taylor, South-East) to six. Based on a national swing the latest poll would give the Greens five seats in England plus one in Scotland. The Lib Dems would have zero seats. Among 18-24 year-olds the Greens are the second most popular political party.
NOTES:
1) http://www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Publications/sri-politicalmonitor-may2014-tables-WR.pdf
2) http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/labours-poll-ratings-take-a-dive-as-confidence-in-uk-economy-higher-than-ever-9368495.html?origin=internalSearch
3) http://greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/05/13/icm-polling-green-vote-growing-as-liberal-democrats-wither/