AHEAD of the 2015 General Election, the Green Party is polling on 7% and neck and neck with the Liberal Democrats, the Coalition partners.
Responding to the question, “If there was a General Election tomorrow”, 7% of respondents indicated they would vote Green in ComRes’s latest poll for The Independent (1). Support for the Greens is up two percentage points since the last equivalent poll.
The latest upbeat polling represents a holding up of support for the Greens since the May 22 European and Local Elections, which saw the Greens beat out the Lib Dems in terms of MEPs returned and share of the total vote (2).
Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said:
“The fact that the Green Party are consistently polling at some of our best numbers since 1989 goes to show that our people over profits message is really hitting home.
“It is the our policies such as making the minimum wage a Living Wage, renationalising our railways and having a publicly owned and run NHS which are both encouraging people to join as members (3) and vote Green.
“While the other parties receive much larger donations (4) - which allows them to comfortably out-spend us on political advertising – Greens up and down the country are rolling up our sleeves and fighting for what we and our members believe in.
“Despite comparatively limited media attention, more and more people are recognising that only the Greens offer the real change for the common good that British politics and British society so desperately needs."
Commenting on the polling, Tom Mludzinski, Head of Political Polling, ComRes, said:
“Frustration with the main political parties appears to be manifesting itself in voters looking elsewhere, with more increasing numbers of likely voters intending to vote for a party outside of the three traditional main parties. ComRes’s latest poll shows the Green Party on 7%, just one point behind the Liberal Democrats.”
The Greens elected an additional MEP at the May 22 European Elections and now have treble the number of the Liberal Democrats. The Green Party also were clearly ahead of the Liberal Democrats in the total vote – 1.2million voted for a Green MEP on May 22 compared to the Liberal Democrats’ 1.09million. The Greens gained 23 additional councillors at the Local Elections and are now the official opposition in Liverpool, Norwich, Solihull and the London boroughs of Lewisham and Islington (5).
ComRes interviewed 1,001 GB adults by telephone between 25 and 27 July. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults. Data were also weighted by past vote recall. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
Polling on p21: http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/The_Independent_Political_Poll_29th_July_2014_9847.pdf
4 http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/29/labour-highest-income-britain-political-parties-2013