It might look small compared with Britain’s dominant parties, but for the Green Party, the elections results were big: The small, left-wing party will now have four members of Parliament, its best ever electoral result.
For years, the party, which has campaigned on pro-environmental policies, has struggled to increase its foothold in Parliament. Since 2010, it has had just one member of Parliament, who did not run in this election.
But this year, some voters appeared to be turning away from the two main parties, Labour and the Conservatives, as more seats went to smaller parties and independent candidates. The Greens’ co-leaders, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, won seats on Thursday. That dealt a small blow to the new Labour government, which, under Keir Starmer, has moved to the political center.
Ms. Denyer unseated Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s lawmaker in charge of arts and culture, and told the BBC that some people voted for the Greens because they were “frustrated by Labour sliding ever closer to the Conservatives.”
Mr. Ramsay vowed that the Greens would “be pushing the government to be bolder.” In its most recent manifesto, the party said it wanted to implement a wealth tax, build more social housing and make the railways, water companies and major energy companies publicly owned.
Just under two million people cast votes for the Greens, giving them seven percent of the vote share nationally. The party tends to be relatively popular among younger people, particularly those under 30.