Andy Burnham’s landslide victory in the Makerfield by-election left the Green Party with just 0.7% of the vote and a lost deposit. But far from retreating, the party is now sharpening its knives for the new prime minister – and planning a boisterous campaign that paints him as a continuity Starmerite.
Zack Polanski, the Green leader, intends to challenge Burnham’s appointments, including James Purnell as his chief of staff and the rumoured hiring of Josh Simons for a senior No 10 role. “Starmer had a huge block of ex-lobbyists as MPs and now so does Burnham,” a source close to Polanski said. “Sticking a new face on Labour won’t change its makeup.”
“Greens target 'left-behind' seats as Polanski plans to paint Burnham as continuity Starmerite.”
The approach has divided the party. Green MPs, from a different tradition, urge caution. “Let him make his own mistakes,” one source said. But Polanski’s allies want an aggressive offensive from the start. “Burnham is essentially Labour’s last card,” a source close to Polanski said. “They’re betting everything on him succeeding but we know he’s going to disappoint voters sooner or later.”
Polanski – brought up in north Manchester – has already campaigned with Geraldine Coggins, the party’s candidate in the upcoming Greater Manchester mayoral by-election. Coggins, a Trafford councillor for eight years, will be at the centre of a race the party sees as a test of its ability to break into Labour heartlands. Polls suggest a difficult fight, but the Greens are throwing all their resources at it. Next week they plan to launch a manifesto.
The party’s target is “left-behind places” like Makerfield itself. The May local elections gave reason for optimism: the Greens took councils from Labour in London and held their wards in Gorton and Denton, part of Hannah Spencer’s constituency. Yet national polling suggests a dip – from almost 20% in March to 13% at the end of June. Some analysts wonder whether former Labour voters who switched to the Greens in protest at Keir Starmer will return to Burnham. A senior Green dismissed the idea. “We know that once people vote Green once, they tend to stick with us,” they said. “People don’t see it as ‘lending’ us their vote.”
The battle lines are drawn. Burnham may have a new No 10, but the Greens see an opportunity in his very success: the more he disappoints, the more their base may grow.