How can people vote Green?

[RobinStrike]

The Greens are no longer the ecology party. They have been taken over by people who want to leave NATO, legalise drugs and don’t recognise women. I understand the attraction of a far left party but surely the original Greens don’t agree with all this.
Plus they expel people for refusing to recognise some members as fairies?
https://labourheartlands.com/the-green-partys-war-on-reality/

Yes the Islamic / pro LGBTQ / leftist alliance is completely contradictory and opposed.

But both sides share a dislike of Western liberal democracy and of capitalism. The topic they are closest on is the Palestinian conflict.

Basically the Islamic side and the progressive leftist side are using the other for their own political advantage. All wrapped up in a socially acceptable image of caring about climate change and polar bears.

It is however inherently unstable and cannot last.

Interestingly the Iranian Revolution was by a coalition of leftists / communists and liberal students combined with Islamists. Once the revolution was successful, the Islamists rounded up the leftists and liberal students and either imprisoned or executed them.

That's not going to happen though. The Lib Dems are the tactical choice in many, many more seats than the Greens are - all those home counties Tory seats where Reform don't have a hope. Sure - there might be a Labour-Lib Dem-Green coalition, but I can live with that.

You could be talking about reform here.
Most of their candidates don't have coherent policies (or even thoughts) about so many things politicians need to consider, but it doesn't stop that PLC riling up people whose education and upbringing hasn't encouraged them to question the detail.

As others have said, the short answer is of course people who think differently from you might vote Green.

The other likelihoods are both people who decide a tactical vote to keep another party OUT is better than a genuine vote for the party you might think is better, but you know are unlikely to get in due to the ridiculous FPTP system we have in this country.
The other one is that most of us usually have to vote for "the best of the options available". I've been voting for 45 years. I always vote - be that for MPs, MEPs (when we could), Local Cllrs, Mayoral elections, Police Commissioner Elections, or the referendum, but I don't remember an election where I could honestly say I agree with everything the candidate or their party stood for / promised. I study the information at the time. I try to attend a local hustings. I watch and read news and I vote for the candidate that aligns most closely to my thinking, and accept no candidate, or no party is going to be a clone of me and my thinking.

The LibDems were the tactical choice in 2024. The political map could be completely different in 2029. The Greens are capturing the young vote, I expect to see a lot of constituencies with a young electorate turn Green next time.

Personally because I agree with many of their policies. Why not legalise drugs? Criminalising them only puts money into the pockets of criminals and puts the vulnerable at great risk. I think relying on the US military is a bad idea, especially under their current administration and I am all for trans rights. I don't believe in fairies though!

I wouldn’t vote Green for any reason. Reform and Green - populist moon on stick unicorn parties. Two cheeks of the same arse.

I think they appear to be the least corrupt of all the parties - they’re certainly not financed by the large companies and billionaires that the likes of Reform are. They seem to be a beacon of hope in a country that’s become full of hate.

I’d rather someone who resembles a human being running our country than a privileged, racist sleezebag who would send us into war, take away our human rights and destroy the NHS. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’ve heard them talk about the environment a lot ? Repeatedly criticising the pollution of the U.K. waterways and coastlines. Speaking about renewable energy etc and Zack was questioned about flying and how he would manage that if he was ever PM?

@PiMCA I respect your right to vote as you choose

If I may ask a couple of questions

What do you think about how legalisation of drugs went in Oregon?

What would you like to see happen with the UK army?

What rights do you think trans people need and do they vary from the rights we all have (or should have).

I'm not going to argue about it. I'm just interested in the answers.

They don’t want to legalise drugs, they want to decriminalise them and treat them as more of a public health issue than a criminal one.

We have the worst drug related deaths in Europe so what we’re currently doing isn’t working. If you want to compare models, Portugal have decriminalised drugs with fantastic results.

I hope you're right, but it seems the Lib Dems have been MIA since the last election, despite having a larger number of MP's than they have had for years, and multiples more than either Reform or The Greens.

Not sure it's worked in British Columbia. Vancouver have an awful problem now on the streets. The province announced it wasn't extending the program past its 31 Jan 2026 expiry date citing that it "hasn't delivered the results that we hoped for" amid a continuing, fatal toxic drug crisis.

@LoveHearts69 I'm sure I saw an interview with Zach Polanski being asked to specify if he means legalise or decriminalise

And he said "legalise" and that measure is being put forward at their party conference which I think is coming up soon.

Apologies if I am wrong or if he has moved to "decriminalise

I don't trust Google these days, but if you ask it that question, it does seem to come up specifically with legalise.

I think that's down to a) the media as a whole basically ignoring them and b) the likes of Question Time platforming Reform over the LDs despite the large difference in the number of MPs.

Remember Davey had to do all manner of stunts during the General Election to get some coverage. He was mocked for it but his point about balanced coverage was correct and it helped them gain more MPs than any of the pollsters predicted.

I think people moving away from Labour will go for Greens or Reform mostly.

I don’t find the Greens progressive really, regressive in some ways, but I get why they’re picking up more votes atm.

@EasternStandard what do you think it's about please?

I think people moving away from Labour will go for Greens or Reform mostly.

So, if we take our now free-floating Labour voter, what is it that they are repelled from Labour by to be either attracted to Reform, or Green with equal tension ?

And from that what proportion will go to Reform and which proportion will go to Greens ?

If we slice into the numbers that voted Labour in 2024 after not voting Labour in 2019, how would that translate into polling ? And how does it overlay the cultural geography of England, Scotland and Wales ?

Without being arsed to provide too much workings, it looks like of the "new" Labour voters in 2024, 75% would not necessarily re-vote Labour. With a split of about 1 in 5 moving to reform, 1 in 5 to LibDems and 3 in 5 moving to Greens.

One possible future is that Reform become a reactionary counterpoint to the LibDems, and overperform locally and underperform nationally.

In the run up to the next election - which, isn't for years yet, so not sure why there are so many threads about it - I would love to see published grids of what EVERY party's stance is on all the topics deemed to be important.
I came across one 20 odd years ago, but have not been able to find it in more recent elections.
So a clear table with each party (in alphabetical order) as the columns and all the main things that people vote (NHS...Transport Infrastructure .... Student Loan repayments plans ..... Welfare support..... Defence .... Education..... Social Care..... Mental Health ..... Immigrations ...... Economic Policy ..... Tax ..... etc) on as the rows.
This to be published everywhere, not just according to the echo chambers created by algorithms. Even handed out with you ballot paper. Get EVERYONE knowing what is being promised by each party before they vote. Try to get a few more people voting on the policies rather than the personalities would be wonderful.

Frustratingly I can’t find the interview where I got this from now, and can’t even remember if it was him or another party member explaining it 😅

You may be right with the older interviews! The recent interviews I have found he actually seems to avoid using either word, but does talk about there being strict controls and legislation, and that he wants health and legal professionals to be fully involved with the processes so I think/hope he’s open to decriminalising rather than legalising if that were proven to be the better way forward. He certainly has been looking toward the Portugal case study when I’ve heard him speak about it.

They’re really the Socialist Worker party now with added hatred of Israel (hence the appeal to the Muslim voters). Ofc all Muslims are woke and far-left - make it make sense.
My dad (long dead) voted for the Ecology Party in the 80s, he’d be spinning in his grave now to see what it’s become.
I’m a historical Labour voter and I feel very disenfranchised currently.

Their policies are ludicrous. I can only assume they are voted for by those who have no concern over social cohesion or run their own household . One friends daughter voted for them because they are against fox hunting . This is admirable but there are far more pressing issues that she wouldn’t know about as she lives in her bedroom at home not needing to be concerned about anything real world .

I will vote Green because I admire their policies. I agree that drugs should be dealt with as a public health rather than a criminal issue. Of course class A drugs would be very carefully controlled - this is not a free for all as suggested by some.
I like the fact that they’re not following the Farage-led anti immigration rhetoric.
I also agree with their views on trans issues.
I think they are the only credible left wing choice at the moment and I take no pleasure in saying that as a lifelong Labour voter.

The Greens are just Reform but at the opposite end of the spectrum - populist policies and wild promises that they know will never meet the cold light of reality.

Add in their woeful stance on women’s rights and hey presto, Zack “hypnotits” Polanski will never get my vote.

The Greens are new and untried, voters have seen what the Tories are, what Labour are doing or rather not doing, remember the LDs in coalition, hate Farage.

With 3.5 years until a GE, i wouldn't be placing too much store on them being the next Govt.

For me, i really don't get how the Cons cannot do better against this Labour Govt, its quite a damming indictment on Badenoch.

Mostly people being pissed off with Labour, Starmer and co and looking for something else.

The Greens can sell in what they are pretty easily, I can see why people go for it but it makes me a bit nervous. The defence stuff for example.

They seem quite similar to Mamdani in NYC so maybe people will see how he goes. Maybe he can get more money from the wealthy idk