Labour MPs ‘in talks to defect to Green Party’
Party whips have approached at least one individual over concerns they are planning to jump ship, a source says
The Greens have been in informal talks with Labour MPs about possible defections as Zack Polanski’s party surges ahead in the polls, it has emerged.
The Telegraph has learnt that at least one Labour MP has been approached by Labour Party whips within the past month over concerns they could defect to the Greens.
A YouGov poll published last week showed the Greens had overtaken Labour in voting intentions for the first time, at 21 per cent compared with 16 per cent.
Hannah Spencer stormed to victory for the Greens in the Gorton and Denton by-election last month, seizing the former stronghold constituency from Labour, which came third behind Reform.
A Green Party source told The Telegraph that while talks had so far yielded “nothing concrete”, they had seen an “uptick in interest since the by-election success and before”.
“There are some Labour MPs who see what the Greens are talking about, lowering bills, protecting the NHS and defending human rights abroad, and recognise us rather than Labour as where their values most sit.”
Speculation around possible defections to the Green Party will continue to mount if Labour takes a drubbing in the local elections in May, as is being widely predicted.
Labour’s defeat in the Greater Manchester by-election prompted the Prime Minister to write a letter to his MPs condemning Mr Polanski’s party as “extreme”.
During the campaign he attacked the Greens’ position on legalising drugs and its stance on defence in a bid to stem the loss of voters on its left flank.
Ministers were also critical of “sectarian” campaigning as the Greens targeted the constituency’s Muslim voters and urged them to “punish Labour for Gaza”.
Sir Keir is now facing calls from within his party to learn from the Greens’ popularity, rather than aggressively attacking them.
One Minister said the Prime Minister’s attempts to paint the Green Party as extremists were “totally tone deaf”.
Labour MPs have also shared a meme comparing Sir Keir to the hapless Principal Skinner in The Simpsons cartoon. It says: “Am I out of touch? No, it’s the voters who are wrong and the Greens with their communication skills and positive policies ...I mean divisive and sectarian policies.”
Lord Hayward, a Tory peer and pollster, said Labour faced a “very substantial” potential electoral threat in the Greens, particularly if it joined forces with other parties on the Left.
He said the Greens’ success in Gorton and Denton could be mirrored in London, in the north east and east of the capital, as well as in West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.
The pollster also suggested that the Prime Minister could see his own constituency of Holborn and St Pancras lose its Labour council seats to the Greens in May.
The Guardian reported last week that senior Labour politicians in the capital have been privately circulating data suggesting Labour could drop from first to fourth in May.
Mr Polanski said Labour had entered an “existential crisis” and no longer had a “stranglehold” on urban areas such as Greater Manchester.
He said that while only a few months ago he felt 30 Green MPs could be voted in at the next general election, he now believed 50 was an “unambitious” target and that this could rise further.
A source close to the Whips’ Office said they did not recognise the claim that a Labour MP had been approached amid concerns of a possible defection to the Greens.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
