Green Party polling – October 2021

Polling amongst UK adults on whether they would consider voting for the Green Party, and their main reasons for not considering it.

Two in five UK adults would consider voting for the Green Party – Savanta ComRes

Two in five UK adults (39%) say they would consider voting for the Green Party. Half say they would not consider it (51%).
This is compared to 44% who would consider voting for the Conservatives, and 48% who say the same for Labour.
Main reasons for not voting Green: Unlikely to win where they live 28%, loyal to another party 25%, don’t agree with their green policies 20%, don’t know anything about them 18%.
Almost three in five say the Green Party helps the climate change movement (56%). A quarter say they hinder it (23%).
UK adults are split on whether the Green’s main focus should be getting elected (34%) or bringing about change by pressuring other parties more likely to get elected (35%)

New polling by Savanta ComRes ahead of the Green Party Conference shows two in five (39%) UK adults saying they would consider voting for the Green Party if they were standing in an election where they lived, irrespective of how they normally vote.

This is lower than the proportion who say the same for the Conservatives (44%) and Labour (48%), but significantly higher than those who said the same for the Liberal Democrats (32%).

The proportion who would consider voting for the Green Party includes half of both 2019 Labour voters (49%) and those aged 18-34 (50%). A quarter of 2019 Conservative voters (26%) also say they would consider it.

However, with our Westminster Voting Intention polling consistently showing the Greens on between 4-6% of the vote share, and with just one MP in the Commons, this consideration is not pulling through when it comes to actual voting.

Among those who would not consider voting for the Green Party, three in ten said that it was because they were unlikely to win in that area (28%). This proportion rises to a third amongst 2019 Labour voters (33%).

A quarter said that it is because they are loyal to another party (25%), rising to 27% of among Conservative voters and over a third of Labour voters (35%).

Comparatively, just one in five said they would not vote for the Green Party because they disagreed with their green policies (20%), falling to just one in eight among Labour voters (12%) and those aged 18-34 (12%).

A quarter of those aged 18-34 who said they would not consider voting Green said so on account of not knowing anything about them (26%), indicating increased visibility may be a potential route to picking up younger voters.

UK adults are split on whether the Green Party’s main focus should be on bringing about change by getting elected to positions of power (34%), or by pressuring other parties more likely to get elected (35%).

Labour voters are the most likely to say that the Green’s focus should be on pressuring other parties (43%).

Commenting on the findings, Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta ComRes says,

“With both Labour and the Liberal Democrats appearing stagnant in their challenge to the Conservatives, and with the ever-present topic of climate change and the environment dominating the news agenda ahead of COP26, many feel that the foundations are prime for the Green Party to gain traction.

And, despite the Green’s hovering around the 5-6% mark in our Westminster Voting Intention, this new polling suggests that it might not take much for voters, particularly younger ones and those perhaps disaffected by Labour’s own green credentials, to make the switch.”

Date Published: 23/10/2021

Categories: Politics | Public and communities | UK

Client: Savanta ComRes

Methodology

Savanta ComRes interviewed 2,092 UK adults online between 15^th-17th October 2021. Data were weighted by age, sex, region, and SEG. Savanta ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.