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The Green Party has vowed to push Labour to be “bolder” on climate change, nature and funding for public services after claiming three new seats overnight, in what was dubbed a “momentous step forward for the party”.
The Greens quadrupled their representation in the Commons, taking two seats from the Conservatives – who suffered the worst defeat in its parliamentary history – and one from Labour. Keir Starmer’s party secured a landslide victory with 412 seats (34% of the vote) with two left to declare.
But Thursday’s vote was also the Greens’ most successful election night ever, going from one to four seats. Until now, it had only ever won in the Sussex constituency of Brighton Pavilion.
The party held that seat, while co-leader Carla Denyer unseated the shadow culture secretary, Thangam Debbonaire, by a majority of 10,000 in Bristol Central.
Denyer’s co-leader, Adrian Ramsay, overturned a 22,000 Conservative majority to win Suffolk’s Waveney Valley, with a 32.1% swing to his party.
Speaking to Byline Times on Friday, Ramsay said the party’s success will make it “much harder for them [Labour] to pretend they’re doing everything they can, if the Greens are there pushing them further”. He vowed the party would be a “constructive opposition, seeking to shape the debate”.
Of the party’s electoral triumph, the MP said it was all part of a plan Denyer and he hatched three years ago when they became co-leaders, saying the pair had a “very clear strategy for this general election”.
Ramsay explained the party stood candidates across the country to raise the party’s profile while “laser” targeting the four winning seats with resources. It has led to “a record number and share of votes”, which Ramsay credits as down to a “bold and practical manifesto showing that there is a positive alternative” to Labour.
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On Labour’s victory, he was cautiously optimistic, saying he hoped it was a “reset moment in terms of standards in public life”.
Ramsay applauded Labour leader Keir Starmer for “talking about restoring the notion of politics as public service, which I strongly support”.
“There’s a real sense that people feel let down and that the previous Government tore up the rules on standards in public life,” he told Byline Times, adding: “I share those aims and sentiments. We need to restore civility to politics.”
Ramsay, who signed the Jo Cox Foundation pledge for civility in politics, said MPs must work together: “It’s about not being tribal, finding areas of agreement with other parties, and being a constructive opposition.”
Things don’t need to be personalised, as they were too often in this campaign. You can have a constructive debate in the best interest of the country. Keir Starmer is setting that tone, and I want to support it
Adrian Ramsay, Green Party co-leader
Asked what his first PMQ to the new Prime Minister would be, Ramsay said he would highlight the “severe lack” of NHS dentists in Waveney Valley, “which affects much of the country” and is a “huge issue”, and ask Starmer to review the NHS dental contracts to tackle it.
“The overall theme here is the area’s neglect,” Ramsay explained. “People wanted an active, visible, local MP. The decline of local services, including dentistry and sewage in the river, are examples of neglect.
“The natural environment is a big issue for people locally. I want to champion restoring it because my constituents want that. Labour doesn’t instinctively focus on nature, so I hope to work positively with them to bring it to the agenda.”
As Starmer on Friday began appointing his cabinet and, speaking outside 10 Downing Street pledged that “the work of change begins immediately”, Ramsay said the Greens would regroup and “look at how best to apply leverage”.
