Politics Home Article | Greens Hopeful Of Taking On Reform To Make First Gains In Outer London

Green Party leader Zack Polanski (centre) with Lewisham mayoral candidate Liam Shrivastava and Hackney mayoral candidate Zoe Garbett (second right), at the launch of the party’s campaign for the May local elections, 9 April 2026 (PA Images / Alamy)

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With two weeks to go until voting day, the Green Party, led by “eco-populist” London Assembly Member Zack Polanski, is increasing its activity in the outer London borough of Bromley.

Bromley has traditionally been safe ground for the Conservative Party, which currently controls the council. The borough is seen as a major target for Reform UK, with a YouGov poll published this week giving Nigel Farage’s party a narrow lead over the Tories. 

However, while inner London is seen as more natural territory for the Polanski’s party, Green sources believe they can also make a breakthrough in outer areas like Bromley.

Their hope is based on party canvassing data that insiders claim shows undecideds and non-voters viewing the election there as a choice between Reform UK and the Greens. They have concluded that the Greens could take their first council seats in what would usually be considered a Tory or Reform stronghold.

A campaign source told PoliticsHome that in Bromley, as well as coastal areas and parts of the North East, swing voters, including those who typically do not vote, are “seeing the Greens as part of that anti-establishment choice that had been Reform’s original driver”.

Green insiders are calling it “the Hannah Spencer effect”, referring to the Green MP’s seismic victory in the recent Gorton and Denton by-election. Labour, which had controlled the Greater Manchester seat for over a century, was pushed into third place. Spencer is being credited with “helping to refresh the image of the Green Party”.

A Green source said: “They [voters] are not even talking about Mandelson anymore – they’re not talking about Labour at all.”

A campaign insider added: “For the best part of the last two years, Reform have owned the electoral narrative – it’s been about small boats and immigration. The Greens have fought back and placed the cost of living right up there, and it’s cutting through.

“For voters who want change, but also veer left on many issues, like economic injustice, the Greens are fighting Farage’s insurgency and creating one of our own.”

Scarlett Maguire, founder and director of polling firm Merlin Strategy, said: “The Greens are feeling increasingly confident in London. That they are now looking to areas like Bromley is telling. They are not just looking to take on progressive Labour voters but attempting to vie with Reform for disenfranchised working-class voters.

“Their win in Gorton and Denton points to some success with this demographic already. They could do well if they don’t focus on cultural issues and instead tap into the deep distrust of politicians and the widespread anxiety the cost of living crisis is causing to voters.”

A Reform UK spokesman said: “Councils across London have been run into the ground by decades of Labour and Conservative mismanagement. They simply cannot afford the Green Party.”

The same YouGov survey forecast that Labour would lose six of its 21 councils next month, with the Greens taking over four councils in the capital for the first time: Hackney, Lambeth, Lewisham and Waltham Forest.

PoliticsHome understands the Greens are also confident that they can help end Labour’s control of Newham, and win seats in the north London councils, Brent and Camden, the latter of which the Prime Minister’s parliamentary constituency is based, though they are not expecting to take overall control of those councils.

On Tuesday, PoliticsHome revealed that Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, widely seen as a leading candidate to succeed Starmer, will be campaigning in several London boroughs this week as the party tries to limit its losses on 7 May.