Green party leaders have warned that the party must listen to the concerns of Reform UK voters in order to tackle inequality. Zack Polanski and Caroline Lucas said on Saturday that the Greens need to understand why voters affected by the cost of living crisis were drawn to Nigel Farage's party.
Polanski, speaking at a Compass conference in east London, argued that Reform voters are 'the exact people we need to be caring about'. He said they have been 'left behind by decades of austerity and by successive governments'. He urged the party to reach out with a message that the problem is not immigrants but 'multimillionaires and billionaires taking more money than ever before'.
Lucas, a former Green leader, said listening to Reform voters is 'the starting point' as many of their concerns are 'perfectly legitimate'. She noted that after 20 years of cost of living crisis and broken promises, it is not surprising that voters act with 'a sense of desperation'.
Lucas also commented on the upcoming Makerfield byelection, where Labour's Andy Burnham faces a strong Reform challenge. She said she was glad the Greens had not 'thrown the kitchen sink' at the contest, but stopped short of suggesting the Green candidate should withdraw to avoid splitting the left-wing vote.
