In reaction to the Labour party’s election victory, Greenpeace UK’s Co-Executive Director, Areeba Hamid, said:
“This landslide victory has buried Sunak’s divisive anti-green agenda once and for all and is a powerful call for change. Voters have resoundingly rejected his climate rollbacks and elected a party with a proper plan to turbocharge cheap, clean, renewable energy – promising to slash emissions, lower bills and deliver hundreds of thousands of new green jobs.
“However, the Green surge and success of the Lib Dems, who stood on much bolder climate and nature pledges, shows that there is a genuine appetite from voters for much stronger green policies from the government. Keir Starmer must take note.
“Our new Prime Minister must show real leadership on climate and nature – both at home and abroad – demonstrating that the green transition can be done in a fair and equitable way. He must seize the opportunities for economic revival and energy independence that delivering a greener, cleaner Britain presents.
“But to do that he must take on the elites, increase taxes on the super-rich and polluting companies, and invest, invest, invest. Invest in cheap, clean power and create new, secure green jobs for workers. Invest in warm homes, trains and buses to lower our energy bills and transport costs for good. Invest in greener farming and restoring nature so our rivers become free from sewage once more and wildlife can flourish. This is the change people voted for – it’s time for Starmer to deliver.”
ENDS
Contact: Greenpeace UK Press Office – press.uk@greenpeace.org or 020 7865 8255
Notes to editor:
Greenpeace UK’s political team has compiled the following analysis based on the current results to demonstrate the strength of voters’ rejection of a divisive climate culture war approach, and the strength of the new government’s mandate to act boldly on tackling the climate and nature emergencies:
- The country has seen a Green surge, with the Green Party having won 4 seats (Brighton Pavilion, Bristol Central, Waveney Valley and Herefordshire North), up from 1 previously – all of which won with solid or strong majorities of 5,500 votes or significantly more. Across the UK, Green votes significantly increased, going up to around 7% from 2.7% of the vote share in 2019, from a total of 866,000 votes in 2019 to around 2 million votes in 2024.
- In the blue wall, where environmental concerns are higher, 36 out of 51 Blue Wall seats flipped from Conservative to Lib Dem and Labour – consistent with deep public frustration with the Conservatives’ terrible record on climate and nature
- 18 out of 23 Conservative net zero sceptics lost their seats
- 12 out of 19 identified 3-way marginals between the Lib Dems, Labour and Conservatives were won by the Lib Dems, showing the public are happy to vote for a more ambitious green proposition than what was offered by the two main parties.
