Several Labor MPs are in talks about defecting and joining the Greens, but are seeking assurances that their new party will back them electorally, the Guardian has been told.
Zack Polanski, leader of the Greens in England and Wales, has said publicly that he has spoken to Labor MPs about the idea of switching sides, as the left-wing party enjoys a surge in membership and has overtaken Labor in some recent opinion polls.
A number of other senior Green figures have confirmed that talks are taking place with a number of MPs, but that none are yet at the stage of wanting to commit.
“We already have a lot of experience with Labor councilors defecting to us, so this is not a surprise,” said one. “But it takes time. You meet people and you realize they would be much happier with us, but you never know when or even if it will happen. It’s a very personal thing.”
Another senior Green figure said one obstacle had been that Labor MPs wanted guarantees in advance that they would be re-elected to their seat at the next general election and would receive the party’s support to win again. “This is part of many conversations: they want guarantees,” they said.
“But we are such a decentralized party that it is not as easy for us to do it as it is for other parties.”
The names of the Labor MPs involved in the talks have not been made public, but several Green and Labor figures pointed to the same small number of backbenchers, all of whom are on the Labor left and who face a likely electoral threat from the Green Party in their constituency.
However, it is not understood that any of them are seen by the Labor leaders as an imminent risk of defection.
A number of left-wing Labor MPs are increasingly dissatisfied with the direction of the party under Keir Starmer and are attracted to what they see as Polanski’s greater radicalism and dynamism.
The extent of disagreement with Starmer within the Labor Party is such that one obstacle to defections is the fact that some MPs believe he may soon be replaced by a leader they might find more attractive.
Other Green figures argue that defections are also not a priority for the party given how well it is doing anyway. After quadrupling its number of MPs to four in the 2024 general election, the party won last month’s Gorton and Denton by-election, with Hannah Spencer beating Reform UK and pushing Labor into third place.
“Zack has always had and continues to have many conversations with Labor MPs, and they take place quite regularly,” a Green official said. “But we’re much more interested in where the next by-election will be than what the big step would be for a Labor MP crossing the floor.”
Speaking to House magazine earlier this week, Polanski said he was speaking to a “handful” of Labor MPs, adding: “If you talk to some Labor MPs, some days it looks like it will be their last day in the party, and other days they have seen a glimmer of light and think everything is going to be fine.”
Another senior Green said they hoped someone would move in eventually: “The Labor benches always seem so miserable. Since they can look and see we are such a happy team, why wouldn’t they want to come?”
