I arrived in Woodhouse Park in Wythenshawe on a rainy Saturday in December to meet the motivated members of the Manchester Green Party on their lunch break from campaigning.
As I approached, I saw them huddled around a table in a local café, taking refuge from the unpleasant weather.
They looked up with warm smiles and gave a friendly wave.
Woodhouse Park has been a Green Party ward since 2021, but in recent months, the entirety of the Manchester Green Party has been experiencing a huge surge.
The city-wide membership has grown from 500 to 3,000.
I came to talk to the people behind the action to find out what draws people in Woodhouse Park to the Greens and why this has been spreading around the city in recent months.
Woodhouse Park is a historically Labour ward, with local councillor Eddy Newman winning 51.4% of the vote in 2019.
However, the tides have been gradually changing over the past few years.
Since Starmer’s government came into power in 2024, there has been an air of discontent towards Labour as traditionally left-wing voters feel disappointed by the party.
Wythenshawe is a deprived area of Manchester, and Woodhouse Park specifically has 4,187 households that are defined as deprived in one or more dimensions according to the Manchester government website.
The main issues that affect residents in the ward include airport parking, housing, cost of living, and taxi idling.
In the 2024 local election, the Green Party won the Woodhouse Park ward with 59.2% of the vote.
The Manchester Greens are firm in their belief that a huge pull factor to them for left-wing residents is that they feel extremely let down by the Labour government, and the failure of Your Party to get off the ground so far has left them with no other options.
Woodhouse Park local councillor, and leader of the Green Party on Manchester City Council, Astrid Johnson, said that “We are the viable left voice in the country.”
“We stand up for not just environmental but social justice, so I think that’s why people really feel attracted to the Greens.”
It is undeniable that Zack Polanski’s new leadership has been a huge acceleration behind the recent surge in Green Party membership up and down the country.
More than 100,000 new members have joined the party since Polanski was elected in September 2025.
He has been praised for his effective communication and strong leadership abilities.
Chris Ogden, the former chair and current Green Party press officer, said that “he has the charisma and media presence to connect with young and progressive urban voters like ours in a way that our previous leaders struggled to at times.”
I spoke to a new Green Party member, Simon Fox, who was previously a member of the Labour party for ten years. He told me that he believes the new Labour policies aren’t going in a left-wing direction.
“I’ve always been sympathetic to Green policies and Green values, but it’s never had a leader that has been very commanding on a national stage. [Zack] has absolutely done that.”
“It’s got a chance to become a bigger party and a bigger part of the national conversation.”
Finn White is the local party secretary, and a former member of the national executive of the Young Greens, a sector of the Green Party specifically for people who are under 30 or are in education.
He has seen a growth from 7,000 members to 40,000 across the country since he joined during the leadership election of 2021.
Finn used to be a member of the Labour Party and describes it as not a “very welcoming place” for young voices.
Whereas the Young Greens have a spokesperson on local party committees and are strongly encouraged to use their voice because, as Astrid Johnson describes it, the Greens are focused on the state in how we leave the world for our young people. That is why it is so important to give them a voice.
Interestingly, despite the Green Party winning the ward with a large majority, Nigel Farage’s Reform party was second in the running.
In response to this, Astrid Johnson said that “I think the rise of Reform in Woodhouse Park is down to the national narrative and the preference of the media to highlight Reform.”
She said that there are some fascinating cases of people that will vote for the Greens in local elections but for Reform on a national level. They say to her, “I vote Reform, but locally I still vote Green because you show up and you take care of the area.”
She said that “People want a difference in the area, so if you are the people that make a difference, then they trust you, and they continue to trust you.”
Brian Candeland has been a member of the Green Party for 44 years. In fact, when he first joined, it was called the Ecology Party.
The party has gradually broadened its focus from the environment and peace to include inequality and social justice, with a concentration on the intersection with the climate crisis.
Chris Ogden has been a member for ten years and said that “I certainly joined because they were making a push on social justice policies.”
“We’ve changed in the past few years; the messaging has changed, and now it’s become even more prominent with Zack, who is very heavily focusing on inequality.”
When asked what attracted her to the Green Party, Astrid Johnson responded, “I really wanted change, and you can only do that if you’re actually pulling the levers of change, and that doesn’t mean that any single issue, be it environmental, social justice or poverty, is more important, they are all incredibly important.”
Finn White said that since he joined four years ago, “It’s become a far more serious political operation and become more professional.
Chris Ogden said that “I think more people are joining now because we’ve got a proven ability to win elections at a national level.
“I think before people saw it as a wasted vote; they didn’t see it as a viable political project.”
While the Greens are unlikely to dominate Manchester in the near future, wards like Woodhouse Park show a changing political mood and a disillusionment with the current left-wing government.
The determination and hard work of the Manchester Green Party, combined with Zack Polanski’s effective communication skills on a national level, have created an incredible boom of new membership.
With local elections approaching in 2026, the question is whether the Greens can turn this initial enthusiasm in the city into sustainable electoral power for other wards.
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All images: Manchester Green Party
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