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UK election results

‘This landslide victory has buried Sunak’s divisive anti-green agenda once and for all’
Katie Hill - Editor-in-Chief, My Green Pod
10 Downing Street

Yesterday (04 July) the UK voted the Labour Party into powerful the first time in 14 years, electing Sir Kier Starmer as the country’s new Prime Minister.

Labour won 411 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons; the Conservatives held on to 121 while the Liberal Democrats took 72.

Green policies

Labour has previously committed to a massive acceleration of clean power and has pledged to decarbonise the energy system by 2030.
The Green Party and Lib Dems, both with stronger manifesto pledges for the environment, also so a surge in success, suggesting that the climate and nature crises are high on the agenda for the electorate.

A ‘Green surge’

Greenpeace UK’s political team said the results 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.

A ‘Green surge’ resulted in the Green Party winning four seats (Brighton Pavilion, Bristol Central, Waveney Valley and Herefordshire North), up from one previously. Each seat was 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.

Environmental concerns

In the Blue Wall, where environmental concerns are higher, 36 out of 51 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 three-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 was offered by the two main parties.

‘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.’

AREEBA HAMID
Greenpeace UK’s Co-Executive Director

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