Greens are Labour supporters preferred coalition partner
A poll has shown that, if it was necessary to form a Labour-led government, the Greens are Labour supporters’ preferred coalition partner.
Around 91% of Corbyn supporters would be happy to form a government with the Greens, as would 70% of Owen Smith supporters.
The next most popular coalition partners are the Scottish and Welsh nationalists, particularly among Corbyn supporters, 73% of whom would be happy to work the SNP and 71% would work with Plaid Cymru. For Smith supporters, the figures are 55% and 60% respectively.
On the other hand, Smith supporters would be as happy to work with the Lib Dems as the Greens (both 70%) while just 46% of Corbynites would be happy to work with Tim Farron’s party.
Unfortunately, in terms of the combined number of seats, the Labour Party is likely have much less to gain from a coalition with the Greens than the other parties. At the moment, the party has one MP compared to the SNP’s 54, the Lib Dems eight and Plaid Cymru’s three.
However, the polling suggests many Labour Party supporters may be open to the possibility of working with the Greens (and to a lesser extent the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Lib Dems) to form a ‘progressive alliance’, an idea supported by Caroline Lucas, Jonathan Bartley and Corbyn allies like Clive Lewis. Corbyn himself though has so far rejected the idea.
The polling was conducted by Yougov, who interviewed Labour members, registered supporters and union affiliates between the 25th and 28th of August.
Labour voters outside London and Scotland (as opposed to members and supporters) rejected both Labour and Green positions on free movement between EU countries and access to the single market, during the Referendum. The Greens (with the exception of Baroness jenny Jones) and the Westminster elite found themselves on the wrong side of a revolution.
Labour and the Green party are in danger of getting the type of drubbing that was meted out to Labour after the Referendum on Scotland’s independence. Neither is in tune with the large swathes of Labour and Green voters who opted for Leave because they believed in sustainable immigration rather than unsustainable pressures brought by free movement.
You need 10 million votes, at least, to win an election. Both parties have their work cut out to appeal to the brexiteers and swing voters beyond the relatively small section of the electorate that makes up their natural constituency.