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Every month Bright Green takes a look at Greens on social media, breaking down who has the most followers in the UK’s Green Parties with a rolling league table. We set out who’s up and who’s down, while also providing analysis of why some people are making more of a splash than others. You can find out our criteria for the Green League here.

Who made it into the December 2022 Green League?

16 people made it into December 2022’s Green League – the same number as in each previous month we have been tracking Greens’ social media following.

Green MP Caroline Lucas still tops the table, with over 500,000 more followers across all her channels than second placed Natalie Bennett. Co-leader of the Scottish Greens Patrick Harvie remains the highest placed Scot, and along with former MEP Magid Magid he makes up the four Greens with over 100,000 followers.

With over 80,000 followers across their social media channels and with substantial monthly increases, former MEP Molly Scott Cato and London Assembly member Sian Berry are the two Greens most likely to break the 100,000 threshold next.

Who’s up and who’s down?

By adding over 1,600 followers this month, Molly Scott Cato has overtaken Sian Berry to become the fifth most followed Green in the UK.

Meanwhile, other Greens have seen big increases in their following this month. Within our league table, the Greens who saw the most significant growth this month were Patrick Harvie, Molly Scott Cato and Jenny Jones. Magid Magid and Jonathan Bartley had the highest fall in followers this month, with their accounts now largely inactive.

Looking at individual platforms, Scottish Greens MSP Ross Greer remains the most followed Green on TikTok by a substantial margin, with Patrick Harvie ahead on Mastodon – a platform we’ve added to our league table for the first time this month. Caroline Lucas has the most followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Below the 16 who made into the table, there’s also lots of movement. Deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales Zack Polanski has again seen the biggest growth, adding over 800 followers across his social media channels – with the biggest increases on Mastodon and Twitter. Other Greens seeing big increases in their following this month include Green Party of England and Wales culture, sport and digital inclusion spokesperson Jack Lenox, Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman – both of whom grew most on Twitter – and Green Party of England and Wales co-leader Carla Denyer, who saw the biggest growth on Twitter and Instagram.

On current trends, Denyer and Polanski are set to be the next to make it into the Green League. They each need less than 3,000 more followers to make the cut.

The Green League – Full table, December 2022

  1. Caroline Lucas – 752,000 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
  2. Natalie Bennett – 232,500 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok)
  3. Magid Magid – 169,500 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
  4. Patrick Harvie – 122,000 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon)
  5. Molly Scott Cato – 83,000 followers (+1) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon)
  6. Sian Berry – 82,000 followers (-1) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon)
  7. Jenny Jones – 67,500 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
  8. Amelia Womack – 66,000 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok)
  9. Jonathan Bartley – 63,500 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
  10. Ross Greer – 63,500 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok)
  11. Matt Zarb-Cousin – 58,000 followers (-) (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Mastodon)
  12. Rupert Read – 42,000 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok)
  13. Caroline Russell – 35,500 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon)
  14. Lorna Slater – 34,500 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon)
  15. Adam Ramsay – 30,500 followers (-) (Twitter, Instagram)
  16. Jean Lambert – 29,000 followers (-) (Twitter, Facebook)

Think someone is missing from this list? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Mastodon.

Note that all follower counts listed above are rounded to the nearest 500. All data should be accurate as of 18 December 2022.

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Image credit: Ric Lander – Creative Commons