A poster reading "Vote Green Party" on the back of a chair

Nicola moved to Peterborough at 4 months old after her dad gained employment electrifying the railways for Balfour Beatty. She was elected as a Councillor in 2019 in a seat that was for a long time held by the Conservatives and she represents the council estate she grew up in. She was elected for a second term as a Councillor for Orton Waterville Ward in 2023 with 70% of the vote share and is a strong voice for residents.

Faaiz was born in Pakistan and moved to the UK in 1997 to work in the financial sector. He was elected to the London GP Regional Committee and serves as Chair of the West Central London GP. Faaiz is experienced in campaigning in a Labour facing London. He has been active in several election campaigns across the Country bringing energy, data and analytical skills to the elections process.

Nicola has carried out lots of research on Just Transitions, the climate crisis’ and the impacts on working class communities ‘I am concerned that working-class communities may get left behind as the climate crisis worsens. I am also concerned about the rise of Reform and the attacks on environmental policy and the blame they target migrants with.’

Faaiz is concerned about Labour’s Austerity measures ‘As Labour implements Austerity 2.0, the Greens have become the leading progressive voice in the country. We also have a responsibility to step up our election efforts to prevent disillusioned voters from going to Reform and give them something meaningful to vote for’. He is also concerned about the rise of Reform ‘As a brown Muslim migrant, I am deeply concerned about the rise of the far right—and I see the Greens as a critical force in pushing back against this tide’.

Nicola and Faaiz both believe that the May 2026 elections will be a defining moment for the GP, with all London council seats and the Welsh Senedd up for election. These are predominantly progressive areas—fertile ground for our radical policy proposals. Yet, our past electoral performance in these regions has been disappointing. Greens have only 1.1% of councillors in London and 0.6% in Wales, compared to our national average of 4.6%.

They both believe that in 2024 Greens were winning in seats that we would not have expected to following a groundswell of support given our stance on Palestine and that a development of target to win needs to take place. They aim to build on the Green Party’s excellent electoral results and create a coalition that encompasses our traditional base, working-class, youth and global majority voters.

Faaiz believes that the party needs to ‘strengthen our data analysis capacity and build community organising infrastructure to embed ourselves more deeply amongst the electorate’. For some regions, this will mean adopting “Target to Win Plus” approach that genuinely reflects our nation’s diversity. With 46% of Londoners from GM backgrounds, this demographic drove our results in the GE2024 elections. Yet, this is not reflected in our current candidate or ward selection, which remains overly focused on white, middle-class areas.

Empowering the Youth, Strengthening the Movement

‘The Government’s decision to extend the voting franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds presents an exciting opportunity for the Green Party. We already enjoy strong support among younger voters—our vote share in this age group is double the national average—and we are well-positioned to expand it further. With the most comprehensive policy platform addressing youth concerns, we can solidify our status as the natural political home for this generation.

There is a clear opportunity to build on this momentum. We draw inspiration from Zohran Mamdani’s groundbreaking campaign for the New York Democratic Mayoral candidacy, which transformed youth turnout through targeted social media engagement. Turnout among under-30s in New York surged from 18% in 2021 to nearly 43% in 2025, with turnout in the 18–24 age group reaching an estimated 59%, compared to the city-wide average of just 23% in 2021.

We have already begun this work in the UK, engaging students at universities and sixth-form colleges—particularly across Central London. Our aim is to replicate and scale this approach nationwide, ensuring that young people are not only voters but also candidates, activists, and core members of the Green movement.’

Facing the Far Right: A Case for Strategic Alliances

‘The rise of Reform and the continued rightward shift of the political landscape is deeply concerning. While the Green Party continues to grow organically—through new councillors, increased vote shares, and defections—this progress risks being outpaced by a well-funded far-right surge.

We have seen the announcement by Jeremy Corbyn of a new party – ideally, we would have wanted them to join the Greens. But now, we should explore electoral cooperation to ensure we do not fragment the left vote. To that end, we support Conference Motion A90: Electoral Co-operation with Other Parties. Such alliances must be reciprocal and grounded in mutual respect for the Green Party’s significant electoral achievements over the past decade.

With nearly 50% of the 5,000+ council seats up for election in May 2026 currently held by Labour—whose national popularity continues to decline—we have a unique chance to reshape the political map. By forging alliances, we can tap into new networks of activists (Corbyn’s party has had 500,000 sign-ups within a few days of announcement) and candidates and begin to make inroads into historically Labour-dominated areas, including parts of London, Wales, and beyond.

We propose to pilot these electoral partnerships in the 2026 local elections as a proving ground, with a view to expanding them in future electoral cycles.

We are proposing to build on GP’s historical successes by making critical enhancements to our approach to target to win, youth, working class and global majority voters. Over the next 12 months, we will need to work in close collaboration with the leadership team, election staff, and local parties to significantly step-up our electoral efforts.

We will listen, learn and improve.

Faaiz Hasan and Nicola Day are standing to be the Green Party’s elections coordinator

Image credit: Jon Craig – Creative Commons