Look, the news cycle will have you believe there’s only one story worth telling. It’s a story of division and anger. It also involves the seemingly unstoppable rise of parties offering simple answers to complicated problems.
But you know what? Beneath all the headlines and hot takes, something far more interesting is happening. A quiet revolution powered not by rage, but by hope.
Beyond the Clickbait: Understanding What People Actually Want
When you see Reform UK’s polling numbers, it’s easy to despair or get drawn into endless debates about bigotry and extremism. But here’s what the actual research shows: when you sit down and talk to nearly 4,000 would-be Reform UK voters, what you find is people from right across the political spectrum held together by one thing—they’re frustrated with mainstream politics and attracted to anyone promising to “fix the system”.
This isn’t primarily about ideology, you see. It’s about exhaustion with a politics that simply doesn’t deliver. For so many people, there’s a growing sense that politics has completely failed and nothing actually works anymore. For the first time since the Second World War, people genuinely believe their children will have lives that are worse than theirs.
Think about that for a moment. When someone’s felt unheard for years, when their community’s been hollowed out by austerity, when they can’t get a GP appointment or afford their energy bills, of course they want change. Real, tangible change. And if the only party offering that narrative with any conviction is Reform, well, we really shouldn’t be surprised when people start listening.
But here’s the thing—the answer isn’t to match their rhetoric or get sucked into an endless cycle of clickbait outrage. The answer is to offer something better.
The Green Surge: What Happens When You Actually Lead With Hope
Enter Zack Polanski, the new leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. And honestly? In just two months since his election in September 2025, something genuinely remarkable has happened.
Polanski describes his politics as eco-populist—which sounds fancy, but really just means he’s linking the stuff people deal with every day (like eye-watering energy bills) with what actually needs to change (like tackling climate change and taxing wealth properly). This isn’t complicated political theory. It’s simple, honest connection between what people experience daily and what needs to change.
And it’s working. Spectacularly.
Green Party membership has absolutely exploded—surging past 100,000 members, a 45% increase since Polanski took over. Recent polling shows them on 15% nationally, their highest-ever figure. Actually, scratch that—the latest numbers show they’ve rocketed past 150,000 members, more than doubling in just over a month.
Even more striking? Support for the Greens among young people aged 18-25 has doubled from 16% in March to 32% in November. They’re now the most popular party with young adults. Not third place. Not “doing well for a smaller party”. The most popular.
The Politics of Authenticity
So what’s Polanski actually doing differently? Well, he’s not trying to out-rage the rage-merchants. He’s not playing the game of who can be most cynical about “the establishment”. Instead, he’s doing something genuinely revolutionary in British politics: being honest.
Polanski argues that inaction on housing costs, spiralling bills, and the cost of living has been justified through what he calls an “austerity consensus”. He says it’s time for an “honest conversation” about delivering affordable homes, green jobs, and free childcare through “bold political choices”—and he’s upfront about how to pay for it: taxing wealth, not punishing working people.
Notice what’s happening here. He’s not dodging difficult questions with vague promises about “efficiency savings”. He’s not offering fantasy economics. He’s being honest about trade-offs, crystal clear about solutions, and linking everyday concerns to systemic change. As he put it: “A higher wage economy is a green economy, and the Green Party will always stand side by side with people who face economic, social and environmental struggles”.
This is populism in its truest, best sense—politics for the people, by the people. Not scapegoating. Not fear-mongering. Just offering genuine hope backed by concrete policies that actually add up.
The Ripple Effect
The numbers are genuinely staggering. When Polanski was elected leader, the Greens were an average of ten points behind Labour in the polls. Just two months later? They’ve closed that gap to three points. Some polls now show the Greens in second place nationally—ahead of both Labour and the Conservatives.
Let that sink in for a moment. A party that won four seats in July 2024 is now polling in second place nationally.
But here’s the really important bit—this isn’t just about the Greens winning. It’s about what becomes possible when a political movement demonstrates that hope actually works, that authenticity resonates, that treating people with respect and offering real solutions is more powerful than cynicism.
It’s proof that you don’t need to race to the bottom. You don’t need to play the fear game. You can win by being better.
A Wake-Up Call for Every Party
The lesson here isn’t partisan—it’s urgent and it applies to everyone. Every political party, every movement, every activist needs to wake up and understand what’s actually happening:
People want change, not chaos. They want leaders who level with them, not manipulate them. They want solutions that might actually work, not soundbites designed to go viral on Twitter.
Labour, Lib Dems, progressive independents—anyone who believes in a fairer, greener, more compassionate Britain needs to seriously step up. Not with timid triangulation or focus-grouped platitudes that mean nothing, but with the kind of bold, honest leadership Polanski’s modelling.
And here’s something that might surprise you: research shows that Reform UK voters actually care about progressive causes—including workers’ rights. But progressives need to earn the right to be heard by treating people with respect and starting from where they are, not where we’d like them to be.
The Power of Grassroots Movement-Building
This isn’t about some top-down political strategy dreamt up in Westminster. It’s about grassroots organising that gives people hope and agency. It’s about community organising that addresses real needs. It’s about building power from the ground up, person by person, conversation by conversation.
The Green Party’s recent success shows exactly what’s possible when you combine clear messaging with genuine community connection. In his leadership campaign, Polanski emphasised “listening, and building our next generation” and being “a leader who champions others”.
That’s the model right there: not one charismatic leader with all the answers, but a movement that empowers people to be the change they want to see. It’s not about hero worship—it’s about building something bigger than any one person.
Making Hope Normal Again
When the Green Party hit 100,000 members, Polanski said something that’s stuck with me: “People are understandably disillusioned, but we are here to make hope normal again”.
Make hope normal again. Just sit with that for a second.
We’ve spent so long in the politics of managed decline, of lowered expectations, of “realistic” compromises that deliver absolutely nothing, that hope itself feels radical. Naive, even. Like something only the young and inexperienced believe in.
But it shouldn’t be like that. Hope—backed by concrete action, honest leadership, and genuine community power—should be the baseline. It should be the starting point, not some pie-in-the-sky fantasy we gave up on years ago.
The Path Forward
Look, the rise of Reform UK is real and it’s concerning. But it’s also a symptom, not the disease. The disease is a political system that’s failed too many people for far too long. The cure isn’t to fight fire with fire, clickbait with clickbait, or outrage with outrage.
The cure is to build something better. To offer hope. To be honest. To organise communities. To link people’s everyday struggles to systemic solutions. To treat voters as intelligent adults who deserve respect, not manipulation.
Zack Polanski and the Green Party are showing it can be done. They’re not the only ones who can do it—far from it—but they’re proving it works.
The Green surge has the potential to completely disrupt the traditional two-party system, and the implications for British politics are huge.
The question for every progressive, every community organiser, every person who wants a better Britain is simple: Will you help build the politics of hope?
Will you organise in your community? Will you demand better from your leaders? Will you be part of making hope normal again?
Because here’s the thing—we’re not powerless observers in this. We’re not stuck watching politics happen to us. We can shape it. We can change it. We can build it.
The choice is ours. The time is now. And the evidence is absolutely clear: hope works.
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