On the ground in London as the Greens surge

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:08Today, the green surge in London.

0:21It's a chilly morning in early April, and inside a former spice warehouse in southeast London, excitement is building. We're in the friendly place for the launch of the Green Party's local election campaign It is a very Green Party kind of venue Not just the cutesy name, but the artful no-frills vibes Bare brick walls, peeling plaster, exposed beams Good morning, thank you very much It's amazing to be here in depth Zach Polanski bounds onto the stage with a big toothy grin It's been a remarkable moment for the Green Party We have tripled our membership We've tripled our poll ratings. He says he is confident that his party is heading for its best ever set of results.

1:03And we are heading for a new record-breaking result for the Green Party. And it's in Labour London where the Greens particularly fancy their chances. We're going to have a bright green, hopeful London. According to one poll, half of all Londoners attempted to vote for the Green Party next Thursday, with four Labour councils looking within Polanski's reach. I think Labour are going to be wiped, actually. That's the honest answer. I think they're going to be virtually wiped out. And I think there's going to be quite a few Green-controlled councils. Buoyed by Hannah Spencer's win in the Gorton and Denton by-election, London's army of Green activists are feeling optimistic.

1:43What's making the difference is that amazing by-election win at national level. So people think this is not a wasted vote. People see voting for the Greens can make a difference.

1:57But can the Green Party really triumph in a city where they currently control no councils and have just 49 councillors? And can they actually deliver what they're promising? From The Guardian, I'm Helen Pidd. Today in Focus. On the ground, in the capital, as the Greens go on the attack.

2:19Four weeks later, as spring has finally sprung, we've crossed the River Thames to Hackney, one of four boroughs in the capital where the pollsters think that the Green Party have a decent chance of ousting Labour. We've been told to meet a group of Green canvassers at the bus stop outside Lidl on Well Street in the south of the borough. They are in very high spirits. This is Hackney. This is Hackney. This is absolutely Hackney. Love it. Hackney is often described as a Labour stronghold. The party has been in control of Hackney Council for all but seven years since it was founded in 1965. The Greens have a mountain to climb here.

2:5444 of Hackney's 57 councillors are currently Labour, and so is Hackney's directly elected mayor. But the Greens are determined to win here. Perhaps that's because it's where Zach Polanski calls home. So we are in the south-east of Hackney, and we're on an estate called the Frampton Estate, which is one of the few estates in Hackney that's still run by the council. So we're looking up at a kind of art deco brick block. They've all got balconies running along the front of the buildings. Oh, you've got a special key to get inside. We can do this. If we roughly split into two groups, one group can head into Bridgman House and the other into Barclay House.

3:32We tag along with Rolf, a cheerful local dad who's standing for the Greens for the second time. In 2022, he was a paper candidate, a no-hoper who agreed to have his name on the ballot just to make up the numbers. Things are very different this time. He's been pounding the streets so hard that he's had to buy new trainers, which are fresh out of the box today. Where are you from originally, Ralph? I'm originally from the Netherlands. Right. But I've been living here for seven years now. What brought you here, work or love? Love. My wife, she's British. Is she? So, yeah. I've been with the Greens for quite a long time, basically since I moved in, because I was with the Dutch Green Party before.

4:08So it made complete sense for me to join the Greens here, which was back then, like, there wasn't even a councillor in Hackney. Now we patiently wait, see if there's something happening, do a polite second knock and just leave a small note that we are here if I can still find my pen While Rolf waits in vain for someone to answer the door I chat to a young woman in a headscarf and a tracksuit who's just arrived home next door She's a reach, she's 21 and she's studying chemical engineering So here's a potential green voter for you Rolf Hi, I'm Rolf I'm with the Hackney Greens I'm standing as your councillor What can I do with you?

4:48I was just going to ask, what are your main points and what are you planning to do as a councillor? Housing is a very important one. Road safety and cleaner air. But the most important thing is, what do you want me to do? I mean, I like how Hackney Council has done a lot for cycling, so it's made it much more affordable as well. But in terms of things to improve, honestly, I don't know, I feel like they're doing well. But there are definitely things that they can improve. So you said that you do think Hackney Council has done quite a few good things. That's a Labour council. Why wouldn't you vote Labour this time, or are you thinking that you might vote Labour?

5:23I'm not going to vote Labour because they're starting to divert away from what they wanted to do originally. And when it comes to Palestine as well, they've not done anything in terms of standing up for Palestine at all. And Green is actually doing stuff for Palestine, and they're saying that they're going to ask the council to stop funding them. What, the pension fund? Sort of investing in arms funds? Yeah, so currently the Hackney Council has like the pension fund and they are heavily investing in arms and we want to divest from that and actually invest them in council housing and things that are actually useful.

6:00That would benefit us. But is that your sort of primary motivating factor, Gaza? That is one of the primary factors, but also that, I mean, we can't just keep on voting for the same people when we see nothing changing as a whole. So why not vote Green? Especially because everyone else that I know is going to vote Green as well. So I feel like we can all get together and make a change, you know? Do you feel optimistic? Yeah, definitely. OK. Uno, dos, tres. Hits going Green, what a team! Hits going Green, what a team! We leave the Greens for their door knocking and walk back along Wells Street. A young man standing outside the number one cafe spots our microphone and asks if we're making content.

6:43I guess that's what a podcast counts for these days, so I say yes when we get chatting. He's called Ozzy and his family has run the cafe since the 1990s. And we were walking past this cafe and I was like, I think I've seen this cafe on telly. It's famous, isn't it? It's indeed become famous now, mainly for our appearance in the Netflix series Top Boy. Remind people who haven't seen it, what happens in your cafe on Top Boy? So Top Boy is basically a slightly, a little bit of an exaggeration of the real-life Hackney, but it does explain some of the things that was going on in Hackney when I was growing up.

7:18And so Hackney has been labour for many, many, many years. Is there anything that they've... And I used to live in Hackney like 15 years ago, and it has changed. It seems to have got a lot nicer, to be honest. It's definitely changed for the good. You can walk down the road now, you know, not thinking twice. You don't have to look at your back. And so the Labour Party would hear you saying this and saying, well, you say it's got better. We've been in charge for the past 15 years. Vote for us again. Why not? No comment. Why? No comment. What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about nationally, like things that Keir Starmer's done?

7:49He's one of the reasons as well. But there's lots of other reasons as well. Labour's definitely got to go. A change is good. A change for the better. The cafe is old school with wood panelled walls and four-micro tables. It's a proper greasy spoon with prices to match. I say, your prices are absolutely a bargain. Egg, chips and beans for£6 for auto. I've got to come back for it, haven't I? Yeah. I approach a woman who's drinking black coffee and reading a copy of The Sun. Sorry to interrupt. We're journalists from The Guardian. We're making a podcast about... It's in my paper, so you've got the right person.

8:20You're reading The Sun, though. I love it, because I have it here. I did not buy it. No judgement here. I support anybody who is reading a newspaper in this day and age. This is Geraldine, who's 72. We're making a podcast about the local elections, and looking at the Greens. They really fancy taking Hackney from Labour. What do you think? I'm not sure they'll take it, but I'm a kind of Green Labour, Green Labour kind of person, so I'll vote for one or the other, depending on my mood, I think. What do you like about the Green Party? Well, obviously the environmental issues come first. It's Zach Polanski, isn't it, his name?

8:56Yeah, I'm getting a bit old, I can't remember all the names. I think he's quite credible. He strikes me as a credible leader of a party. What do you like and what don't you like about Labour? If Jeremy Corbyn was a bit more sensible, in my opinion, I mean, I'm more his side of politics than the softer, but I found him just too... He lacked credibility for me, and I don't think there's been a replacement for that. I go up and down about Keir Starmer, whether he's credible or not, really, and I know he's not popular, and I can see why, and he puts his foot in his mouth a lot, I think. and are you from Hackney?

9:31I was born in Hackney, I was born in Victoria Park Road How do you feel about how Hackney's changed and has it changed for the better for you? Not particularly for me, I think I haven't got kids myself but I always think of people my age that have got kids and their kids can't afford to live here I don't like the fact that ordinary Hackney people can't afford to buy or live here it feels like your age group or whatever it feels like a real takeover bid and it's not that I don't individually like the people that are coming in and I think they're fine because I've chat to them down the market or I've got them as neighbours.

10:04But the whole nature of Hackney has completely changed. Well, it's changed about two or three times in my lifetime. You said that there's been new waves of people coming in. You said that they're very nice, you like chatting to them. What kind of people are you talking about? Younger people of your age, I guess, coming in in quite large numbers who have no connection with the area in any of its previous incarnations. And Broadway market's a case in point. I used to go down there and I'm on my mobility scooter, I don't go anymore, but I was always by far the oldest person by a couple of decades when I'd go down there.

10:38And it's like the bougiest, it's like the bougiest street, isn't it? Okay, I do know what that means, and yes it is. Yeah, you buy a sausage roll for like£7 or something. Exactly, I worry that the whole area has become, it's priced out all the local people that you see walking along the street here. they won't be buying houses they might be living in social housing still and I don't know how long that's going to go on for

11:06So we've left the number one cafe and we have crossed Mare Street into a very different Hackney So we're just walking into London Fields which I would say is the epicentre of gentrified Hackney it's where the heated Lido is it's where Broadway Market that the lady in the cafe referred to. It's a place that you can come, spend all your wages on gastronomic goodies and lie on patchy grass. We have to try not to get run over in the cycle lane. So I think there's loads of people. It's lunchtime, it's one o 'clock. Lots of people, sunbathing, a lot of working from home going on probably, working from the park.

11:46Should we go and talk to some people? My name is Claudio and I'm 25 years old. Sorry, I just took a bite. I'm voting green. Why green? Out of the options given, it's the best. I mean, Labourers are basically Tories at this point, and then what's other option? Reform. So it's green. What has Labour done that's put you off them? I mean, they have no platform. They continue to actively pass legislation that's extremely anti-protest and just like anti-human. Their whole stance on immigration. I just feel like Keir Starmer is obviously a puppet. Like, he stands for nothing himself. And the party as a whole just cannot get together and actually present something that the people actually want.

12:21They're just trying to be a watered-down version of the Tories. And even they're losing to reform. So it's just kind of like they stand for nothing. Claudio is Italian, but moved to London from Canada. EU and Commonwealth citizens living in the UK are allowed to vote in the local elections. I ask what he likes about the Greens. I think they're running a great campaign. I think they actually are presenting a platform to the people. I think they show that they're listening to the people. I just think the left, like globally and also within the UK, has been in a bit of a state right now. Like there is a whole Europe party with Jeremy Corbyn and Sultana that fell apart.

12:52so I think the Greens were able to kind of like welcome people that were looking towards Jeremy Corbyn and also I mean their stance on Palestine their stance on immigration is definitely in line with my own morals and values but I do think that like the political system is just clearly aging and it clearly is not really meant for nowadays so that's why they're the best options presented and they do represent me in some capacity but there's a lot of things that are inherently like I don't agree with but within the current confines of the system they definitely represent me the best And in terms of what you'd like to see change or be done differently in Hackney, is there anything that you particularly care about that you want to see change?

13:27It's a bit ironic for me of all people to say this, but I do think there needs to be more grace and consideration given to the local community. Like, I think it's great that there's so many transplants, but I do think that it is not necessarily always done with the community's best interest in mind. So I just think, like, pricing so many people out of this neighbourhood is a bit horrific to see, just, like, to know that I'm part of the problem. and there's really no way for us to exist without harming the community. I think the government needs to present better alternatives, both for the people who have been here and the people who want to come.

13:56Okay, and what brought you? Why did you move to Hackney? I'm queer, so it's just kind of like, it's a bit of a stereotype, but I think Hackney is extremely open. I think there's so many amazing queer young people here. I think the local community is also extremely welcoming. So I moved here on a Never Look Bug. And how expensive is it to live in Hackney now? Insanely expensive. Like half of my paycheck goes to my rent, but I just love the neighbourhood so much. All of my friends are here. Being able to be so openly queer, dress however you want, is something that I'm willing to pay the price for.

14:25But there's a reality that many people can't. But it is very, very expensive, just both in terms of rent and also just in terms of day-to-day. Like why are we paying£4 for a latte in East London when it's the same price in Mayfair? Like this is horrific. How much is your rent, if you don't mind me asking? My rent is, I have one flat made and it's£2 ,800. So it's£1 ,400 each. Oh, OK. Have you got a living room? Uh, no. That's a lot, isn't it? We hop on some line bikes and pedal over to Dalston. The whole journey I keep thinking, £1 ,400 for a house share with no living room. We're meeting Zoe Garbutt, one of the four current Green Councils in Hackney, who wants to be Hackney's mayor.

15:05Hello! Hiya! Hiya! What was your name for Helen? She has short, dark hair with a bright pink fringe and is fizzing with energy. She's waiting for us in Gillet Square where there are a bunch of guys sitting around smoking weed and listening to reggae.

15:22We walked together down Kingsland Road, Hackney's busiest street. I love it. This is like, honestly, like this strip is like one of my favourite parts of Hackney. Like I lived in Clisold for a bit during the pandemic and would visit friends in Dalston. But I'd come round the corner here and it'd be like vibing. and you can see the city in the distance and there's loads of buses and there's the market and families and people out and about. It's just so full of life. And until recently, people would describe Hackney as a Labour fortress. It's had Labour MPs, I think, since 1945. Labour's controlled the council for all but six or so years since its foundation in the 1960s.

16:00And yet you really think that you guys in the Greens have got a chance this time. Yeah, so I think it's part of just Hackney's story. I think when you speak to residents, they're really ready for a change. The Green Party have been really growing here in Hackney. In the 2022 election, we got 25 % of the vote, so a quarter of the vote. But because we don't have proportional representation, that's not shown in the number of councillors we've got. So we've actually got quite strong support here in Hackney. And we just know that from our door knocking, we're just at a scale this time that we've never been before.

16:30You know, I've been knocking on doors in Hackney for 12, 13 years. and at the beginning of that people used to just be like, oh, you want to talk to me about the environment? And obviously that is something we deeply care about but now we just get people at the door saying, oh, of course I'm voting Green. I think that has been a gradual shift in some ways but it definitely has increased in the last year with people feeling like the Labour Party has left them, them seeing what Zach Polanski has been saying on a national level. You know, our membership's hugely increased, we're getting hundreds of people out door knocking and people feel, they're saying they're feeling quite let down, either by Labour nationally or locally.

17:06I definitely feel like we're going to do well. I'm obviously quite optimistic, but we're not taking anything for granted. It seems that housing is the big issue that you're campaigning on and affordability. And when we've been talking to people across Hackney today, the affordability thing has come up time and again. Some of the rents that people are paying, private rents, unbelievable. And this is why I feel that when people say that rent controls don't work, I just think you need to look at what's happening now and what's happening now really isn't working. like, you know, increasing rough sleeping and homelessness, £5 million a day spent on temporary accommodation by London councils, people paying that much rent for such a small amount of space.

17:44And, you know, families can't live here. Like, our primary schools are closing because families cannot afford to live in Hackney and in London. And I just think we need rent controls and to get a handle on our rental market. It's destroying people's lives and communities. Do you really have the power as mayor to introduce rent controls? No, not currently. I'd love the Labour government to devolve that power, which is something we've been pushing through for the devolution bill. I think what the mayor of Hackney does have is the power to call for them and to back up those calls from unions, because that's what I've been doing as a London Assembly member.

18:15As soon as I was elected, I organised a rent commission, which brought together unions, academics, renters, to talk about what a rent control could look like. I mean, some people are quite sceptical about rent controls. What evidence is there that they actually work? Often I think that why people think they don't work is because they often haven't been designed properly. you know, like we had rent controls in the UK until the 80s, and it was changed in the Housing Act under Thatcher. So I think it's about creating the rent control that would work locally. Like, yes, there might be some mitigations.

18:44Like, yes, if landlords left the market and the homes went up for sale, like, let's make sure councils have got the money to buy those homes back to convert them into council homes. So I think it's about designing the rent control that would work for the city and for the country. With days to go until the elections, The Guardian learns that Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, is looking at bringing in her own form of rent controls, a one-year rent freeze on private sector rents. It could be a coincidence, or it could be Labour trying to give voters one less reason to vote Greens. I asked Zoe about one of the Greens' more controversial policies.

19:15And let's talk a bit about the Green Party's drugs policy to legalise drugs. I think you're one of the co-authors of that. Why do you laugh? I'm always happy to talk about drug policy. I love it. I'm like, yes, some questions about drug policy. And obviously you can't control drugs policy as the mayor of Hackney but what do you want to see happen? Yeah so the UK has the highest drug death in Europe. I think the current approach to drugs is utterly failing. We've got children and young people put at risk. We've got an illusion of safety. People like to make you think that our current approach is the safest approach and it absolutely isn't.

19:46We need to put the whole market and trade in the hands of health professionals who'd be able to properly support people. Locally there has been has been progress in terms of drug testing services and the rollout of naloxone which will reverse an opioid overdose but there's much more i'd want to do in terms of protecting and expanding drug and alcohol services but also being again a loud voice around what's failing i'd completely commit to hackney being a site of a drug consumption room which we've seen in glasgow so you can inject safely it's a space where people can use drugs in a supervised way because we know that the drug supplies become even more toxic.

20:22And is it something that comes up on the doorstep? I think it did a bit when it was in the news around Gorton and Denton by-election. I just wanted to read out something to you. It's become a bit notorious, this van that the Labour Party drove around Gorton and Denton. I'm just going to read it out. This was, I think, the day before or the day of the by-election. And it's this van that's got a picture of Zach Polanski and Hannah Spencer, who ultimately won that by-election on the back. And it says, To all voters, do not listen to these people. Do not vote for the Greens. they want to legalise all drugs and teach our children to use drugs, including crack and heroin, and let our daughters be used for legal prostitution.

20:57It's just horrendous. I think there's so many stereotypes and just horrendous scapegoating in that paragraph. I find it really upsetting. I also think, you know, our drug policy is about taking a public health approach to drugs. Like some children grow up in households where people use drugs, and our policy is about talking to people about what drug use is, about what they do if they're concerned about a friend. I speak to parents who've lost children because their children were too afraid to, they think, phone an ambulance. Taking a public health approach to drugs and talking to children about drugs is about safety.