Is the Green Party poised for a political breakthrough?

As the Green Party of England and Wales meets in Bournemouth for its autumn conference, some of its members are excited about the end of the two parties that have dominated politics for the past 100 years.

- JOHN RENTOUL

In this analysis, the Conservative Party is about to be replaced by Reform, while Labour, having won a wide but shallow victory last year, is already so unpopular that it will be eclipsed by a progressive alliance of Greens, Liberal Democrats and whatever emerges from the faction fight between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.

The Green Party has just elected Zack Polanski, a member of the London Assembly, as its new leader, offering the prospect not of steady advance - the party won four MPs last year, up from one - but of a breakthrough into the big time.

When he was elected a month ago, he said his aim was to win “at least 30 MPs at the next election” and to “replace” Labour.

Reasons for Greens to be cheerful

Polanski ousted the existing leadership team of Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns by claiming that he could learn lessons from the way Nigel Farage had disrupted “politics as usual” on the right. He offered an “eco-populism” that would take on Farage by copying some of his methods - mainly a supposedly plain-speaking savaging of the old parties.