Greens Minister likens party to 'populist left version' of Reform

The Green party is offering “simple solutions to complex problems” and making “undeliverable” promises to voters in advance of the next general election that could leave them disappointed, the prime minister’s chief secretary has said.

- Pippa Crerar

Darren Jones, one of Keir Starmer's most powerful ministers, said the resurgent Greens were “a bit like the populist left version of the populist right” of Reform UK, and that both were in danger of letting down voters.

Labour has fallen to record lows in the polls, losing support to parties on its progressive wing, as well as to Reform. A YouGov poll this week put it just four points ahead of the Greens, which were on 16%, more than double the 6.7% share the party won at the last election.

As Starmer returns from the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil, his government has been divided over how loudly to champion its green agenda given concerns about rising energy bills and increasingly unified opposition on the right to net zero targets.

In an interview with the Guardian, Jones insisted Labour was not rowing back from its green promises. “I can reassure people that’s not the case,” he said, citing the funding of renewables and insulation.

“Let’s be honest, a few years ago, there was a global consensus around net zero. There’s not now. So it’s contested space, but Britain continues to lean into that debate.”