Day two of the Green Party conference started with a meeting of the Young Greens of England and Wales, the youth and student wing of the Green Party.
The Green Party is now the fastest-growing party among 18–to 24-year-olds, with the Young Greens standing out as one of the most significant youth movements in the UK.
‘We are growing much faster than other youth and student wings of different parties.’
It was announced by Callum Clafferty, one of two co-chairs of the Young Greens movement, that the Young Greens have recently surpassed 14,000 members, meaning that they make up nearly 20% of members of the Green Party, which means every 1 in 5 members of the Green Party is a student or under 30, an evident and essential stronghold for the national movement.
I sat down with Ciara Alleyne, recently appointed co-chair for the Young Greens and first appointee of colour, who told me about her excitement for the year ahead: “I am incredibly excited for the future of the Young Greens. I think anyone who’s in a Young Green space is very aware just how much our movement’s growing.”
“I mean, previously, there might have been a couple of young Greens in a local party, but now we’re seeing entire movements growing. Young Greens are organising all over the country.”
“Our membership has more than doubled in the last year, and from a personal perspective, I think it’s really, really important that we’re also diversifying our membership. I think in all of our Young Green spaces, it’s really clear to see that we are finally breaking out of that kind of bubble that we were in previously. We’re reaching out to loads of different and diverse groups.”
‘I think there’s a wide understanding within our group and across the sector that there’s something quite broken in education.’
The education policy working group were also meeting that morning, so I sat down with Sébastien Hine, the co-coordinator of the group, to understand what the main aims of the group are going forward: “In this particular session, we’re discussing our ideas for a national Council of Education and returning power to local authorities. We’re discussing ideas around making schools smaller.”
“[We’re] discussing ideas around adult education and looking at what progressive education looks like. We see that with staff turnover; teachers are leaving after just a few years. We are seeing that with special education needs and disability needs.”
“So, this policy is trying to set up our vision for how we would address that in the long term and our vision for an education system.”
Deputy Leaders’ speeches
Next came another landmark moment for the 2025 Green Party conference – speeches by the newly appointed Deputy Leaders, Rachel Millward and Mothin Ali. Introducing them was the Baroness Natalie Bennet, who currently serves as one of two Green Party peers in the House of Lords.
Rachel Millward then came on stage. Rachel clearly has a background in performing arts because, despite this being her second month on the job, she carries herself incredibly well, is mightily charismatic, and her stage presence is phenomenal. It is very easy to listen to her speak.
Rachel described the Green Party in a really unique way: “Beautiful, brilliant and dangerous.”
She then announced a historic moment for the Greens, as they had surpassed the Liberal Democrats in membership numbers, making the Green Party of England and Wales the fourth-largest party in the United Kingdom.
This raises the question: Why is the Green Party receiving significantly less press coverage than the other major parties?
Mothin Ali was subsequently introduced to the stage. The energy between Rachel and Mothin is very different in the best way possible; they definitely complement each other. Where Rachel is fierce and unwavering, Mothin is humble and wears his heart on his sleeve, attributes that are rarely seen in politicians these days.
‘Immigrants are the backbone of the NHS’
One thing that I can say with certainty is that Mothin Ali always stays true to his immigration roots (his family having moved to the UK in the 1960s), which was evident when his own words brought him to tears, encapsulating the pain that so many people are currently feeling towards the mass media’s response to immigration in this country.
Red Line for Gaza
Day two also saw hundreds of Green Party members gather on Bournemouth beach in solidarity with the suffering of the people of Gaza.
My second day at green party conference definitely made an impression on me. We are living through unprecedented political times and the Green Party are slowly but surely rising up to the occasion. I am definitely excited to see what’s next for them.
Featured image via Amelie Abass.
