With its thatched cottages and patchwork fields,Wiltshireis a traditional true-blue Tory heartland; its county council is always dominated by Conservatives.
But this week, the Greens think they stand a good chance of winning their first seats on the council because people are so fed up with the main parties.
Zack Polanski, the party’s deputy leader, has been on a blitz of the rural areas ofEnglandtrying to drum up support. A vegan who lives in Hackney, east London, one might not think the country’s farmers and rural communities would find much common ground with him.
“The fact is, inequality hurts you no matter who you are,” he said as he prepared for a gruelling day of campaigning.
“Just yesterday I was meeting a farmer near Runcorn, while on the campaign trail for the byelection, and his land was contaminated by a chemical manufacturer in the 60s and 70s,” Polanski said. “It’s making it difficult for him to produce food. He’s really struggling to get anyone to do anything about it. There’s a misconception that farmers are wealthy, but many are struggling, and we have a climate crisis and a nature crisis, and ultimately, farming and the rural communities are going to be absolutely vital to that.”
He said he had been making the case for “green patriotism”, adding: “That’s about how do we make sure that our food is being as locally sourced as possible, that those farmers have those rights protected, and also they’re not being undercut by cheaper food standards around the world?”
Polanski said people were disillusioned with the mainstream parties and wanted change, which was giving the Greens and Reform UK a chance to cut through. TheGreen partyhas hugely increased its support in recent general elections, from 2.7% of the vote share in 2019 to 6.4% in 2024.
When the Guardian joined Polanski on a tour of Wiltshire, every single household visited said they would not be voting for the main parties – and many said they were choosing between Reform and the Green party.
Steve Traveller, a 68-year-old army veteran from Market Lavington, said this was the choice he was mulling. “I’ve always voted Conservative, but I didn’t vote for them last time. We needed a change. We were promised one by the current lot, but nothing has been done.” He said Labour’s decision to means test the winter fuel allowance particularly irritated him.
“The poor are still getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. I’ve nothing against Reform, I’ve nothing against the Greens, but I won’t be voting Conservative or Labour,” he said.
His neighbour Sarah, 57, echoed his views on the mainstream political parties: “I am sick of the lot of them.” She said she would vote for anyone who could stop housing development on the field at the end of her garden, as it would spoil her view.
Declan Baseley, 29, a former mayor of Chippenham, thinks he is in with a chance of getting elected to Wiltshire county council for the Greens this Thursday. “People want change,” he said. “Many tactically voted Liberal Democrat in the general election to get rid of the Conservatives, but people are so sick of the main parties that we do have a chance here.”
He said environmental issues often came up on the doorstep: “We have a sewage outflow near here into the River Avon, it’s unacceptable. Nature has declined all around our community. We actually reintroduced the great bustard into Wiltshire, it was locally extinct … [and] we have beavers on the Avon. If elected, I would be pushing for funding to further restore nature around the area.” He has knocked on more than 1,300 doors in recent weeks and hopes his hard work will yield a seat.
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Catherine Read, a retired radiographer, is also standing for a seat on the county council. “We came second last time in the Lavingtons, so I think we have a good chance,” she said, referring to the electoral area. Read had just been out laying new hedges to protect the barbastelle bat, which breeds in shrubbery: “We are so nature-depleted in Wiltshire and local people really care about that. If elected it would be one of my focuses to restore nature, there is so much opportunity to do it. We are surrounded by farmland which could be improved for nature if they had proper support.”
Brian Holmes, a 64-year-old horticulturist, lives near Chippenham and will be voting Green in the local elections. He said: “People are going to vote for change, and it remains to be seen whether they vote for the positive message the Green party is giving or if they will vote for Reform and its negative message. I am very worried about the climate denial from Reform and that we might end up with a similar situation they are having with Trump in America.”
Many farmers and other rural residents felt betrayed by politicians who campaigned for Brexit, and by the Labour government. For example, farmers have recentlyhad their subsidies frozen, after they were promised they would be properly funded for protecting nature after the UK left the EU. They have also been undercut in trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, and a damaging deal with the US is stillreportedly on the table.
“It’s the deepest irony of all that it is the communities which most vocally supported Brexit who are going to be most affected by the damaging effects of Brexit,” Polanski said. “I think that’s because the likes of Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson absolutely sold people a pup and told them that this was going to improve their lives, where it was very, very clear that this was going to be most damaging for their communities.”
It may look like the Greens have an opportunity, but their message has not cut through in the same way as Nigel Farage’s. The Reform leader has more than 1 million TikTok followers, far more than any Green, and is reaching a young audience. Polanski acknowledges this and said he recently met theleftwing influencer Gary Stevenson, who is followed by millions online, to discuss his social media strategy.
“Reform have cut through,” he said. “I don’t think that’s even arguable. I think they’re cutting through more than the government. They’re at the centre of all conversations at the moment.”
The Greens have to step up at this moment, Polanski said: “We need bold communication from the Green party as we’re at a point in politics where the one thing that is definitely certain is the status quo won’t hold up. So the question is, what is next? And the path we’re very easily on is this rise of fascism, of climate denial, the continued depletion of nature, for the pursuit of corporate capital. We need to show there is an alternative.”
He said he was alarmed by the level of anger and apathy towards politicians: “I think it’s an existential moment for the country, and I think the Green party has never been more important.”