Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Rod Liddle sits down with Rupert Read — emeritus professor, former Green Party councillor, and co-director of the Climate Majority Project — to take stock of the Greens' remarkable political surge ahead of the May 2026 local elections. With the party polling at around 20% and riding high on the back of their stunning Gorton and Denton by-election win, Read makes a confident case that Labour and the Conservatives are heading for a drubbing, and that the real contest now is between the Greens and Reform. He argues that under Zack Polanski's leadership the party has grown from 60,000 to 230,000 members, and that its grassroots candidates are more hardworking and dedicated than those of the old establishment parties.
But Liddle pushes back hard. He confronts Read with inflammatory social media posts from Green council candidates — including one who appeared to defend the October 7th Hamas attacks and another who promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories blaming Israel — and presses him on whether the party's sharp leftward turn and its embrace of voters drawn in primarily by anti-Israel sentiment represents a liability. Read acknowledges the "bad apples" but insists they are a tiny minority, defending the party's overall stance on Palestine as both principled and widely popular with the British public.
RupertRead.net
RupertRead.substack.com
twitter.com/GreenRupertRead
https://bsky.app/profile/rupertread.bsky.social
instagram.com/RupertRead
tiktok.com/@GreenRupertRead
facebook.com/GreenRupertRead
Edited excerpt courtesy of Rod Liddle & Times Radio,
Listen to full broadcast here thetimes.com/radio/show/20260418-32967/2026-04-18
Rod Liddle sits down with Rupert Read — emeritus professor, former Green Party councillor, and co-director of the Climate Majority Project — to take stock of the Greens' remarkable political surge ahead of the May 2026 local elections. With the party polling at around 20% and riding high on the back of their stunning Gorton and Denton by-election win, Read makes a confident case that Labour and the Conservatives are heading for a drubbing, and that the real contest now is between the Greens and Reform. He argues that under Zack Polanski's leadership the party has grown from 60,000 to 230,000 members, and that its grassroots candidates are more hardworking and dedicated than those of the old establishment parties.
But Liddle pushes back hard. He confronts Read with inflammatory social media posts from Green council candidates — including one who appeared to defend the October 7th Hamas attacks and another who promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories blaming Israel — and presses him on whether the party's sharp leftward turn and its embrace of voters drawn in primarily by anti-Israel sentiment represents a liability. Read acknowledges the "bad apples" but insists they are a tiny minority, defending the party's overall stance on Palestine as both principled and widely popular with the British public.
RupertRead.net
RupertRead.substack.com
twitter.com/GreenRupertRead
https://bsky.app/profile/rupertread.bsky.social
instagram.com/RupertRead
tiktok.com/@GreenRupertRead
facebook.com/GreenRupertRead
Edited excerpt courtesy of Rod Liddle & Times Radio,
Listen to full broadcast here thetimes.com/radio/show/20260418-32967/2026-04-18
