Jamie Driscoll Joins Green Party as Newcastle Greens Build for 2026

Newcastle Green Party has today welcomed Jamie Driscoll to the fold. The move comes as leader of the party, Zack Polanski, is overseeing a surge in defections and support to the party.

Driscoll, former Mayor of the North of Tyne Combined Authority, said he has joined the Green Party because its values align with his own and because he sees it as a serious force in fixing Britain’s problems.

He told the Canary:

Britain’s a mess. British politics is a mess and it’s not the fault of immigrants. Food prices, energy prices, housing prices are all too high. Our economy isn’t working for workers, it isn’t working for small businesses. It doesn’t have to be like this. I’m joining the Green Party because I see an organisation that’s serious about running our country in the long-term interests of all our people.

Green Party surge

Driscoll joins a growing team of Green Party campaigners and councillors who are working year-round to deliver real change for communities across Newcastle.

Mothin Ali, deputy leader, said:

Newcastle Greens are showing what happens when politics is rooted in communities. Our councillors work hard every single day for residents, community groups and local organisations, and people are responding. Where they have a Green councillor, they want more. Jamie joining the party is a recognition of that local record and the values-led politics Newcastle Greens are building ahead of 2026.

Polanski added:

This is another example of the Green surge sweeping across the country. Jamie is a well known political figure with a proven track record of delivering real change to people’s lives. People are looking for bold politics that offers hope rather than fear, and solutions rather than division. Newcastle Greens are growing fast because they’re delivering for their communities. It’s great to see Jamie Driscoll choosing to be part of a party that’s building real momentum from the ground up.

Newcastle focus

The Newcastle branch is now the fastest-growing political party in the city, with more than 1,000 new members joining in just the past few months.

With all-out local elections in May 2026, Newcastle Greens say their focus is on growing their team, deepening community links, and offering a positive alternative to Reform’s politics of fear, funded by billionaires and based on managed decline and culture-war division.

Local Newcastle councillor for South Jesmond, Sarah Peters, said:

Jamie Driscoll’s decision to join the Green Party comes as Newcastle Greens position themselves as the only credible, values-led force for change, rooted in everyday action and long-term ambition for the city.

After 14 years of Conservative austerity, and with many communities still feeling overlooked and left behind by this weak Labour government, Newcastle needs hope, fairness and ambition again, not more of the same politics that have failed local people.

The Greens are the only party in Newcastle consistently offering bold, practical solutions – on housing, transport, climate, public services and community wealth. We’re the only party challenging narratives that pit communities against each other instead of tackling the real causes of inequality.

Featured image via the Canary