Green party reaches 100,000 members for first time after Polanski becomes leader

The influx of members points to Polanski’s apparent ability to galvanise attention and enthusiasm for a party that has often struggled to get its message across. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

The Greens in England and Wales have more than 100,000 members for the first time, the party has announced, a near-50% rise since Zack Polanski took over as leader last month.

It puts them on a potential course to overtake the Conservatives and comes little more than a week after the Greens announced they had moved past the Liberal Democrats in membership numbers, getting to 83,500.