‘Relentless, almost ruthless focus’: Green party co-leaders grow into their double act

Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay at the party’s manifesto launch. Both could become MPs, with Denyer the most likely. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

For some viewers it might have been the first time they noticed the Greens this general election, but it was quite the impression. Midway through the first seven-way TV debate there was a brief pause after Angela Rayner and Penny Mordaunt had bickered noisily on tax, and another participant stepped in.

“Well, that was dignified, wasn’t it?” began Carla Denyer, winning laughter and applause from the audience. Leading a smaller party in an election tends to be a balancing act between strategy and simply getting attention. Thus far, it appears, the Greens have done both fairly well.