Exclusive: Labour MPs Mocked After Appearing To Ditch Red For Green

Labour MPs have been mocked after appearing to ditch their party’s traditional red branding for green.

HuffPost UK has discovered that at least seven backbenchers are using green backdrops on their social media pages.

It comes as polls suggest millions of voters who backed Labour last year have switched their support to the Green Party, who are now led by the left-winger Zack Polanski.

The seven MPs – James Asser, Danny Beales, Tracy Gilbert,Leigh Ingham, Uma Kumaran, Keir Mather and Oliver Ryan – have chosen green as the main colour on their X profiles.

While they all still describe themselves as Labour MPs in their bios, there is only a small flash of red in some of their profile photos.

See examples below:

Mothin Ali, Green Party deputy leader, told HuffPost UK: “This Labour government is offering no change and no hope,  and is scapegoating ordinary people in our society for a crisis caused by billionaire corporate interests.

“They are failing to protect the people they represent and trying to out-Reform, Reform.

“Labour MPs are running scared of the Green surge and are so ashamed of their own toxic brand, they are trying to steal ours. Dishonest and cowardly.”

Green is the colour typically associated with the House of Commons for parliamentary matters while red is reserved for the House of Lords.

All seven MPs have been contacted for comment by HuffPost UK.

Danny Beales said: “The House of Commons colour is green – and we are members of parliament in the Commons.”

The Green Party which has been rising in popularity ever since leader Zack Polanski took over in September.

While the Greens have just four MPs right now, some polls have put the former fringe party almost neck-and-neck with Labour.

In October, FindOutNow suggested both parties were on 15% in the polls, while Reform were shooting ahead on 32% and the Tories slightly behind on 17%.

Polanski has previously claimed he has had multiple conversations with some Labour MPs about defecting to his party, although no sitting MPs have yet crossed the floor.

Labour has certainly been struggling in recent months, despite winning a landslide in July last year.

The party is widely expected to take a beating at the May local elections and speculation that Keir Starmer could be ousted soon afterwards has been rife. 

In the run-up to the 2024 election, Tory candidates were also accused of downplaying their party affiliations on campaign leaflets before they faced historic losses at the ballot box.