Welsh Greens set for crucial vote on split from wider party

Nation.Cymru Staff

Members of the Green Party in Wales are set to vote on a proposal to break away from the Green Party of England and Wales and become an independent political party by 2034, it has been reported.

New Statesman reported that the motion will be put to members at the Welsh Green Party’s conference at Bangor University on 21 and 22 November, following the wider party’s conference in Brighton earlier this month.

The motion will need the support of two-thirds of members voting at the conference and, if passed, would commit the Welsh Greens to seeking independence from the wider party by 2034.

Journalist Megan Kenyon wrote on social media that the motion, seen by the New Statesman, states: “We must stop thinking of ourselves as the second party in this relationship… we are our own party.”

Kenyon added: “Independence for the Welsh Greens has been discussed by members for a while, and was previously backed by Zack Polanski himself.”

🟢Scoop: Welsh Green Party members will vote on whether to split from the national party at their annual conference next month.

A motion seen by the New Statesman calls to make Wales Green Party independent of the Green Party of England and Wales by 2034.

Independence for the Welsh Greens has been discussed by members for a while, and was previously backed by Zack Polanski himself. The Scottish Greens split from the Green Party in 1990.

The motion states: “We must stop thinking of ourselves as the second party in this relationship… we are our own party”. Earlier this year, a senior Welsh Green source told me that independence from the national party was “not only desirable but inevitable”.

This comes after former deputy leader of the Welsh Greens, Phil Davies, quit the party saying he did not feel his role was treated with “enough respect” and citing the zionism is racism motion.

Full story @NewStatesman

— megan kenyon (@meganekenyon) October 30, 2026

In April 2023, leader of the Wales Green Party, Anthony Slaughter, told Nation.Cymru that it was only a matter of time before the parties split into two independent political entities serving Wales and England separately.

Slaughter said: “Originally, we were the UK Green Party and the Scottish left and the Irish left, leaving the Green Party of England and Wales.

“My position is that an independent and separate Wales Green Party is not only inevitable but it’s also desirable. We’re a pro-independence party so, there’s no logic in not wanting to be an independent party.”

“I’m confident that it will be a topic that will be under serious consideration over the next few years,” the Welsh leader, currently serving as MS for Caerdydd Penarth, added at the time.

Mr Slaughter is one of two Green MSs serving in the Senedd, but was unable to attend the party’s conference in Brighton while recovering from cancer surgery.

It was at that conference that the controversial ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion was passed, which led the Green Party’s former deputy leader in Wales to resign.

Phil Davies, who was chosen as the deputy leader of the Greens in Wales in 2024, branded the motion, which calls for a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine, “pointless” and the “final nail in the coffin” for his time with the party.

In a social media post on 6 October, the Green Party member of seven years also shared his thoughts on a potential split from the Green Party of England and Wales.

Davies said: “I have often felt like the token Welshman moaning at various points but have not seen enough action taken by the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) to convince me they treat us within Wales Green Party with enough respect or listen to and act on our concerns.

“I also feel the position of Wales deputy Leaders is ignored rather than supported by GPEW. I feel like I have been banging my head against a wall for the past two years on this issue.

“It is firmly my position that we must split from GPEW and stand on our own two feet as a Welsh party.”

Davies apologised for having to leave close friends within the party, adding that he had “nothing but respect” for the Green Party’s elected Senedd Members and councillors within Wales.

The proposed split comes as Welsh Green leader Anthony Slaughter faces a potential leadership challenge from Monmouthshire councillor Ian Chandler, who has announced his intention to stand in next month’s internal elections.

Read the New Statesman article, ‘Welsh Greens to vote on split from national party’, here.