In 2010 the television debates turned Nick Clegg into the plucky outsider. Since Clegg threw his lot in with David Cameron and the Tories however, many have assumed that it would be Nigel Farage who occupied the ‘Nick Clegg’ role this time around. Not any more, though.

This week it looks increasingly likely that Green party leader, Natalie Bennett, will be cast as the underdog of British politics – provided she can first muscle her way into the debates, that is. With their membership levels surging – apparently at the rate of one sign-up every 10 seconds – and poll ratings rising, many in Labour’s ranks are watching on with trepidation at the rise of the green-eyed monster.

These tremors have not gone unnoticed by the party’s leadership either who, conscious of the risk of a revolt on the left, last November convened an anti-Green unit led by Sadiq Khan to tackle the growing threat the party poses.

These fears are not unfounded. Analysis by Ipsos MORI shows that on current polling the Greens could cost Labour 17 seats at the election, many of which would be won by the Tories.

In an article for the Independent soon after he took up his new role, Khan told Green voters the choice was between ‘wasting their vote on the Green party – or choosing a green Labour government’.

He was right to highlight Labour’s excellent record on the environment and climate change when in government. Passing the first ever Climate Change Act, doubling renewable energy generation and putting the issue at the heart of the G8 and United Nation agendas. With Labour, Britain really did lead the world. These are achievements the whole party can be proud of.

But the question now is whether, in light of the Green surge, voters can really be convinced that voting Green would in fact be a wasted vote? It seems unlikely they can be. After all, Bennett is currently telling her supporters that come May the party will be controlling the balance of power in a hung parliament.

If they cannot be dismissed as irrelevant, how then should Labour respond to the Green threat? Well in the words of one former leader – get after them. Show voters what they really stand for and how badly they have done when they’ve been in power in local government.

There is enough evidence to suggest that this is far from an impossible task. Any study of current Green policies reveals there is enough there which will be anathema to many progressive voters.

Matt Holehouse has produced an excellent guide of current Green party policy here. It is astonishing stuff. My personal highlights were, an economic model based around being in permanent recession, making it legal to be a member of a terrorist group and prison sentences only when the offender is at risk of vigilantism. Absolutely bonkers.

Unfortunately most voters will not ever look at what the Green party’s policies actually are. Few people ever read manifestos after all, let alone policy documents on party websites. Instead they vote on a gut feeling level, based largely on how they feel about parties and their leaders, not necessarily a rational assessment of their own best interests. It is up to the whole Labour party to get the message about the Greens’ polices out to voters, but that on its own that will not be enough.

The challenge for Labour then is how to win back disaffected Green voters without alienating mainstream voters. One thing is for sure this should not involve entering into a bidding war on policy. As the Tories have learned from trying to outbid the United Kingdom Independence party, extreme parties will always be able to promise more because they know they will not have to keep their promises. Instead Labour must expose the risks that come with voting Green.

Fortunately, as well as terrible policies, the Greens also have a terrible track record of actually governing. Bennett’s party have controlled Brighton council since 2011 and a year before that Caroline Lucas won the Brighton Pavilion seat at the general election. Since then things have not gone well. Constant infighting among Green councillors, mad plans like putting livestock on major roadways to control traffic and a strike by bin men which left rubbish piled up in the streets for weeks, have all tested voters’ patience. They have not even been that green either. Recycling levels have fallen and are now 50 per cent lower than Tory-controlled Bournemouth.

And now faced with the prospect of losing power in May the Greens are putting forward an illegal budget, which as Labour group leader, Warren Morgan, has said ‘would hand control of the city over to the Tory government’. It is the type of crude political game playing, not seen since the Militant era in Liverpool. And just like then it will be the voters who ultimately lose out.

All the evidence both from Brighton and the party’s own policy document shows that having the Greens anywhere near running the country then would be a disaster and in fact voting for them will probably lead to a Tory government.

Labour must not make the mistake of letting the Greens scoop up potential supporters, instead the whole party needs to get the word out: voting Green is a very risky option.

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Rich Durber is a former speechwriter for a shadow minister and writes a fortnightly column for Progress. He tweets @richdurber

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Photo: jonanamary