Joshua Nevett
Political reporter

This was a revealing - and at times bruising - round of local interviews for the Green Party’s joint deputy leader Rachel Millward.

On the big national picture, Millward had a handful of key messages she clearly wanted to hammer home.

First, that the Greens had done well electorally under leader Zack Polanski, and second, that the party can “take the credit” for toppling Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister.

She said Labour's rhetoric had "shifted in our direction" under Andy Burnham.

Going forward, she said the Greens would push the Labour government to go further and continue calling for rent controls, nationalisation of water companies and wealth taxes.

But on local issues, Millward faced some tough questions, some of which she wasn’t able to answer.

For example, she was asked about the bin strikes in Birmingham, where a minority coalition of Liberal Democrats, Greens and independents run the council.

She said she hadn't "been given enough information to answer that question" and apologised several times.

"I’m sorry it’s not in my briefing, it should have been," she said. "I’m happy to come on another time and chat about it."

It was an awkward moment. These BBC local radio rounds can be tricky, with presenters often asking about issues in their patches.

Millward seemed most comfortable on national topics, arguing the Greens “have the power to set the agenda for this government” and hold Burnham to account.

We're now ending our live coverage.

Green Party deputy leader Rachel Millward has been talking to BBC Radio Bristol's John Darvall about housing in Bristol, which is now England's least affordable city.

Millward says Bristol City Council has done a "really great job of balancing the budget" and "bringing in more affordable housing outside of any authority outside of London".

However, the Green-led council currently has just over 18,000 people on the housing wait list and over 2,000 people in temporary accommodation.

She says local authorities are operating under a broken national system that the Greens are "fighting to change".

"We do have an appalling housing crisis, that's a national problem," says Millward.

"What we need is social housing at scale. There's only so much localised authorities can do because our very centralised system is completely off kilter when it comes to housing."

Millward says the Green Party want to see tighter rent controls.

"It is unreasonable, the system we are in at the moment, where young people can't afford to leave home because rent is just out of reach."

BBC Cornwall's Julie Skentelbery asked the Green Party deputy about the roughly 27,000 people currently on the social housing waiting list in Cornwall.

Rachel Millward said there was a "major problem" with the current planning system for houses, adding the system prioritised the "landowners' profit".

"What we would want is a planning system that prioritised social housing," she said, adding that her party would "bring in a rent control."

Millward said it was "astonishing how high rents have been allowed to soar".

She added: "We really can deliver an awful lot more social housing than we are doing and it needs to be a government priority."

When it comes to second homes, Millward said there needed to be a "balance"."I'm sure people in Cornwall will be very familiar that people can't afford to live and work there to serve that tourist industry," she added. "It definitely needs some regulation."

Green Party deputy leader Rachel Millward said she did not know the latest position on Birmingham's bin strike when asked for an update by BBC Radio WM.

Birmingham's bin strike remains one of the biggest issues facing the council. The Liberal Democrats, Greens and Better Birmingham Independent Group have jointly run the authority since May.

Asked why the dispute remains unresolved despite suggestions earlier this month from the council leader that a deal could be imminent, Millward said: "I haven't got the information. I'm so sorry. So I can't satisfactorily answer that for you.”

"Is Birmingham not important to the Green Party?" queried presenter Ed James, who called it "the biggest issue we have in our city."

Millward said: “Birmingham is incredibly important to the Green Party. The whole nation is."

The deputy leader was also asked if council tax would increase, to which she argued that “it does need changing".

She added that "we need a fair taxation model that basically asks the people who have the most, and particularly the super rich, to contribute more to our economy.”

Joint deputy leader of the Green Party Rachel Millward's series of interviews on local BBC radio outlets has just finished.

We'll continue to bring the key things she told each station here.

Matthew Cole
Political correspondent

A bit more from joint deputy leader of the Green Party Rachel Millward's interview with BBC Radio Newcastle.

Rachel Millward says her party is taking the credit for the Labour Party installing Andy Burnham as prime minister.

It’s quite a bold claim - but the deputy leader tells BBC Radio Newcastle if it hadn't been for the rise of the Greens - their by-election win in Gorton and Denton and their policy agenda - then the country would still be living under a "Starmer regime".

She offers praise for Andy Burnham - saying "it’s great to see a government talking about people's concerns". Yet she also caveats that statement by saying Labour is naming problems but not offering solutions.

It is a problem for the Greens though. If Andy Burnham starts pursuing policies similar to those Rachel Millward's party is calling for, how will the Greens respond and what room will be left for the party on the political spectrum?

Tom MacDougall
BBC North East and Cumbria

Rachel Millward tells BBC Radio Newcastle's Anna Foster that the Greens are still the rivals of Labour, despite Reform gains in the North East - such as in South Tyneside Council, where Reform won 41 seats to the Greens' 10.

Nationally, she says her party "can take the credit" for having "changed the rhetoric" of the government, saying Hannah Spencer MP's by-election win in Gorton and Denton has put pressure on Labour.

She criticises Reform, saying that "their claim of being with ordinary people is nonsense, they would take huge amounts of money from the public sector and give it to the wealthy - they're funded by billionaires".

On the idea of a wealth tax, she says there is "escalating inequality" in the UK, noting that the top 50 wealthiest families have the same amount as the bottom 50% of the population.

Addressing the issue of migrants in small boats crossing the English Channel, Rachel Millward insists the Green Party wants to stop the "horrendously dangerous" crossings.

"We need more safe routes so people can apply in a sensible measured way for asylum - when they are fleeing war, famine, genocide, the effects of climate chaos - so they can come into this country in a humane way according to international law," she tells BBC Radio Solent.

"We don't want anyone risking their lives on those boats on the Channel," she adds.

Hundreds of protesters gathered after a boat carrying about 120 migrants was brought ashore near Eastney Beach on 6 September. Anti-migrant protests were also subsequently held in Portsmouth city centre and at the former Haslar naval base in Gosport.

When questioned about the concerns raised about young men primarily being on the boats, she says: "It’s a treacherous journey and very often the men are sent ahead to take that risk on behalf of the family.

"When we did the Home for Ukraine scheme, we accommodated the same number of people in three years that have arrived in small boats in pretty much a decade - we can do this a different way."

She adds: "We need to remember our humanity."

BBC Radio Kent

A bit more now from Green Party joint deputy leader Rachel Millward's interview with BBC Radio Kent, where she has been discussing water companies.

She said believes the water system in the country is an “absolutely unmitigated disaster”.

Millward, who is the leader of Wealden District Council in East Sussex, said: "Without a doubt water proves the absolute disaster" of Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation policy.

"What’s happened is radical under investment in our infrastructure."

In November and December 2025, about 24,000 properties in Kent and Sussex lost water or had low pressure, and just weeks later up to 30,000 were hit with more issues.

"They [water companies] have been gaining money, our bills have been going up, and we have raw sewage in our rivers and seas," she added.

"It's an absolutely unmitigated disaster and that’s what needs reversing."

Ewan Murrie
Political reporter

Rachel Millward has told BBC Radio Kent that Andy Burnham is “very vague” on how he plans to tackle failing water companies.

While praising the prime minister for “acknowledging the issue”, she argued that his commitment to greater “public control” of water does not go far enough.

She said: “[Water companies] are already an absolute disaster, and what we need very clearly is for them to be brought into public ownership through nationalisation.”

Speaking to me ahead of her Local Radio round, Millward had said she expected to set out further details of the Green Party’s own water policy at its conference in Brighton this weekend.

Elliot Ball
BBC West Midlands

Joint deputy leader of the Green Party Rachel Millward has just been interviewed on BBC Hereford & Worcester.

Councillor Martin Allen quit the Green Party in August and defected to the Liberal Democrats after growing unhappy with party boss Zack Polanski's leadership.

The councillor for Worcestershire County Council said the Green Party leader was "not fit to be our prime minister".

The joint deputy Green Party leader Rachel Millward was asked by BBC Hereford & Worcester's Elliott Webb why people should believe in Polanski if the party's own members did not.

She said: "We've just had an absolutely historic successful year and we're up in the polls more than we've ever been."

Webb pointed out the Greens' net favourability rating had fallen from +5 to -19, according to YouGov. He also said polling noted that half of Britons saw the party as weak.

But Millward responded: "Those things go up and down, but honestly, we have more councillors than we've ever had, we have more MPs... the Labour government, what they're saying and what they're doing is massively influenced by the rise of the Greens last year.

"We've had a huge, huge impact," she said, describing the party as "in a really strong position".

The BBC local radio interviews with Rachel Millward are now under way.

BBC Hereford & Worcester presenter Elliott Webb is the first to question the Green Party deputy leader.

You can watch live at the top of the page - we'll also bring you the key lines here.

Joshua Nevett
Political reporter

Image source, PA Media

In the spring of 2019, hundreds of Extinction Rebellion climate activists occupied Waterloo Bridge in central London, bringing traffic to a standstill. Among the protesters was a University of Oxford graduate, Rachel Millward.

"I had this feeling that I had to step forward," she told the New Statesman. It's the moment Millward - who forged a career in film, arts and live music - started to gravitate towards politics.

The Green Party became her political home and she was elected in 2021 to represent the party as a councillor in Wealden, East Sussex. She then took on the co-leadership of the council in 2023.

Having cut her teeth in local politics, Millward successfully ran for the deputy leadership of the national party in England and Wales last year.

She has aligned herself closely with party leader Zack Polanski's "eco-populist" agenda, backing policies such as a wealth tax and ending British arms sales to Israel over the war in Gaza. But at a national level, her media appearances and profile have been fairly limited.

Today, she can expect some tough questions about all manner of topics in the famously tricky local radio round of interviews. Let’s see how it goes.

Joshua Nevett
Political reporter

Image source, PA Media

A surge of new members, a by-election victory and significant gains in local elections this year have turned the Green Party of England and Wales into a force to be reckoned with.

Under the leadership of Zack Polanski, the party’s brand of "eco-populism" has posed a challenge to Labour on the left of British politics.

But to an extent, a reinvigorated Labour Party led by Prime Minister Andy Burnham has eaten the Green Party's lunch.

Labour's polling numbers have improved markedly in recent months, suggesting Burnham may be winning back some supporters that had drifted towards Polanski's party.

As recent YouGov polling shows, the party's net favourability rating has fallen from +5 to -19 over the course of Polanski's leadership.

A series of rows over Polanski's social media posts and allegations he hadn't paid council tax haven't helped. Nor has an ongoing internal battle over how radical the party should be.

The party conference this week is an opportunity to bring back the buzz and fire up the party's base. Bolder offers on public ownership of essential services, and taxing the rich, are almost certain to feature.

But the timing isn't ideal for Polanski, who is contesting the Holborn and St Pancras by-election next week as the Green Party's candidate.

There's a risk the local campaign could be drowned out by the noise of the conference, where we're expecting some divisive debates about the party's policies.

Image source, PA Media

Deputy leader of the Green Party Rachel Millward will do a round of interviews with BBC local radio presenters this morning to coincide with party conference season.

We've been giving a similar opportunity to figures from across the main Westminster parties. The Green Party deputy is in the hot seat ahead of her party's conference in Brighton on Friday.

First up to quiz her is Elliott Webb on BBC Hereford & Worcester from 10:08 BST, with Katie Martin up next on BBC Radio Solent and Mike Ziolek on BBC Radio Kent.

They will be followed by Anna Foster on BBC Radio Newcastle, Julie Skentelbery on BBC Radio Cornwalland Ed James on BBC Radio WM.

Rounding out the hour with the final questions for Millward will be John Darvall on BBC Radio Bristol.

We'll be bringing you key lines from the interviews, which you will be able to stream back-to-back at the top of the page by hitting the watch live button.