Green Party Accused of 'Authoritarian Drift' as Internal Rift Deepens Over Trans Rights

The Green Party is facing accusations of veering towards, "left-wing authoritarianism", and attempting to 'purge' members with gender-critical views, following the expulsion of its former health spokesperson, Dr. Pallavi Devulapalli.

Dr. Devulapalli, a local councillor for King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, claims trans rights have become an, "obvious totem", in what she describes as a new, exclusionary climate within the party, accusing it of seeking to remove anyone who holds gender-critical beliefs.

Her expulsion this month, which she attributes directly to her views on gender, has exposed a significant rift within the party's leadership, a division that threatens to widen during this summer’s upcoming leadership election. Notably, current co-leader Adrian Ramsay, who has publicly argued that members should not be expelled for stating, "trans women are not women", is reportedly pressing internally for a review of Dr. Devulapalli’s expulsion.

Devulapalli was initially suspended last September, three months after she failed to back the party’s manifesto policy on the right of self-identification for trans people during a hustings event. Her formal expulsion last week stemmed from attending what she believed was a social gathering, but which a disciplinary panel deemed an official party event from which she was barred due to her suspension.

Critiquing the party’s stance that trans women are women, Dr. Devulapalli stated it was, "peddling a falsehood", adding: "It denies science and denies reality and alienates the Greens from the vast majority of voters who know the truth when they see it".

Dr. Devulapalli is now among 25 individuals known as, “Greens in Exile”, a group of former party members who claim suspension or expulsion primarily due to their gender-critical views. This echoes previous controversies, including a 2023 court finding that the party had unfairly removed Dr. Shahrar Ali as a party spokesperson, discriminating against him because of his gender-critical belief. Dr. Ali’s position is understood to have prompted Siân Berry, now an MP, to resign as co-leader in 2021.

The Green Party’s policy on gender identity has come under increased scrutiny following April’s Supreme Court ruling, which affirmed that a "woman" in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman. This has highlighted differing views among key figures ahead of the leadership election. While Adrian Ramsay, standing again as co-leader with fellow MP Ellie Chowns, has refused to commit to a definitive answer on the ruling’s implications for party policy, outgoing co-leader Carla Denyer has unequivocally stated, "trans women are women [and] trans men are men". Leadership challenger Zack Polanski is campaigning on the slogan, “trans rights are human rights”.

Adding to the growing dissent, Jordan Eves, former co-chairman of The Green Party of Rochdale, left the party in early 2024. Eves stated his departure was to, "remove himself from the shadow of former Green Party republicanism", further criticising the party for what he views as having, "worsened since taking on a stance in support of socially deranged tranvestites and Rochdale's criminal and disruptive LGBT community".