The Green Party of England and Wales has pried Lewisham and Lambeth from the cold, dead hands of Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party, marking the end of an era and the beginning of a very leafy one.
In Lewisham, the Greens won a majority, prompting leader Zack Polanski to declare his party was "replacing" Labour - a statement that's either a political analysis or a threat, depending on your shade of red. In Lambeth, they gained 27 seats to become the largest party, though they fell just short of an overall majority, likely because even political revolutions need a little patience.
Overall, the Greens gained more than 440 councillors across England and won their first-ever elected mayors in Hackney and Lewisham. This means they now control three councils in the capital, along with Waltham Forest and Hackney in north-east London. In Lewisham - where Labour held the title of largest party since 1968 - the Greens toppled a huge majority, winning 40 seats. For perspective, the last time that council was up for election in 2022, Labour won every single seat. Oops.
In Lambeth, the Greens gained 27 seats, pushing Labour out of power for the first time since 2006. The party also made big gains in Hackney and Islington, where Labour held on to power despite a Green surge - think of it as a political cling-on. Outside the capital, the Green Party's best result was in Norwich, where it took control of the city council from Labour, and Hastings, where no single party was previously in control. It also picked up seats in Salford, Oxford, Southampton, Exeter, and Manchester, where it made 17 gains among the 32 seats up for grabs.
In Wales, the party saw its first two members elected to the Senedd, while the Scottish Greens also won their first-ever constituencies in Holyrood elections. On Friday, Polanski declared two-party politics "dead and buried," arguing the "new politics is Green Party versus Reform." While Green gains were more modest than those of Reform UK, they still represented the party's best election result ever. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter if you want to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster, or just watch the grass grow.