GREEN leaders set out the party’s proposals to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, housing crisis, NHS privatisation and water pollution as they launched its election campaign today.

They said the Greens are aiming to elect four MPs on July 4 in Brighton Pavilion, Bristol Central, Waveney Valley and North Herefordshire following successes in the local elections.

Speaking in Bristol, co-leader Adrian Ramsay said the party is offering “real hope and real change” to voters and backed bringing water firms into public ownership.

“Over the past five years, we’ve increased the number of green councillors five-fold, from here in Bristol to councils across Waveney Valley and from Newcastle to Hastings: Greens are on the up,” he said.

Co-leader Carla Denyer, the parliamentary candidate for Bristol Central, said that Labour is failing to offer the real change needed.

“We have the practical solutions to the cost-of-living crisis, building new affordable homes, protecting our NHS from creeping privatisation and cleaning up our toxic rivers and seas,” she said.

“People are disappointed by the way [Labour leader Keir] Starmer has backtracked on his promises on green investments, his weak offer on housing, and now we have [Labour health spokesman] Wes Streeting telling us that more privatisation of the NHS is a good thing.”

Ms Denyer said the Greens will be “prioritising tackling the housing crisis … pushing to give local councils the power to introduce rent controls in areas like Bristol, where the private housing market is out of control, and make sure the right kind of homes are built in the right places, at the right price.”

With the Greens polling at 6 per cent, the party’s former leader, Brighton Pavilion candidate Sian Berry, said their role, with a Labour government likely, will be “absolutely vital.”

“A big majority for Labour, who are seeking all the power, is a little worrying for me, for democracy,” she said. “There are so many people around the country voting Green, we need to be represented, and [Labour] need to hear from us in order to be bolder and better.”

Caroline Lucas, first elected in 2010 and still the Greens’ sole MP, is not standing for re-election.

She said she was unsure of her next steps but her commitment to the party “remains as strong as ever.”