The poll comes hot on the heels of an Ashcroft National Poll (ANP) last week, which also put the Greens in fourth and ahead of the junior Coalition partners. The ANP poll marked the first time in a decade that the Greens have out-performed the Lib Dems in a poll ahead of a General Election.
The Green Party’s average polling score with pollsters YouGov has risen by three percentage points in the last six months. On May 22 2014, the Greens comfortably outperformed the Lib Dems in the European parliament elections both in terms of total vote and MEPs returned.
The Green Party, the only party offering a genuine alternative to business-as-usual Westminster politics, has challenge the broadcasters’ proposals to exclude the Greens from the planned televised Leaders’ Debates ahead of the 2015 General Election. Almost 200,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the Greens to be invited.
Leading political commentators have suggested that polling which puts the Greens ahead of the Lib Dems puts pressure on the broadcasters to invite the Greens in the interest of both democracy and fairness. The polling surge is mirrored by the Green Party of England and Wales’ rapid membership growth in 2014.
Here's is how some of the key political commentators on Twitter reacted:
Patrick Wintour of the Telegraph "On day BBC tell Greens they cannot join TV debates due to lack of increase in support, YouGov put Greens ahead of Lib Dems for first time."
Owen Jones of the Guardian "Greens will be rightly chirpy about driving the Lib Dems into fifth place in the latest YouGov. Labour back to 3 point lead. Not good enough"
Tom Newton-Dunn from the Sun "YouGov/Sun poll tonight: Greens push Libs into 5th for 1st time with @YouGov - LAB 34%, CON 31%, UKIP 17%, GRN 7%, LD 6%. Yet no TV debate?"
George Eaton from the New Statesman: "Tonight's @YouGov poll has the Greens ahead of the Lib Dems for the first time (7%-6%)."
Sunny Hundal from Liberal Conspiracy "YouGov poll shows Greens pushing LDs into 5th place for first time LAB 34% CON 31% UKIP 17% GRN 7% LD 6% They should be in TV debates."
Jon Stone, formerly of Politics Home "YouGov becomes the second pollster to show the Green Party ahead of the Liberal Democrats - 7% vs 6% http://bit.ly/1tiiJXm"
Owen Jones of the Guardian "Greens will be rightly chirpy about driving the Lib Dems into fifth place in the latest YouGov. Labour back to 3 point lead. Not good enough"
Tom Newton-Dunn from the Sun "YouGov/Sun poll tonight: Greens push Libs into 5th for 1st time with @YouGov - LAB 34%, CON 31%, UKIP 17%, GRN 7%, LD 6%. Yet no TV debate?"
George Eaton from the New Statesman: "Tonight's @YouGov poll has the Greens ahead of the Lib Dems for the first time (7%-6%)."
Sunny Hundal from Liberal Conspiracy "YouGov poll shows Greens pushing LDs into 5th place for first time LAB 34% CON 31% UKIP 17% GRN 7% LD 6% They should be in TV debates."
Jon Stone, formerly of Politics Home "YouGov becomes the second pollster to show the Green Party ahead of the Liberal Democrats - 7% vs 6% http://bit.ly/1tiiJXm"
