Jeremy Corbyn has ruled out an alliance with the Green Party, arguing they aren’t leftwing enough.
The Independent MP also said the Greens are too frequently in “eternal, riven debate” over what they stood for him to let them join his new party.
But he added that he’d be able to work with the party on specific issues.
“We’re not forming an alliance” with the Greens, he told Owen Jones.
He said: “Would we work with them? Yes, on issues. Generally we would agree on environmental issues, we would agree on social justice issues.
“They are not a socialist organisation and they seem to me into an eternal, riven debate between trying to appeal to a sort of semi-conservative voting suburban electorate as opposed to a committed, environmentally conscious electorate.
“So yes, we work with them in Parliament and yes, we would co-operate, but we’re not forming an alliance with them.
“They don’t want to form an alliance with us. But we do recognise each other’s positions and I think we will come to some good positions and good agreements in the future.”
Zack Polanski, who is set to be the next leader, however, has revealed he is “open to working with anyone who’s up for challenging the far-Right threat of Reform and this unpopular Labour government”.
He told The Guardian: “Exactly what this might possibly look like with regard to any sort of arrangement is a bridge I’ll cross further down the line and will be in the hands of Green Party members. The new party doesn’t exist yet, and 2029 is some way off.”