Jill Stein 'handed Donald Trump the presidency' by splitting support for Hillary Clinton

Labelled 'the Ralph Nader of 2016', after Green Party nominee who split the left-of-centre vote in 2000, helping George W Bush narrowly defeat Al Gore

Green Party nominee Jill Stein accused of splitting left-wing vote (Getty Images)

The total number of votes for the Green Party has exceeded Donald Trump’s narrow lead over Hillary Clinton in several US states, leading some commentators to suggest Jill Stein handed the Republican candidate the presidency.

In Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, Ms Stein got 51,463, 49,678, and 31,006 votes respectively, whereas Mr Trump won by a margin of 10,704, 46,765, and 22,177 in the same states, new figures show.

Most people who voted for Ms Stein would otherwise have been more likely to vote Democrat than Republican, analysts have said, particularly in this election where Mr Trump's denial of climate change and far-right policy proposals were the antithesis of many Green Party values.

Ms Stein has been compared on social media to Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate who is widely believed to have split the left-of-centre vote in 2000, helping Republican candidate George W Bush narrowly defeat the Democrat candidate Al Gore.

The new figures could fuel speculation that Bernie Sanders, who lost to Ms Clinton in the race to be the Democrat's presidential candidate, could have defeated Mr Trump if he had been allowed to stand, by winning over voters who are politically left of Ms Clinton.

However, as more voting data is revealed, Ms Clinton's performance in the election is looking increasingly impressive: she now has 2.5 million more votes than Mr Trump nationwide in the popular count, according to analysts. This is a wider margin than any of the past five candidates who won the presidential election.

If she reaches 65 million votes — she is currently on 64.9 million —she would be on par with Barack Obama’s 2012 victory and George W Bush’s win in 2004.