Alan's Green Thoughts

The results of by-elections featuring Green Party candidates from this week were as follows: (27/07/16) South Hams DC, Totnes: Liberal Democrats 812 (44.2%, +26.7%), Green Party 499 (27.1%, -6.4%), Independent Labour* 391 (21.3%), Conservative 137 (7.4%, -6.6%). All changes are since May 2015. *The Independent candidate was actually a member of the Labour Party and had been selected with haste, but she was not eligible under national Labour Party rules having been a member of that party for less than a year prior to the close of nominations. (28/07/16) Haringey LBC, Harringay: Lab 1054 (46.2%, +4.2%), Lib Dem 765 (33.6%, +3.3%), Green 325 (14.3%, -2.6%), Con 99 (4.3%, -1.6%), UKIP 36 (1.6%). Newport UA, St Julian's: Lib Dem 948 (53.7%, +11.9%), Lab 432 (24.4%, -21.3%), UKIP 156 (8.8%), Con 135 (7.6%, -4.9%), Plaid Cymru 71 (4.0%), Green 25 (1.4%). Sutton LBC, Carshalton Central: Lib Dem 1250 (43.4%, +5.7%), Con 1061 (36.9%, +11.7%), Green 211 (7.3%, +0.4%), Lab 176 (6...

The results of yesterday's local by-elections that featured Green Party candidates were as follows: Hackney LBC, Hackney Central: Labour 1354 (75.2%, +11.1%), Green 178 (9.9%, -13.0%), Liberal Democrats 113 (6.3%, -1.1%), Conservative 101 (5.6%, -0.2%), Independent  55 (3.1%) Reading UA, Southcote: Lab 934 (64.1%, +0.2%), Con 381 (26.1%, +1.3%), Lib Dem 77 (5.3%,-0.9%), Green 66 (4.5%,-0.6%). All changes are since this May. It is rather unfortunate that there were only 2 Green Party candidates across the 12 local by-elections that occurred yesterday, especially when they came from far and wide across England and Wales. The Southcote by-election showed hardly any change for any party at all, but we sadly fell backwards significantly in Hackney, long an area of good Green support, despite fielding a former Young Greens co-chair (namely Siobhan MacMahon). This is possibly due to the 'Corbyn effect' even amidst the infighting within the Labour Party. There h...

Yesterday, Parliament took a vote on renewing/replacing Trident, Britain's nuclear missile system (actually owned by the USA, and costing £100 billion over 30 years at £3.33 billion per year) and shamefully voted to renew it with a majority of 355 when 140 Labour MPs (60% of the Parliamentary Labour Party) sided with the Conservatives to renew it despite opposition to it by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn; Crispin Blunt (MP for Reigate) was the only Conservative MP to vote against renewing Trident. The list of MPs who voted against renewing Trident (and therefore for scrapping this phenomenonally expensive and dangerous waste of space) include not only the sole Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, but also: All 3 Plaid Cymru MPs (Liz Saville-Roberts, Hywel Williams and Jonathan Edwards) All SNP MPs except for the two that were absent All 3 SDLP MPs (Mark Durkan, Margaret Ritchie, and Alistair McDonnell) All Liberal Democrat MPs except for Greg Mulholland (MP for Leeds North West; he ...

The results of yesterday's local by-elections featuring Green Party candidates were as follows: Islington LBC, Barnsbury: Labour 1192 (51.6%, -5.7%), Liberal Democrats 409 (17.7%, +8.1%), Conservative 367 (15.9%, -2.4%), Green 302 (13.1%, +1.2%), Independent 40 (1.7%). Newham LBC, Forest Gate North: Lab 1150 (52.5%, -4.0%), Green 681 (31.1%, +16.5%), Con 301 (13.8%, +0.6%), Lib Dem 57 (2.6%, -2.8%). North Norfolk DC, Astley: Lib Dem 319 (40.8%), Con 198 (25.3%, -30.7%), UKIP 133 (17.0%), Green 81 (10.4%), Lab 51 (6.5%). Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative. Wiltshire UA, Trowbridge Grove: Lib Dem 421 (45.9%), Con 196 (21.4%, +6.9%), UKIP 123 (13.4%), Lab 77 (8.4%), Independent 74 (8.1%), Green 27 (2.9%). Liberal Democrat gain from Independent. The public infighting within Labour caused them considerable damage, since in addition to their poor results here, they lost Byram & Brotherton in Selby to the Conservatives and were soundly beaten in the Marchog by-election in...

I initially planned to post this analysis last week, but due to the long time it takes to fully count votes in Australian elections and to transport postal votes, I had to delay it even though polling day was on 2nd July. There was a lot of potential in this election for a truly multi-party breakthrough in Australian politics in the House of Representatives, but due to the use of Alternative Vote (as opposed to Single Transferable Vote) and collusion between Labor and the Liberals to keep other parties out (by telling their voters to put the Greens, Xenophon Team et al. last in order of preferences) this did not happen. Our Green colleagues achieved that crucial second place in more divisions than in 2013, and in fact topped the 1st preferences poll in the Batman division in Melbourne's suburbs, but despite achieving strong swings from Labor those gains did not materialise in the end. However, the Greens nevertheless remain more popular than ever in Australia and a...

Earlier today, Andrea Leadsom, MP for South Northamptonshire since 2010, pulled out of the Conservative Party leadership race, leaving Theresa May, MP for Maidenhead since 1997, to run unopposed meaning she has effectively been confirmed as Britain's next Prime Minister. Despite the fact that Andrea's views on many matters in addition to her Eurosceptic stance lean her closer to UKIP than the Conservatives (in fact former UKIP leader Nigel Farage endorsed her for Conservative leader) mean that there are many people who prefer Theresa May to Andrea Leadsom, Theresa's record in Parliament and as Home Secretary shows she is no better: -In the 13 years she represented Maidenhead as an opposition MP (i.e. 1997 to 2010) rather than as a government MP (2010 to present), she voted for the illegal invasion of Iraq, against banning fox hunting, against an investigation into the Iraq war, and against bans on smoking in public places. It is for those reasons that the Liberal Democr...

I, Alan Borgars, candidate for Green Party Deputy Leader, believe Martie Warin should be our next Green Party Leader. And here is why: Martie has worked hard to get the green flag flying across North East England (and County Durham in particular), which is sadly the only region of England where there are no Green Party councillors on any principal authorities (unitary authorities and metropolitan boroughs, since there are no longer any county councils in the North East nor any district or borough councils). He has served well as a parish councillor in Easington, and therefore has already shown to have useful experience of elected office which all Green Party leaders should have or should get. Martie also has good experience of trade union activism, and environmental activism (which I also have, having helped fight a successful campaign to stop an incinerator being built in Hatfield where I lived during my undergraduate years), which are both particularly important in the c...

I am pleased to tell you that I am officially confirmed as running for Green Party Deputy Leader, along with six other candidates (three men, three women) from across England and Wales. Here is why you should vote for me: 1. I believe the Green Party can and will be a potential party of government in Britain over the next two years. Now more than ever does our country need systematic, fundamental change, and we are the ones who can implement that change for the better. We need to make ourselves a party that can be trusted with the economy, with our NHS, to deliver a fair welfare system, to have an effective approach to crime, and to deliver a fair immigration system whilst still advocating our four green pillars of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and nonviolence. 2. I promise to ensure that Green Party members in all areas-rural, urban, and metropolitan-are properly supported so that we can be available as an alternative every...

The results of yesterday's local by-elections featuring Green Party candidates were as follows: Luton UA, High Town: Labour 505 (39.7%, -13.5%), Green 273 (21.5%,+3.8%), Liberal Democrats 181 (14.2%), Conservative 141 (11.1%, -17.1%), Independent 102 (8%), UKIP 69 (5.4%). Mole Valley DC, Leatherhead North: Lib Dem 862 (56.6%, +23.4%), Con 340 (22.3%,-6.4%), UKIP 157 (10.3%,-7.3%), Lab 135 (8.9%, -7.2%), Green 28 (1.8%, -2.4%). All changes are since May 2016. Bexley LBC, St Michael's: Con 909 (37.4%, +2.7%), Lab 840 (33.5%, +11.5%), UKIP 456 (18.4%, -14.7%), Lib Dem 117 (4.7%), BNP 105 (4.2%, -6.2%), Green 54 (2.2%). These are the first local by-elections in the post-Brexit era of the UK. Far from there being any surge for the United Kingdom Independence Party, given that UKIP wanted Britain to leave the EU more than any other British political party, UKIP's vote share dropped sharply once again, most notably in Bexley where back in 2014 they finished second to th...