Green Party (UK)
Encyclopedia
The Green Party was a Green
political party
in the United Kingdom. It has been succeeded by three political parties:
in Playboy Magazine inspired husband and wife solicitors Lesley and Tony Whittaker - an ex-Conservative Party
activist from Coventry - and others, to convene the short lived 'Club of Thirteen'. Though many in this 'Club' were wary of forming a political party; they joined 2 other members, Michael Benfield and Freda Sanders, to form 'PEOPLE' as a political party to challenge the UK political establishment, in Coventry during 1972/3. Subsequently recognised as perhaps the world's earliest Green party this had the first edition of the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society
as its statement of policies inspired by Blueprint for Survival
(published by The Ecologist
magazine). The editor of The Ecologist, Edward 'Teddy' Goldsmith
, merged his 'Movement for Survival' with PEOPLE. Goldsmith became one of the leading members of the new party during the 1970s.
Derek Wall
, in his history of the Green Party, maintains that the new political movement focused initially on the theme of survival, which shaped the "bleak evolution" of the nascent ecological party during the 1970s. Furthermore, the effect of the "revolution of values" during the 1960s would come later. In Wall's eyes, the Party suffered from a lack of media attention and "opposition from many environmentalists", which contrasted the experience of other emerging Green Parties, like Germany's Die Grünen
. Nonetheless, PEOPLE invested much of its resources in engaging with the indifferent environmental movement, which Wall calls a "tactical mistake".
In 1973 policy concerns included economics, employment, defence, energy (fuel) supplies, land tenure, pollution and social security, as then seen within an ecological
perspective. "Zero growth" (or "steady state") economics were a strong feature in the party's philosophical basis.
Membership rose and the Party contested both 1974 General Elections. In the February 1974 General Election
, PEOPLE received 4,576 votes in 7 seats. Following the election, an influx of left-wing activists took PEOPLE in a more left-wing direction, causing something of a split. This affected preparations for the October 1974 General Election
, where PEOPLE's average vote fell to just 0.7%. After much internal debate the Party's 1975 Conference adopted a proposal to change it's name to 'The Ecology Party' in order to gain more recognition as the Party of environmental concern.
, when John Luck took a seat on Rother
District Council in East Sussex
, and party Campaign Secretary John Davenport won a parish council seat in Kempsey
.
Jonathan Tyler
was elected Chairman of the party in 1976, and Jonathon Porritt
became a prominent member. With an election manifesto called The Real Alternative, the party fielded over 50 candidates in the general election
of 1979, and so qualified for election broadcasts on television and radio. The party received 39,918 votes and membership jumped tenfold, from about 500 to over 5,000.
At the 1977 Party Conference in Birmingham, the Party's first constitution was ratified and Jonathon Porritt
was elected to the Ecology Party National Executive Committee (NEC). Porritt would become the Party's most significant public figure, working, with David Fleming, "to provide the Party with an attractive image and effective organisation".
With Porritt gaining increasing prominence and an election manifesto called The Real Alternative, the Ecology Party fielded 53 candidates in the 1979 General Election
, entitling them to radio and television election broadcasts. Though many considered this a gamble, the plan, encouraged by Porritt, worked, as the Party received 39,918 votes (an average of 1.5%) and membership multiplied from around 500 to 5,000 or more. This, Derek Wall notes, meant that the Ecology Party "became the fourth Party in UK politics, ahead of the National Front and Socialist Unity".
Following this electoral success, the Party introduced Annual Spring Conferences to accompany Autumn Conferences, and a process of building up a large compendium of policies began, culminated in today’s Policies for a Sustainable Society (which encompasses around 124 520 words). At the same time, according to Wall, "the Post-1968 generation" began to join the Party, advocating non-violent direct action as an important element of the Ecology Party vision outside of electoral politics. This manifested itself in an apparent "decentralist faction" who gained ground within the Party, leading to Party Conference stripping the Executive of powers and rejecting the election of a single leader. The new generation was in evidence in the first 'Summer Green Gathering' in July 1980, the action of Ecology Party CND (later Green CND), and the Greenham Common
camp. The Party also became increasingly feminist
.
Due to the recession causing the marginalisation of Green issues, Roy Jenkins
leaving the Labour Party
to form the Social Democratic Party
(SDP), and the inability of the Party to absorb the rapid increase in membership, the early 1980s were extremely tough for the Ecology Party. Nonetheless, the Party were well prepared for the 1983 General Election
, spurred on by the success of Die Grünen
in Germany. In the 1983 election, the Ecology Party stood over 100 candidates and gained 54,299 votes.
at the Party Conference in Dover during 1985 after John Abineri
, formerly an actor in the BBC series Survivors
suggested adding the colour 'Green' to the name to fall in line with other environmental parties in Europe.
In 1986, a new internal dispute arose within the Party. A faction calling itself the 'Party Organisation Working Group' (POWG) proposed constitutional amendments designed to create a streamlined, two-tier structure to govern the internal workings of the Party. Decentralists voted these proposals down. Paul Ekins
and Jonathan Tyler
, prominent Party activists and leading members of POWG, then formed a semi-covert group called 'Maingreen', whose private comments, on becoming public knowledge, suggested to many that they wished to take control of the Party. Tyler and Ekins resigned and left the Party but Derek Wall
describes how the "wounds" left by the 'Maingreen Affair' lingered on in the heated internal debates of the late 1980s.
Meanwhile, the Party gained ground electorally. The 1987 General Election
saw the 133 Greens standing for office take 89,753 votes (1.3% on average), an improvement on 1983. The next two years would see growing membership and increasing media attention. This coincided with greater concern over the environment following the Chernobyl disaster
in 1986 and concern over CFCs.
The Party enjoyed evermore success. The 'Campaign for Real Democracy' launched by the Party allowed it to play a part in the Anti-Poll Tax Campaign
. The Party's greatest ever success came at 1989 European Elections
, where the Green Party won 2,292,695 votes and received 15% of the overall vote. European Elections in Great Britain were then run on a first-past-the-post basis, whilst the three seats in Northern Ireland were elected by single transferable vote
, and the party failed to gain any seats. According to Derek Wall, the Party would have gained 12 seats if they had been running in other European countries who employed Proportional Representation
. Wall
explains this "breakthrough" as a combination of the declining popularity of Margaret Thatcher
, the reaction to the Poll Tax
, Conservative
opposition to the European Union
, ineffective Labour Party
and Liberal Democrat
campaigns and a well-prepared Green Party campaign. That environmental issues were very prominent in UK politics at the time should also be added to this list. At no time before or since have Green issues been so high on the minds of UK voters as a voting issue.
As a result of this success, Sara Parkin
and David Icke
rose to prominence in the UK media. Parkin especially was in demand as a Green spokeswoman. However, the new media attention was not always handled well by the party as a whole. In the run up to the 1989 party conference, the party attracted criticism for advocating policies aiming to reduce the total population, proposals which were subsequently rejected. Further controversies included Derek Wall's intervention as a maverick 'Green fundamentalist' and rejection of possible alliances to establish PR.
Mainstream political parties were however alarmed by the Green's electoral performance and adopted some 'Green policies' in an attempt to counter the threat.
In this period, the Green Party had representation in the House of Lords
, the (unelected) upper chamber of Parliament
in the person of George MacLeod, Baron MacLeod of Fuinary
, who died in 1991. He was the first British Green parliamentarian.
In 1990, the Scottish and Northern Ireland wings of the Green Party
in the United Kingdom decided to separate amicably from the party in England and Wales, to form the Scottish Green Party
and the Green Party in Northern Ireland
. The Wales Green Party
became an autonomous regional party and remained within the new Green Party of England and Wales
.
Green politics
Green politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in the United Kingdom. It has been succeeded by three political parties:
- the Green Party of England and WalesGreen Party of England and WalesThe Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...
- the Green Party in Northern IrelandGreen Party in Northern IrelandThe Green Party in Northern Ireland is the Northern Ireland subdivision of the Irish Green Party, based on the principles of Green politics. It works in co-operation with Green parties across Europe, and was formerly a party in its own right...
- the Scottish Green PartyScottish Green PartyThe Scottish Green Party is a green party in Scotland. It has two MSPs in the devolved Scottish Parliament, Alison Johnstone, representing Lothian, and Patrick Harvie, for Glasgow.-Organisation:...
PEOPLE, 1973–1975
An interview with overpopulation expert Paul R. EhrlichPaul R. Ehrlich
Paul Ralph Ehrlich is an American biologist and educator who is the Bing Professor of Population Studies in the department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and president of Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology. By training he is an entomologist specializing in Lepidoptera , but...
in Playboy Magazine inspired husband and wife solicitors Lesley and Tony Whittaker - an ex-Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
activist from Coventry - and others, to convene the short lived 'Club of Thirteen'. Though many in this 'Club' were wary of forming a political party; they joined 2 other members, Michael Benfield and Freda Sanders, to form 'PEOPLE' as a political party to challenge the UK political establishment, in Coventry during 1972/3. Subsequently recognised as perhaps the world's earliest Green party this had the first edition of the Manifesto for a Sustainable Society
Manifesto for a Sustainable Society
Policies for a Sustainable Society is the codified standing policy document of the Green Party of England and Wales. As such it is subject to amendment by conferences of this political party...
as its statement of policies inspired by Blueprint for Survival
Blueprint for Survival
A Blueprint for Survival was an influential environmentalist text that drew attention to the urgency and magnitude of environmental problems....
(published by The Ecologist
The Ecologist
The Ecologist is a British environmental publication founded in 1970 by Edward Goldsmith. It addresses a wide range of environmental subjects and promotes an ecological systems thinking approach through its news stories, investigations and opinion articles. The Ecologist encourages its readers to...
magazine). The editor of The Ecologist, Edward 'Teddy' Goldsmith
Edward Goldsmith
Edward René David Goldsmith , widely known as Teddy Goldsmith, was an Anglo-French environmentalist, writer and philosopher....
, merged his 'Movement for Survival' with PEOPLE. Goldsmith became one of the leading members of the new party during the 1970s.
Derek Wall
Derek Wall
Derek Wall is an English politician and member of the Green Party of England and Wales. Formerly the party's Principal Speaker, he is known as a prominent ecosocialist, campaigning both for environmentalism and socialism. Alongside his political role, Wall is an academic and a writer, having...
, in his history of the Green Party, maintains that the new political movement focused initially on the theme of survival, which shaped the "bleak evolution" of the nascent ecological party during the 1970s. Furthermore, the effect of the "revolution of values" during the 1960s would come later. In Wall's eyes, the Party suffered from a lack of media attention and "opposition from many environmentalists", which contrasted the experience of other emerging Green Parties, like Germany's Die Grünen
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
. Nonetheless, PEOPLE invested much of its resources in engaging with the indifferent environmental movement, which Wall calls a "tactical mistake".
In 1973 policy concerns included economics, employment, defence, energy (fuel) supplies, land tenure, pollution and social security, as then seen within an ecological
Ecology movement
The global ecology movement is based upon environmental protection, and is one of several new social movements that emerged at the end of the 1960s. As a values-driven social movement, it should be distinguished from the pre-existing science of ecology....
perspective. "Zero growth" (or "steady state") economics were a strong feature in the party's philosophical basis.
Membership rose and the Party contested both 1974 General Elections. In the February 1974 General Election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
, PEOPLE received 4,576 votes in 7 seats. Following the election, an influx of left-wing activists took PEOPLE in a more left-wing direction, causing something of a split. This affected preparations for the October 1974 General Election
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
, where PEOPLE's average vote fell to just 0.7%. After much internal debate the Party's 1975 Conference adopted a proposal to change it's name to 'The Ecology Party' in order to gain more recognition as the Party of environmental concern.
The Ecology Party, 1975–1985
The party won its first representation in 1976United Kingdom local elections, 1976
Local elections were held in the United Kingdom on 6 May 1976. Elections were for one third of the seats on Metropolitan borough councils and for all seats on Non-Metropolitan district councils in England; and for all seats on the Welsh district councils....
, when John Luck took a seat on Rother
Rother
Rother is a local government district in East Sussex, England. The district is named after the River Rother which flows within its boundaries.-History:...
District Council in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, and party Campaign Secretary John Davenport won a parish council seat in Kempsey
Kempsey
There are at least two towns by the name of Kempsey:* Kempsey, New South Wales, in Australia* Kempsey, Worcestershire, in England...
.
Jonathan Tyler
Jonathan Tyler
Jonathan Tyler is a Green Party activist and academic.Tyler was an early arliamentary candidate for the Ecology Party, in the Walsall North by-election, 1976, at a time when he was a transport lecturer at the University of Birmingham. He was the Ecology Party's Chairman for some years from...
was elected Chairman of the party in 1976, and Jonathon Porritt
Jonathon Porritt
Jonathon Espie Porritt, CBE, is an English environmentalist and writer. Porritt appears frequently in the media, writing in magazines, newspapers and books, and appearing on radio and television regularly.-Early life and family background:...
became a prominent member. With an election manifesto called The Real Alternative, the party fielded over 50 candidates in the general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
of 1979, and so qualified for election broadcasts on television and radio. The party received 39,918 votes and membership jumped tenfold, from about 500 to over 5,000.
At the 1977 Party Conference in Birmingham, the Party's first constitution was ratified and Jonathon Porritt
Jonathon Porritt
Jonathon Espie Porritt, CBE, is an English environmentalist and writer. Porritt appears frequently in the media, writing in magazines, newspapers and books, and appearing on radio and television regularly.-Early life and family background:...
was elected to the Ecology Party National Executive Committee (NEC). Porritt would become the Party's most significant public figure, working, with David Fleming, "to provide the Party with an attractive image and effective organisation".
With Porritt gaining increasing prominence and an election manifesto called The Real Alternative, the Ecology Party fielded 53 candidates in the 1979 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
, entitling them to radio and television election broadcasts. Though many considered this a gamble, the plan, encouraged by Porritt, worked, as the Party received 39,918 votes (an average of 1.5%) and membership multiplied from around 500 to 5,000 or more. This, Derek Wall notes, meant that the Ecology Party "became the fourth Party in UK politics, ahead of the National Front and Socialist Unity".
Following this electoral success, the Party introduced Annual Spring Conferences to accompany Autumn Conferences, and a process of building up a large compendium of policies began, culminated in today’s Policies for a Sustainable Society (which encompasses around 124 520 words). At the same time, according to Wall, "the Post-1968 generation" began to join the Party, advocating non-violent direct action as an important element of the Ecology Party vision outside of electoral politics. This manifested itself in an apparent "decentralist faction" who gained ground within the Party, leading to Party Conference stripping the Executive of powers and rejecting the election of a single leader. The new generation was in evidence in the first 'Summer Green Gathering' in July 1980, the action of Ecology Party CND (later Green CND), and the Greenham Common
RAF Greenham Common
RAF Station Greenham Common is a former military airfield in Berkshire, England. The airfield is located approximately south-southwest of Thatcham; about west of London....
camp. The Party also became increasingly feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
.
Due to the recession causing the marginalisation of Green issues, Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
leaving the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
to form the Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party (UK)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
(SDP), and the inability of the Party to absorb the rapid increase in membership, the early 1980s were extremely tough for the Ecology Party. Nonetheless, the Party were well prepared for the 1983 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
, spurred on by the success of Die Grünen
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
in Germany. In the 1983 election, the Ecology Party stood over 100 candidates and gained 54,299 votes.
Green Party (UK), 1985–1990s
The party formally became the Green PartyGreen Party (UK)
The Green Party was a Green political party in the United Kingdom. It has been succeeded by three political parties:* the Green Party of England and Wales* the Green Party in Northern Ireland* the Scottish Green Party- PEOPLE, 1973–1975 :...
at the Party Conference in Dover during 1985 after John Abineri
John Abineri
John Abineri was an English actor.Born in London, he attended the Old Vic drama school and described himself as "Well educated from the age of five to eighteen"...
, formerly an actor in the BBC series Survivors
Survivors
Survivors is a British post-apocalyptic fiction television series devised by Terry Nation and produced by Terence Dudley at the BBC from 1975 to 1977...
suggested adding the colour 'Green' to the name to fall in line with other environmental parties in Europe.
In 1986, a new internal dispute arose within the Party. A faction calling itself the 'Party Organisation Working Group' (POWG) proposed constitutional amendments designed to create a streamlined, two-tier structure to govern the internal workings of the Party. Decentralists voted these proposals down. Paul Ekins
Paul Ekins
Paul Ekins is a prominent British academic in the field of sustainable economics. He is a former member of the Green Party.-Political career:...
and Jonathan Tyler
Jonathan Tyler
Jonathan Tyler is a Green Party activist and academic.Tyler was an early arliamentary candidate for the Ecology Party, in the Walsall North by-election, 1976, at a time when he was a transport lecturer at the University of Birmingham. He was the Ecology Party's Chairman for some years from...
, prominent Party activists and leading members of POWG, then formed a semi-covert group called 'Maingreen', whose private comments, on becoming public knowledge, suggested to many that they wished to take control of the Party. Tyler and Ekins resigned and left the Party but Derek Wall
Derek Wall
Derek Wall is an English politician and member of the Green Party of England and Wales. Formerly the party's Principal Speaker, he is known as a prominent ecosocialist, campaigning both for environmentalism and socialism. Alongside his political role, Wall is an academic and a writer, having...
describes how the "wounds" left by the 'Maingreen Affair' lingered on in the heated internal debates of the late 1980s.
Meanwhile, the Party gained ground electorally. The 1987 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
saw the 133 Greens standing for office take 89,753 votes (1.3% on average), an improvement on 1983. The next two years would see growing membership and increasing media attention. This coincided with greater concern over the environment following the Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
in 1986 and concern over CFCs.
The Party enjoyed evermore success. The 'Campaign for Real Democracy' launched by the Party allowed it to play a part in the Anti-Poll Tax Campaign
Poll tax
A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
. The Party's greatest ever success came at 1989 European Elections
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, where the Green Party won 2,292,695 votes and received 15% of the overall vote. European Elections in Great Britain were then run on a first-past-the-post basis, whilst the three seats in Northern Ireland were elected by single transferable vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
, and the party failed to gain any seats. According to Derek Wall, the Party would have gained 12 seats if they had been running in other European countries who employed Proportional Representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
. Wall
Derek Wall
Derek Wall is an English politician and member of the Green Party of England and Wales. Formerly the party's Principal Speaker, he is known as a prominent ecosocialist, campaigning both for environmentalism and socialism. Alongside his political role, Wall is an academic and a writer, having...
explains this "breakthrough" as a combination of the declining popularity of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, the reaction to the Poll Tax
Community Charge
The Community Charge, popularly known as the "poll tax", was a system of taxation introduced in replacement of the rates to part fund local government in Scotland from 1989, and England and Wales from 1990. It provided for a single flat-rate per-capita tax on every adult, at a rate set by the...
, Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
opposition to the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, ineffective Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
and Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
campaigns and a well-prepared Green Party campaign. That environmental issues were very prominent in UK politics at the time should also be added to this list. At no time before or since have Green issues been so high on the minds of UK voters as a voting issue.
As a result of this success, Sara Parkin
Sara Parkin
Sara Parkin is a former Green Party of England and Wales activist and politician. She rose to prominence during and after the 1989 European election, in which the Green Party received 15% of the vote...
and David Icke
David Icke
David Vaughan Icke is an English writer and public speaker, best known for his views on what he calls "who and what is really controlling the world." Describing himself as the most controversial speaker in the world, he has written 18 books explaining his position, and has attracted a substantial...
rose to prominence in the UK media. Parkin especially was in demand as a Green spokeswoman. However, the new media attention was not always handled well by the party as a whole. In the run up to the 1989 party conference, the party attracted criticism for advocating policies aiming to reduce the total population, proposals which were subsequently rejected. Further controversies included Derek Wall's intervention as a maverick 'Green fundamentalist' and rejection of possible alliances to establish PR.
Mainstream political parties were however alarmed by the Green's electoral performance and adopted some 'Green policies' in an attempt to counter the threat.
In this period, the Green Party had representation in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, the (unelected) upper chamber of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
in the person of George MacLeod, Baron MacLeod of Fuinary
George MacLeod
George Fielden MacLeod, Baron MacLeod of Fuinary, MC was a Scottish soldier and clergyman; he was one of the best known, most influential and unconventional Church of Scotland ministers of the 20th century. He was the founder of the Iona Community.-Early life:He was born in Glasgow in 1895...
, who died in 1991. He was the first British Green parliamentarian.
In 1990, the Scottish and Northern Ireland wings of the Green Party
Green Party (UK)
The Green Party was a Green political party in the United Kingdom. It has been succeeded by three political parties:* the Green Party of England and Wales* the Green Party in Northern Ireland* the Scottish Green Party- PEOPLE, 1973–1975 :...
in the United Kingdom decided to separate amicably from the party in England and Wales, to form the Scottish Green Party
Scottish Green Party
The Scottish Green Party is a green party in Scotland. It has two MSPs in the devolved Scottish Parliament, Alison Johnstone, representing Lothian, and Patrick Harvie, for Glasgow.-Organisation:...
and the Green Party in Northern Ireland
Green Party in Northern Ireland
The Green Party in Northern Ireland is the Northern Ireland subdivision of the Irish Green Party, based on the principles of Green politics. It works in co-operation with Green parties across Europe, and was formerly a party in its own right...
. The Wales Green Party
Wales Green Party
The Wales Green Party is a semi-autonomous political party within the Green Party of England and Wales . It covers Wales, and is the only regional party with autonomous status within the GPEW....
became an autonomous regional party and remained within the new Green Party of England and Wales
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...
.
External links
- Green Party of England and Wales
- Scottish Green Party
- Green Party in Northern Ireland
- Teddy Goldsmith - Daily Telegraph obituary