The
Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) is a
political partyA 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
England and WalesEngland and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
which follows the traditions of
Green politicsGreen politics is a political ideology that aims for the creation of an ecologically sustainable society rooted in environmentalism, social liberalism, and grassroots democracy...
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 semi-autonomous
Wales Green PartyThe 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....
. The party currently has one
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the House of Commons,
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
, who represents the constituency of Brighton Pavilion, and who is also the current party leader. They also have two
MEPsA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
in the
European ParliamentThe 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...
and two members of the
London AssemblyThe London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...
, as well as 147 councillors in various local councils across England and Wales.
The Green Party of England and Wales was created in 1990 when the former UK
Green PartyThe 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 :...
, which itself had grown out of the 1970s’ PEOPLE party, devolved into separate parties for
ScotlandThe 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:...
,
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...
, and England and Wales. It currently has friendly relations with its Scottish and Northern Irish counterparts, and is affiliated with the
Global GreensThe Global Greens is a global network of Green parties and political movements. It was founded in 2001 in Canberra, Australia at the First Global Greens Congress, where the Global Green Charter was approved. The Second Global Greens Congress was held in 2008 in Sao Paolo, Brazil...
and the
European Green PartyThe European Green Party is the Green political party at European level. As such it is a federation of green parties in Europe.-History:...
. While primarily known as an environmentalist party, it has a history of support for communitarian economic policies, including well-funded, although locally controlled, public services within the confines of a steady-state economy. The party is strongly supportive of proportional representation and follows a line of
euroscepticismEuroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
based on its suspicion of the domination of European policy-making by corporate interests. It takes a liberal approach to social policies such as
animal rightsAnimal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
, LGBT rights and
drug policy reformDrug policy reform, also known as drug law reform, is a term used to describe proposed changes to the way most governments respond to the socio-cultural influence on perception of psychoactive substance use...
.
The Green Party of England and Wales won its first seat in the House of Commons in the 2010 general election, following its the election of its first two MEPs in 1999.
History
The Green Party of England and Wales has its roots in the
PEOPLE party started in 1972/3 by a group of four professional friends in Coventry (Michael Benfield, Freda Sanders, Tony & Lesley Whittaker). It changed its name to the
Ecology Party in 1975, and to the
Green Party ten years later. In 1990, the part of the "Green Party" that was in England and Wales became
The Green Party of England and Wales, although it is registered with the
Electoral CommissionThe Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections...
simply as
Green Party.
Present
In the 1999 European elections, two Greens were elected
Members of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
(MEPs), Dr
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
(
South East EnglandSouth East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 10 Members of the European Parliament using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
) and
Jean LambertJean Denise Lambert is an English politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the London Region. A member of the Green Party of England and Wales, she has been an MEP since 1999...
(
LondonLondon is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :The constituency corresponds to Greater London, in the south east of the United Kingdom....
). They retained their seats in the
2004 European electionsThe European Parliament election, 2004 was the UK part of the European Parliament election, 2004. It was held on 10 June. It was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom using postal-only voting in four areas. It coincided with local and London elections.The Conservative Party...
, despite a reduction in number of seats available. Overall, the Party gained 1,033,093 votes in the 2004 European election.
However, the Greens have not yet managed to break through in other European electoral regions in the UK or the Welsh Assembly.
Three Greens were elected to the first
London AssemblyThe London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...
. It currently has two Green Party members out of 25,
Darren JohnsonDarren Paul Johnson is an English politician and prominent member of the Green Party of England and Wales...
and
Jenny JonesJenny Jones is an English politician and prominent member of the Green Party of England and Wales. She currently represents the Green Party in the London Assembly, and is standing to be Mayor of London in the 2012 elections. She was Deputy Mayor of London from May 2003 to June 2004...
.
The Green Party achieved its highest-ever UK General Election result in the
2005 General ElectionThe United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
with a total of 281,780 votes. It went on to win 258,954 votes in England in the 2010 General Election, and 6,293 in Wales. Party leader
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
won the Brighton Pavilion seat.
The party had 136
local councillorsThe pattern of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom, because England does not have a devolved...
following the 2011 local elections. The Greens are the biggest party and administration on
Brighton & Hove City CouncilBrighton and Hove is a unitary authority area and city on the south coast of England. It is England's most populous seaside resort.In 1997 Brighton and Hove were joined to form the unitary authority of Brighton and Hove, which was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II as part of the millennium...
. They also have significant representation on
Lancaster City CouncilThe City of Lancaster , is a local government district of Lancashire, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Lancaster, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Morecambe, Heysham, and Carnforth, as well as...
,
NorwichNorwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
,
LewishamThe London Borough of Lewisham is a London borough in south-east London, England and forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham...
,
Oxford City CouncilThe Oxford City Council provides local government for the city of Oxford in England.- Overview :Between the 2004 local elections, and 2010 the council was in minority administration, first by councillors from the Labour Party, with the Liberal Democrats being the official opposition...
,
Oxfordshire County CouncilOxfordshire County Council, established in 1889, is the county council, or upper-tier local authority, for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire, in the South East of England, an elected body responsible for the most strategic local government services in the county.-History:County Councils...
,
Kirklees CouncilThe Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 401,000 and includes the settlements of Batley, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Denby Dale, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Kirkburton, Marsden, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite...
,
Solihull Metropolitan Borough CouncilSolihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
and
Stroud District CouncilStroud is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England. It is named after its largest town, Stroud, and has its administrative headquarters in Ebley Mill, in the Ebley area on the outskirts of the town.thumb |left |Ebley Mill...
. The Green Party is the official opposition on Norwich City Council.
The Green Party of England and Wales had one member of the (unelected)
House of LordsThe 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 Upper Chamber of Parliament,
Lord Beaumont of WhitleyTimothy Wentworth Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley was a United Kingdom politician and an Anglican clergyman. He was politically active, successively, in the Liberal Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party...
, who died in 2008.
According to MORI, Green issues are currently rated as importantly as during the Green Party's last high point in the late 1980s. The party currently has record local candidate numbers and high electoral support.
The party held its first-ever leadership election in September 2008.
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
was elected Leader, and
Adrian RamsayAdrian Philip Ramsay is an English politician and Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. First elected at the age of 21 in 2003, he was a Green Party councillor representing Nelson Ward on Norwich City Council, where he was Coordinator of a fourteen-strong Green groupuing and the...
Deputy Leader.
2009 European Parliament election
In the
June 2009 European Parliament electionThe European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after...
the party secured 1,223,303 votes or 8.7% of the popular vote compared to its 2004 vote share of 6.1%. Green MEPs
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
in the South East and
Jean LambertJean Denise Lambert is an English politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the London Region. A member of the Green Party of England and Wales, she has been an MEP since 1999...
in London were re-elected. The Greens came first in
NorwichNorwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
with 25%,
OxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
with 26% and Brighton and Hove with 31%, the latter a clear 6000 votes ahead of the
ConservativesThe 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...
in second place, but despite making steady progress all over the country with its share of the vote substantially increasing compared to the
2004 European Parliament electionThe European Parliament election, 2004 was the UK part of the European Parliament election, 2004. It was held on 10 June. It was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom using postal-only voting in four areas. It coincided with local and London elections.The Conservative Party...
, it failed to gain any extra
MEPsA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
. This is thought to have been partly because of the
re-apportionmentApportionment in the European Parliament relates to the distribution of legislative seats in the European Parliament among the states of the European Union...
of seats from 78 to 72.
The regional breakdown of the vote was as follows:
| Constituency | Candidates | Votes | % | ±% |
| East Midlands East Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 5 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
|
Sue Blount, Richard Mallender, Ashley Baxter, Matthew Follett, Barney Smith |
83,939 |
6.8 |
+1.4 |
| East of England East of England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 7 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
|
Rupert ReadRupert Read is an academic and a Green Party politician in England. He is currently a city councillor in Norwich, and a Reader in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia.Read comments regularly through the Eastern Daily Press 'One World Column'...
, Peter Lynn, James Abbott, Marc Scheimann, Angela Thomson, Andrew Stringer, Amy Drayson |
141,016 |
8.8 |
+3.2 |
| London London is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :The constituency corresponds to Greater London, in the south east of the United Kingdom....
|
Jean Lambert MEPJean Denise Lambert is an English politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the London Region. A member of the Green Party of England and Wales, she has been an MEP since 1999...
, Ute Michel, Shahrar Ali, Joseph Healy, Miranda Dunn, Shasha Khan, George Graham, Priya Shah |
190,589 |
10.9 |
+2.5 |
| North East England North East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 3 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
|
Shirley Ford, Iris Ryder, Nic Best |
34,081 |
5.8 |
+1.0 |
| North West England North West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For the 2009 elections it elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.-Boundaries:...
|
Peter Cranie, Maria Whitelegg, Ruth Bergan, Samir Chatterjee, Jill Perry, Justine Hall, Margaret Westbrook, Geoff Smith |
127,133 |
7.7 |
+2.1 |
| South East England South East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 10 Members of the European Parliament using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
|
Caroline Lucas MEPCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
, Keith Taylor, Derek WallDerek 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...
, Miriam Kennet, Jason Kitcat, Hazel Dawe, Jonathan Essex, Matthew Ledbury, Steve Dawe, Beverley Golden |
271,506 |
11.6 |
+3.8 |
| South West England South West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, reduced from 7 in 2004.-Boundaries:...
|
Ricky Knight, Roger Creagh-Osborne, Molly Scott Cato, Richard Lawson, Chloë Somers, David Taylor |
144,179 |
9.3 |
+2.1 |
West MidlandsWest Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elected 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. The constituency will also elect a "virtual MEP" who will be able to sit in the Parliament if the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect...
|
Felicity Norman, Peter Tinsley, Chris Williams, Ian Davison, Vicky Dunn, Dave Wall |
88,244 |
6.2 |
+1.1 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
|
Martin Hemingway, Shan Oakes, Leslie Rowe, Kevin Warnes, Lesley Hedges, Steve Barnard |
104,456 |
8.5 |
+2.8 |
| Wales Wales is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 4 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
|
Jake Griffiths, Kay Roney, Ann Were, John Matthews |
38,160 |
5.6 |
+2.0 |
2010 UK General Election
The Green Party fielded more than 300 candidates for the 2010 general election. Party leader
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
became the first Green candidate to gain a seat in Westminster, after being elected MP for Brighton Pavilion by a margin of 1,252 votes.
Policy
The Green Party was founded to counter what it sees as threats to the environment, but it has always had social equity and justice at its core. Like other parties, it produces a new manifesto for each election, but it also maintains a long-term strategy known as the
Policies for a Sustainable Society (PSS). This document contains the
Philosophical Basis and a statement of the
Core Values of the party, as well as detailed policies on a range of issues. The document is around 124,520 words long.
Tuition fees
The Green Party opposes tuition fees for Higher Education and campaigns for universally accessible, free education, with a focus on vocational, as well as academic education. The party gave free membership to students and people under 30 years old throughout December 2010 through to the end of January 2011 as part of their campaign against the rise in tuition fees.
Animal welfare, farming and food
The Green Party is opposed to all animal experiments and believes in replacing them with non-animal alternatives. It also wants to end
factory farmingFactory farming is a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption...
and
badger-baitingBadger-baiting or badger baiting is a blood sport in which badgers are baited. A baiting session typically results in the death of the badger, and possibly serious injuries to the dogs.-Background:...
. The party seeks to ban
live exportLive export is the transport of living farm animals usually across either state or national borders.Animal charities say that thousands of animals die en route from disease, heat exhaustion, thirst, suffocation, and crush injuries. The National Hog Farmer reports that 420,000 pigs are crippled and...
s,
genetic engineeringGenetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
,
patenting of animalsA biological patent is a patent relating to an invention or discovery in biology. It can be a composition of matter, a method for obtaining or using one or more thereof, or a product combining such things...
,
blood sportBloodsport or blood sport is any sport or entertainment that involves violence against animals.Bloodsport includes coursing or beagling, combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, or other activities...
s,
circusA circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
es,
zooA zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
s except for the benefit of the animals concerned,
sealSeal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
and
fur productsFur clothing is clothing made of the fur of animals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing; thought to have been widely used as hominids first expanded outside of Africa. Some view fur as luxurious and warm; others reject it due to moral beliefs...
.
It proposes an end to the
Common Agricultural PolicyThe Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....
subsidisation of industrial
agribusinessIn agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....
that in 2007 gave almost half of the UK's €6.45 bn subsidy to 10% of the biggest recipients. Instead it supports the subsidisation of local consumption and
organic farmingOrganic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
in small
free rangethumb|250px|Free-range chickens being fed outdoors.Free range is a term which outside of the United States denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals are allowed to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner. In the United States, USDA regulations apply only to poultry and...
units with an eventual aim of phasing out all forms of
intensive farmingIntensive farming or intensive agriculture is an agricultural production system characterized by the high inputs of capital, labour, or heavy usage of technologies such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers relative to land area....
, including
fish farmsFish farming is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases young fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species'...
. The party is against the production and importation of
genetically-modified (GM) foodsGenetically modified foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms . Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques...
. It supports
Fair tradeFair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
over
free tradeUnder a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
.
Climate change
The Green Party has a twelve-point plan to deal with
climate changeClimate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. It supports the ratification of the
Kyoto ProtocolThe Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at fighting global warming...
but does not see that as anything more than a first step. It is strongly behind the '
Contraction and ConvergenceContraction and Convergence is a proposed global framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. Conceived by the Global Commons Institute [GCI] in the early 1990s, the Contraction and Convergence strategy consists of reducing overall emissions of greenhouse gases to a...
' model as a method of reducing carbon emissions. Within Britain it supports
tradable carbon quotasEmissions trading is a market-based approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants....
. A proportion of the quotas would be distributed on a per-head basis. The remainder would be sold to firms and organisations. The quotas would be reduced on a year-by-year basis in line with the 'Contraction and Convergence' model.
The party has set a goal of 90% carbon dioxide emissions reductions by 2050. It proposes scrapping the national roadbuilding programme and investing the estimated £30bn from the programme in green transport. It wishes to end the £9bn annual tax break to the aviation industry by 2010 and to pass the Air Traffic Emissions Reduction Bill, aiming for 50% CO2 reductions in aviation by 2050. The party is opposed to the use of
nuclear energyNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
because it believes it is too expensive and too much of security risk, and that it uses huge amounts of carbon dioxide in the extraction and production process, and is therefore an unsuitable response to
climate changeClimate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
.
Drugs
The Green Party believes that the
prohibition of drugsThe prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent drug use. Prohibition of drugs has existed at various levels of government or other authority from the Middle Ages to the present....
does not work. It supports the legalisation of the possession, trade and cultivation of
cannabisCannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
. It would decriminalise small-scale possession of
recreational drugsRecreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
like ecstasy and gradually move towards the legalisation of all recreational drugs. It hopes that this would "take the drug trade out of criminal control and place it within a regulated and controlled legal environment" and cites studies that show in countries where cannabis is decriminalised, the use is much lower than in the UK. The party has run a Green Party Drugs Group Website to promote research into ending addiction and ensuring the safe use of recreational drugs. The party wants to ban advertising or sponsorship by
alcoholAlcohol advertising is the promotion of alcoholic beverages by alcohol producers through a variety of media. Along with tobacco advertising, it is one of the most highly-regulated forms of marketing...
and
tobaccoTobacco advertising is the advertising of tobacco products or use by the tobacco industry through a variety of media including sponsorship, particularly of sporting events. It is now one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing...
firms.
Crime
The Green Party believes that as over half of all crime is caused in some way by the misuse of Class A drugs, such as heroin or crack cocaine, that radical reform of drug laws will massively cut crime. As well as the changes highlighted in the above section on drugs, such as the legalisation of cannabis and the decriminalisation followed by legalisation of recreational drugs, they would also offer treatments for heroin and crack addicts that "may include prescription of heroin". The Green Party would "concentrate police and customs resources on the large-scale production, importation and marketing of these drugs". The party would also "look to establish restorative justice as a key feature of the UK criminal justice system". The party would lower speed limits which "will foster community and indirectly cut crime". It would have more community policing, which would be under local democratic control, and would return bus conductors who they believe "have an important effect on social order".
Economy
Like many Green parties, the Green Party of England and Wales does not consider
economic growthIn economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
to be the only or the best indicator of progress, as it sees endless growth as incompatible with a planet of finite resources. It is against mass consumption and the modern capitalist lifestyle of the world, it hopes to encourage an economy built on
sustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
and long-term use.
The party supports economic
localisationLocalism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture and local identity...
on grounds of environmental concern, social justice and democracy, as detailed in
Green Alternatives to Globalisation: A Manifesto, by Dr.
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
, MEP, currently leader of the party and the late Dr.
Mike WoodinMichael Edward Woodin was the Principal Speaker of the Green Party of England and Wales and a city councillor for Oxford from 1994 to 2004...
, former
Principal SpeakerPrincipal Speakers were the public spokespersons of the Green Party of England and Wales but have since been replaced in the party by a national Leader and Deputy Leader...
of the party. This includes helping local businesses through subsidies and import tariffs, "democratisation" of the banking system with the creation of a "network of publicly owned community banks", and encouragement of informal economies in local areas.
The Green Party seeks to address the "poverty trap" by introducing a "Citizen's Income" (also known as a
Citizen's dividendCitizen's dividend or citizen's income is a proposed state policy based upon the principle that the natural world is the common property of all persons . It is proposed that all citizens receive regular payments from revenue raised by the state through leasing or selling natural resources for...
and similar to the
Basic incomeA basic income guarantee is a proposed system of social security, that regularly provides each citizen with a sum of money. In contrast to income redistribution between nations themselves, the phrase basic income defines payments to individuals rather than households, groups, or nations, in order...
and
Living wageIn public policy, a living wage is the minimum hourly income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs . These needs include shelter and other incidentals such as clothing and nutrition...
), an unconditional, non-means-tested, weekly payment made to every citizen whether they are working or not. This would replace benefits such as Job Seeker's Allowance, as well as replacing personal tax-free allowances. The party hopes that this would ensure that people can take a job and come off benefits without falling into the poverty trap, and make working part-time or becoming self-employed easier by eliminating the poverty trap. Clive Lord, a member of the Green Party of England and Wales, published
A Citizen's Income, a book that sets out how to fund the Citizen's Income with an increase to the top bracket of
Income TaxAn income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
. Lord suggests that the Citizen's Income is a means by which to achieve prosperity within a zero-growth economy.
Green members of the
London AssemblyThe London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...
Cllr.
Darren JohnsonDarren Paul Johnson is an English politician and prominent member of the Green Party of England and Wales...
AM, and Cllr.
Jenny JonesJenny Jones is an English politician and prominent member of the Green Party of England and Wales. She currently represents the Green Party in the London Assembly, and is standing to be Mayor of London in the 2012 elections. She was Deputy Mayor of London from May 2003 to June 2004...
AM demonstrated their commitment to this policy in 2007 by using their casting vote over Mayor
Ken Livingstone'sKenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
budget to back the Living Wage Unit's campaign and increase the minimum wage for employees of the London government – then just £5.35 – to £7.45 an hour.
On taxation, the Green Party believes in increasing the top rate of income tax to make the system more redistributive. It is in favour of a more progressive system of corporation tax to encourage small businesses over large corporations. It supports
eco-taxesEcotax refers to taxes intended to promote ecologically sustainable activities via economic incentives. Such a policy can complement or avert the need for regulatory approaches. Often, an ecotax policy proposal may attempt to maintain overall tax revenue by proportionately reducing other taxes...
, such as those on packaging and carbon emissions, along the lines of the
'polluter pays' principleIn environmental law, the polluter pays principle is enacted to make the party responsible for producing pollution responsible for paying for the damage done to the natural environment. It is regarded as a regional custom because of the strong support it has received in most Organisation for...
. Also, the party wants an increase in
trade unionA trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
rights and the
renationalisationNationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
of the railways and other
public utilitiesA public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
..
They are also saying "NO" to HS2.
Europe
The party is moderately
EuroscepticEuroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
but supports UK membership of the
European UnionThe 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...
subject to democratic reform, and is open to working with those that share common goals within the European Union. It opposes the
EuroThe euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
currency on economic localisation and democracy grounds, including concerns over the unaccountability of the
European Central BankThe European Central Bank is the institution of the European Union that administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt,...
. It was also against the proposed
EU constitutionThe Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , , was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European Union...
for similar reasons. It opposes the
militarisationMilitarization, or militarisation, is the process by which a society organizes itself for military conflict and violence. It is related to militarism, which is an ideology that reflects the level of militarization of a state...
of the European Union and favours the disbandment of
NATO to be replaced by a well-resourced
Organization for Security and Co-operation in EuropeThe Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...
(OCSE).
Other issues concerning the
European ParliamentThe 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...
that are pursued by the Green Party include mandatory disclosure and registration of all
lobbyingLobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
,
gender equalityGender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
in parliament and an end to the monthly rotation of Parliament between
BrusselsThe Espace Léopold or is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union ....
and
StrasbourgThe city of Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parliament. The institution is legally bound to meet there twelve sessions a year lasting about four days each. Other work takes place in Brussels and Luxembourg City...
.
Government
The Green Party wants "to modernise and decentralise" the current governmental system in England and Wales. It wants to end the place of the
British MonarchyThe monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
in the British constitution and replace the
House of LordsThe 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....
with an elected second chamber. The party supports elected
Regional Assemblies in EnglandThe Regional Assemblies of England were a group of indirectly elected regional bodies established originally under the name Regional Chambers by the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. They were abolished on 31 March 2010 and replaced by Local Authority Leaders’ Boards...
and the creation of more parish and
community councilA community council is a public representative body in Great Britain.In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies...
s. On issues of voting, the Green Party is campaigning to introduce
proportional representationProportional 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...
(specifically the
Additional Member SystemThe Additional Member System is the term used in the United Kingdom for the mixed member proportional representation voting system used in Scotland, Wales and the London Assembly....
used in Welsh Assembly and
Scottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
elections) and reduce the voting age to 16.
It is usually to be found on the civil liberties side of the "liberties versus security" debate, and opposes national ID cards and
New Labour'sThe 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...
anti-terror legislation. It is strongly opposed to measures like the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006.
Health
The Greens support reducing the influence of the major pharmaceutical industry in the
National Health ServiceThe National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
. It intends to promote health services that place as much emphasis on illness prevention, health promotion and community self-reliance as on the treatment and cure of disease, while particularly tackling the growing and preventable mental health crisis being caused by an over-competitive and market-driven culture. It wishes to make healthcare more local and introduce free eye tests and dentistry under the increased authorities of the NHS, in addition to abolishing the "confused and discriminatory" practice of prescription charges. It plans to increase public funding of the health service to at least the pre-2004 EU average of around 9% of
GDPGross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....
. The Green Party's health policy states that health services must be "effective, efficient,
comprehensive, accountable" and also supports the use of
alternative medicineAlternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
.
International issues
The Green Party would increase funding to and reform the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
by democratising the UN Security Council and abolishing the right of veto there. The UN should publish annually a Global Index of Human Rights that would give a measurement of the
Human rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
performance of each country.
The Green Party supports an international legal framework, both treaty-based and customary.
A "General Agreement on Sustainable Trade", where producers are guaranteed a reasonable price for their products before planting, and a portion of the payment is set aside for community development should replace the
General Agreement on Tariffs and TradeThe General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was negotiated during the UN Conference on Trade and Employment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization . GATT was signed in 1947 and lasted until 1993, when it was replaced by the World...
.
It would ban
arms exportsThe arms industry is a global industry and business which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology and equipment. It comprises government and commercial industry involved in research, development, production, and service of military material, equipment and facilities...
, as well as banning and attempting to mitigate lasting damage caused by military use of depleted-uranium-tipped shells. On the
Israeli–Palestinian conflictThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
, the party believes in boycotting Israel until it complies with the 80
UN resolutionsA United Nations Security Council resolution is a UN resolution adopted by the fifteen members of the Security Council; the UN body charged with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security"....
it is defying and making the EU-Israel Association Agreement conditional on an end to the
occupationMilitary occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
of the
Palestinian territoriesThe Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
whilst urging Palestinians "not to perpetuate the cycle of violence".
Aid projects should observe the following rules: aid should be aimed at the poorest; should mobilise the poor; should be locally designed and managed; should be subject to local oversight and scrutiny; and should be specific to local communities and environments.
The party opposed the
Iraq War, both prior to, during, and after the US-led invasion. It has claimed that it did so "on principle", criticising the
Liberal DemocratsThe 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...
for "only opposing the war because no second UN Resolution was obtained". Previously, the party had opposed the
Kosovo WarThe term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
a rare stance in Britain. Although it supported "
self-determinationSelf-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
" for the Kosovo Albanians, it did not support independence for Kosovo, and stated that the media had ignored the crimes of the
Kosovo Liberation ArmyThe Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....
.
The Green Party supports the
right of asylumRight of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
and "seeks to change negative attitudes and stereotypes associated with refugees". The party concentrates on the causes of immigration, aiming "to alleviate problems caused by war, the arms trade, environmental devastation, past colonial actions and human-rights abuses".
Transport
The Greens support giving priority to more sustainable methods of transport, favouring low emission and public transport over high emission, private transport. By diverting money allocated by the government to road-building schemes it would reduce dependency on the car, improving public transport to a point where it is substantially cheaper and more efficient than private motoring. New systems such as
urban tramA tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
and
light railLight rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
would be expanded, and all transport systems fully integrated with each other to provide comprehensive and integrated ticketing systems. Walking and cycling would be promoted as alternative means of transport by
Home ZonesHome Zone is a term used in the United Kingdom for a residential street or group of streets that are designed primarily to meet the interests of the local community, whether they are on foot, cycling, or in a car, enabling the street to operate primarily as a space for social use...
, Safe Routes to School, pedestrianisation and
mixed-use developmentMixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
.
It would not renew private-sector train operating companies' contracts and instead return railways and tube systems to public ownership, citing the strategic failure of the introduction of private competition. Higher priority would be given to railways, new lines introduced, the rail freight network expanded, land adjacent to tracks set aside for freight distribution projects, additional stations opened on existing routes, and investment allocated to new light rail systems.
Where effective and appropriate, existing schemes such as
road pricingRoad pricing is an economic concept regarding the various direct charges applied for the use of roads. The road charges includes fuel taxes, licence fees, parking taxes, tolls, and congestion charges, including those which may vary by time of day, by the specific road, or by the specific vehicle...
and
congestion pricingCongestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of a transport network in periods of peak demand to reduce traffic congestion. Examples include some toll-like road pricing fees, and higher peak charges for utilities, public transport and slots in canals and airports...
would be extended. A move to fuel-efficient cars would be encouraged by increasing
fuel dutyHydrocarbon oil duty is fuel tax levied on some fuels used by road vehicles in the United Kingdom. Between 1993 and 1999 the Government's Fuel Price Escalator led to significant rises in the cost of fuel which led to fuel tax protests in 2000, 2005 and 2007. In May 2008, UK fuel tax rates were one...
and abolishing the
tax discVehicle Excise Duty is a vehicle road use tax levied as an excise duty which must be paid for most types of vehicle which are to be used on the public roads in the United Kingdom...
for cars. Some of the revenue raised would be used to support
research and developmentThe phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
into more sustainable forms of transport, with an emphasis on energy efficiency.
With air travel predicted to reach 15% of total UK emissions by 2050, the Green Party will work towards a shift from shorter air journeys to the railways (45% of all air trips in the EU are under 500 km), resist further expansion of UK airports such as that of
HeathrowThe expansion of London Heathrow Airport involved the proposal by BAA Limited to build a third runway and a sixth terminal at Heathrow. The plan was supported by businesses, the aviation industry, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry, the Trades Union Congress and...
and ban
night flyingNight flying restrictions is any regulation or legislation imposed by a governing body to limit the ground-perceived exposure to aircraft noise during the night hours, when the majority of residents are trying to sleep...
. It would also address the absence of fuel tax and VAT on ticketing or aircraft, that is in effect a public
subsidyA subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...
of the industry worth around £9 billion a year (2005).
Organisation
The Green Party meets to vote on issues of organisation and policy at bi-annual Party Conferences (the Spring Conference and Autumn Conference). It is bound by a Constitution, which can be amended only by a two-thirds majority vote at one of these Conferences; policy motions need only a simple majority (more than 50%).
Leadership and Principal Speakers
The Green Party has in the past consciously chosen not to have a single leader for ideological reasons; its organisation provided for two Principal Speakers, a male and female
Principal SpeakerPrincipal Speakers were the public spokespersons of the Green Party of England and Wales but have since been replaced in the party by a national Leader and Deputy Leader...
, who sit but do not vote on the party's Executive (GPEx). However, a referendum of the party membership in 2007 on the question of creating a Leader and Deputy Leader (or, if candidates choose to run together and are gender balanced, Co-Leaders without a Deputy Leader), who would be elected every two years (instead of annually) and able to vote on GPEx, passed by 73%.
The final
Principal SpeakerPrincipal Speakers were the public spokespersons of the Green Party of England and Wales but have since been replaced in the party by a national Leader and Deputy Leader...
s were Dr
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
MP (who succeeded
Siân BerrySiân Berry is an English politician and member of the Green Party of England and Wales. From 2006 to 2007, she was one of the Green Party's Principal Speakers...
in October 2007), and Dr
Derek WallDerek 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...
, who succeeded Keith Taylor, a councillor in
Brighton & HoveBrighton and Hove is a unitary authority area and city on the south coast of England. It is England's most populous seaside resort.In 1997 Brighton and Hove were joined to form the unitary authority of Brighton and Hove, which was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II as part of the millennium...
, in November 2006 (Taylor had been elected in 2004 after the death of Dr.
Mike WoodinMichael Edward Woodin was the Principal Speaker of the Green Party of England and Wales and a city councillor for Oxford from 1994 to 2004...
). The roles of Principal Speaker no longer exist and Dr
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
MP is currently the party leader.
Leadership election
The declared candidates in the leadership election were
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
and
Ashley GunstockAshley Gunstock is a British actor, political activist and schoolteacher.-Career:He is best known for playing the role of PC Robin Frank in the long running drama television series, The Bill, on ITV....
for the post of Leader and
Adrian RamsayAdrian Philip Ramsay is an English politician and Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. First elected at the age of 21 in 2003, he was a Green Party councillor representing Nelson Ward on Norwich City Council, where he was Coordinator of a fourteen-strong Green groupuing and the...
for the post of Deputy Leader. Nominations closed on 31 July and the result was declared at the Autumn Conference on Friday 5 September.
Executive
Until September 2011, the national Green Party Executive (GPEx) consists of the following positions:
| Green Party of England and Wales Executive (GPEx) |
| Leader |
Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
MP |
| Deputy Leader |
Cllr Adrian Ramsay Adrian Philip Ramsay is an English politician and Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. First elected at the age of 21 in 2003, he was a Green Party councillor representing Nelson Ward on Norwich City Council, where he was Coordinator of a fourteen-strong Green groupuing and the...
|
| Chair |
Jayne Forbes |
| Campaigns Co-ordinator |
Romayne Phoenix |
| Elections Co-ordinator |
Judy Maciejowska |
| Equality and Diversity Co-ordinator |
Shan Oakes |
| External Communications Co-ordinator |
Penny Kemp |
| Finance Co-ordinator |
Dean Walton |
| Internal Communications Co-ordinator |
Charlotte Dingle |
| International Co-ordinator |
John Street -People:* John Ambrose Street , Canadian lawyer and political figure in New Brunswick* John F. Street, former mayor of Philadelphia* John Street * John Street, birth name of Welsh boxer Cuthbert Taylor-Ontario, Canada:...
|
| Local Party Support Co-ordinator |
Gayle O'Donovan |
| Management Co-ordinator |
Tom Beaton |
| Policy Co-ordinator |
Chris Hyland and Jim Jepps (jobshare) |
| Publications Co-ordinator |
Edward Milford |
The party's Leader and Deputy Leader are elected every two years by a postal ballot of all party members. All other GPEx positions are elected annually by postal ballot or by a vote at Conference (depending on the number of candidates). To become a member of the Executive, the candidate must have been a member of the party for at least two years (or if the candidate has been a member for one complete year preceding the date of close of nominations, their nomination will be allowed if it is supported by a majority of Green Party Regional Council (GPRC) members in attendance at a quorate official GPRC meeting).
The chair is currently Jayne Forbes, a former chair of the
World Development MovementThe World Development Movement is a membership organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigns on issues of global justice and development in the Global South....
and
Tourism Concern- History :Tourism Concern is a non-governmental organisation based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1989 by Alison Stancliffe as an informal network, linking people around Britain with similar organisations elsewhere in the world...
. The 2008/09 chair was James Humphreys, former head of Corporate Communications at 10 Downing Street. A previous Chair,
Hugo CharltonHugo Charlton is a practicing criminal barrister, international human rights lawyer, environmental activist, broadcaster and commentator. He was Chair of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2003 to 2005...
(2003 to 2005), resigned following criticism of his nomination to the House of Lords before the Party had carried out its internal selection process. Subsequently
Jenny JonesJenny Jones is an English politician and prominent member of the Green Party of England and Wales. She currently represents the Green Party in the London Assembly, and is standing to be Mayor of London in the 2012 elections. She was Deputy Mayor of London from May 2003 to June 2004...
was elected to be the party's nominee in the event of the party again being asked, but this was too late for the current round. For the purposes of its registration with the
Electoral CommissionThe Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections...
, the party used to designate the Chair of the Executive as the Leader of the party, until the first formal leader was elected in 2008.
Members of GPEx are individually responsible for every action taken within their area of responsibility (except decisions taken collectively within GPEx itself). GPEx meets at least once every six weeks, and whenever a meeting is necessary. The Executive has the power to create whatever committees and posts "it considers necessary for the efficient conduct of its business". It appoints a Panel of Speakers as spokespeople for policy areas, a Treasurer and the National Election Agent. GPEx is responsible for implementing the decisions made at Conferences, and controlling expenditure and fundraising.
In the party's Autumn Conference of 2008, members elected the first Equality and Diversity Co-ordinator.
Regional Council
The Green Party Regional Council (GPRC) is a body that coordinates discussions between Regional Green Parties. It supports the Executive (GPEx) and is responsible for interim policy statements between Conferences and enforcing constitutional procedures.
Each Regional Green Party elects two members by postal ballot to be sent to the GPRC. These delegates' terms last two years before re-election. GPRC meets at least four times a year. The Council elects male and female Co-Chairs and a Secretary. GPEx members are often required to give reports on their area of responsibility to the GPRC; the GPRC also has the power to recall any member of GPEx (by a two-thirds majority vote), who is then suspended until a re-election for the post is held; similarly, if GPEx suspends one of its own members, GPRC has the authority to decide whether that member should be reinstated or not (again, by a two-thirds majority vote). Although The Cornish Green Party
(Bagas Gwer Kernewek) is an umbrella of the party itself which promotes for enhanced autonomy for the
Cornish peopleThe Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
within the UK.
Conferences
The Green Party of England and Wales holds a Spring and Autumn Conference every year. Conferences are governed by the Constitution and Standing Orders, and feature votes on policy and organisational matters. The Autumn Conference is the party's "supreme forum", with elections to GPEx, committees and other bodies; the Conference held in the Spring, although having the same powers as the Autumn Conference on policy and organisational votes, holds elections only for vacant posts and can have its priorities decided by the preceding Autumn Conference. The conference itself is organised by Conferences Committee, but the Standing Order Committee (SOC) is responsible for interpreting the Constitution and arranging the order of business.
The Green Party Conference features fringes, talks and plenary sessions. The agenda for plenary sessions is usually:
- Section A – Reports from various bodies within the party, including SOC, GPEx, GPRC and others
- Section B – Policy Voting Papers (a motion, either submitted by members or chosen by the Policy Committee, which submits a section of the Policies for a Sustainable Society for review and amendments, which are then voted on)
- Section C – Policy Motions (motions from members on different sections of the MfSS, but also including those which express a policy position without altering the MfSS, and Enabling Motions, which start the process of building policy on a specified area)
- Section D – Organisational Motions (motions from members that amend the Constitution)
Policymaking within the GPEW is a long process involving consultation with various bodies and individuals. The party has released leaflets and books on how to properly amend policy.
Constitution
The Constitution of the Green Party of England and Wales governs all of the party's activities, from the selection of election candidates by local parties, to nominations for the
House of LordsThe 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....
, to the conduct of GPEx and so on. The Constitution stresses "openness, accountability and confidentiality" in its decision-making guidelines. It can be amended only by a two-thirds majority vote at a Conference or by a two-thirds majority in a ballot of the membership.
Status of the Wales Green Party
Unlike any other regional party within the Green Party, the Wales Green Party (WGP) (
Plaid Werdd Cymru in Welsh) is a "semi-autonomous regional party" within the GPEW. It has greater control over its finances, and produces its own manifesto. Wales Green Party members are automatically members of the Green Party of England and Wales.
Also differently from the full party, the Wales Green Party (and the North West region of England) elects a
Principal SpeakerPrincipal Speakers were the public spokespersons of the Green Party of England and Wales but have since been replaced in the party by a national Leader and Deputy Leader...
who may refer to themselves as the 'Leader' of the Wales Green Party, although, like the Green Party of England and Wales's former Principal Speakers, they have no powers of leadership. The current leader of the Wales Green Party is Jake Griffiths.
Young Greens
The youth wing of the Green Party, the
Young Greens (
of England and Wales), have developed independently from around 2002. The Young Greens have their own Constitution, National Committee, campaigns and meetings, and have become an active presence at Green Party Conferences and election campaigns. There are now many Young Greens groups on UK university, college and higher-education institution campuses. Many Green Party Councillors are Young Greens, as are some members of GPEx and other internal party organs.
Membership and finances
| Year | Membership (as of December 31) |
| 2002 |
5,268 |
| 2003 |
5,858 |
| 2004 |
6,281 |
| 2005 |
7,110 |
| 2006 |
7,019 |
| 2007 |
7,441 |
| 2008 |
7,553 |
| 2009 |
9,630 |
| 2010 |
12,768 |
According to accounts filed with the
Electoral CommissionThe Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections...
, for the year ending 31 December 2010 the party had an income of £770,495 with expenditure of £889,867.
Groups within the Party
Several groups are active within the party. These include groups designed to address certain areas of policy or representation, including the Green Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Group (
LGBTLGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
), the Green Party Trades Union Group, the Drugs Group (on drugs policy and research), The Green Economics Policy Working Group, the Monetary Reform Policy Working Group, and others. The
centristIn politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
faction known as
Green 2000Green 2000 was a movement to streamline the constitutional arrangements of the Green Party of England and Wales in the early 1990s, with the stated aim of getting a Green government by the year 2005.-Overview:...
sought to achieve a Green Party government by the year 2000; the group fell apart in the early 1990s. The
Green LeftGreen Left is an anti-capitalist and eco-socialist grouping within the Green Party of England and Wales. It seeks to constitute a network for socialists and other like minded invividuals in the Green Party, whilst acting as an outreach body that will communicate the party's left wing policies to...
represent some of the
anti-capitalistsAnti-capitalism describes a wide variety of movements, ideas, and attitudes which oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another system....
and
eco-socialistsEco-socialism, green socialism or socialist ecology is an ideology merging aspects of Marxism, socialism, green politics, ecology and alter-globalization...
in the party who want to engage with the broader Left in the UK and attract Left-wing activists to the Green Party, although it is a group of party members, rather than a group within the party.
Stop Murder Music
Along with
OutRage!OutRage! is a British LGBT rights group that was formed to fight for equal rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in comparison to heterosexual people. It is a group which has at times been criticised for outing individuals who wanted to keep their homosexuality secret and for being...
the Green Party have campaigned on behalf of the Stop Murder Music campaign which attempts to
censorthumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
anti-
homosexualityHomosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
lyrics in the music of various
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n
dancehallDancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
artists.
See also
- Green party
- 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...
- List of environmental organizations
- Policies for a Sustainable Society (PSS)
- Politics of the United Kingdom
The politics of the United Kingdom takes place within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government...
- Principal Speaker
Principal Speakers were the public spokespersons of the Green Party of England and Wales but have since been replaced in the party by a national Leader and Deputy Leader...
- Green Party of England and Wales Election Results
This article lists the Green Party of England and Wales election results in the UK parliamentary, European parliamentary and Welsh Assembly elections.- Summary of general election performance :2010 General Election Results...
Subdivisions:
- Young Greens of England and Wales (YG[EW])
- 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....
(WGP)
- Green Left (UK) (unofficial faction)
- LSESU Green Party (London School of Economics Young Greens group)
- Green 2000
Green 2000 was a movement to streamline the constitutional arrangements of the Green Party of England and Wales in the early 1990s, with the stated aim of getting a Green government by the year 2005.-Overview:...
(1990s constitutional reform movement)
Related organisations:
- European Federation of Green Parties
- 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:...
- Irish Green Party (Northern Ireland region)
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...
External links