History of the Green Party of England and Wales
Encyclopedia
The Green Party of England and Wales
has its roots in the PEOPLE party started in Coventry in 1972/3 by four professional friends (Michael Benfield, Freda Sanders, Tony & Lesley Whittaker). It then changed its name to the more descriptive Ecology Party in 1975, to the Green Party ten years later. In the 1990s, 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.
created considerable embarrassment for the Party when he revealed his extreme spiritual beliefs, announcing that he believed himself to be "a son of God", that Britain was about to suffer apopolyptic earthquakes and tidal waves and that Armageddon
was approaching. Many believe that he suffered from some form of mental illness that led to his espousal of such theories. He would subsequently be forced to leave the Party.
Internal divisions over the direction of the party in the early 1990s also meant that the Green Party fell out of the limelight and failed to maintain its electoral momentum. In 1991, attempts to streamline the Party Constitution were proposed by a group called 'Green 2000
', who wanted to 'modernise' the Party and make it into an organised electoral force that could become the ruling party in the UK by the year 2000. After the Green 2000 Constitution was adopted, a new Executive came into force to oversee the day-to-day business of the Party. Many Green 2000 members were elected to the new Executive in 1991 but, by 1992, only two remained, with the others resigning or being recalled and forced to quit. These internal constitutional wranglings, and negative public statements released by supporters of both Green 2000 and decentralists who ran the recall campaigns, seriously hampered preparations for the 1992 General Election
, in which 253 Green candidates received 1.3% of the vote. Parkin and Porritt left active involvement with the party, depriving it of two of its most charismatic and ambitious figures.
Since 1992, the Greens have been relatively free of any factionalism. Nonetheless, the early and mid 1990s were difficult for the Greens, because of Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system, the recession of 1992-3 and the squeeze caused by the rising popularity of New Labour. Nevertheless, the party gained a handful of local councillors in Stroud
and Oxford
.
In the 1992 General Election
, Cynog Dafis
was elected on a Plaid Cymru
–Wales Green Party
ticket, gaining Ceredigion and Pembroke North from the Liberal Democrats. This made him the first Green representative in the House of Commons. The electoral agreement that enabled this broke down by 1995.
The election of a Labour government in 1997 paradoxically created new opportunities and focus for the Green Party. New democratic institutions were created that offered electoral possibilities for the Greens, such as the London Assembly
and Welsh Assembly (and for the independent Scottish Green Party
, the Scottish Parliament
) all of which use some form of proportional representation
, allowing smaller parties the chance of gaining representation. Labour also changed European Parliamentary elections to a form of proportional representation.
Combined with gradual council gains, the party has quietly gained successes.
In the 1999 European elections, two Greens were elected Members of the European Parliament
(MEPs), Dr Caroline Lucas
(South East England
) and Jean Lambert
(London
). They retained their seats in the 2004 European elections
, 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 breakthrough into other European electoral regions or the Welsh Assembly.
Three Greens were elected to the first London Assembly
. It currently has two Green Party members out of 25. These are Cllr. Darren Johnson
AM, and Cllr. Jenny Jones
AM.
The Green Party achieved its highest ever UK General Election result in the 2005 General Election
with a total of 281,780 votes. During the 2005 General Election, Cllr. Keith Taylor received 22% in Brighton Pavilion.
The Party has 116 local councillors
after a gain of 5 councillors during the 2008 local elections
. The Greens have significant representation on Brighton & Hove City Council
, Lancaster City Council
, Norwich
, Lewisham
, Oxford City Council
, Oxfordshire County Council
, Kirklees Council
and Stroud District Council
. The Green Party are the official opposition on Norwich City Council, form part of the ruling coalition that controls Lancaster City Council
alongside the Liberal Democrats
and Labour
, and Castle Morpeth
Council as part of an all party administration.
In this period, the Green Party of England and Wales had representation in the House of Lords
, the (unelected) upper chamber of Parliament
: in the person of Lord Beaumont of Whitley
, 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 has held its first ever leadership election in September 2008. Caroline Lucas was elected to the position of Leader, and Adrian Ramsay to the position of Deputy Leader.
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. The following week 600 new members had joined the Green Party bringing total membership to over 11,000. In previous years 600 new members was high for a whole year.
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...
has its roots in the PEOPLE party started in Coventry in 1972/3 by four professional friends (Michael Benfield, Freda Sanders, Tony & Lesley Whittaker). It then changed its name to the more descriptive Ecology Party in 1975, to the Green Party ten years later. In the 1990s, 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.
1990 to 1997
In 1991 Green Party spokesman and TV sports presenter David IckeDavid 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...
created considerable embarrassment for the Party when he revealed his extreme spiritual beliefs, announcing that he believed himself to be "a son of God", that Britain was about to suffer apopolyptic earthquakes and tidal waves and that Armageddon
Armageddon
Armageddon is, according to the Bible, the site of a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or symbolic location...
was approaching. Many believe that he suffered from some form of mental illness that led to his espousal of such theories. He would subsequently be forced to leave the Party.
Internal divisions over the direction of the party in the early 1990s also meant that the Green Party fell out of the limelight and failed to maintain its electoral momentum. In 1991, attempts to streamline the Party Constitution were proposed by a group called 'Green 2000
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:...
', who wanted to 'modernise' the Party and make it into an organised electoral force that could become the ruling party in the UK by the year 2000. After the Green 2000 Constitution was adopted, a new Executive came into force to oversee the day-to-day business of the Party. Many Green 2000 members were elected to the new Executive in 1991 but, by 1992, only two remained, with the others resigning or being recalled and forced to quit. These internal constitutional wranglings, and negative public statements released by supporters of both Green 2000 and decentralists who ran the recall campaigns, seriously hampered preparations for the 1992 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, in which 253 Green candidates received 1.3% of the vote. Parkin and Porritt left active involvement with the party, depriving it of two of its most charismatic and ambitious figures.
Since 1992, the Greens have been relatively free of any factionalism. Nonetheless, the early and mid 1990s were difficult for the Greens, because of Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system, the recession of 1992-3 and the squeeze caused by the rising popularity of New Labour. Nevertheless, the party gained a handful of local councillors in Stroud
Stroud
Stroud a town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England.Stroud may also refer to:*Stroud, New South Wales, Australia*Stroud, Ontario, Canada*Stroud , Gloucestershire, UK*Stroud...
and Oxford
Oxford
The 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...
.
In the 1992 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, Cynog Dafis
Cynog Dafis
Cynog Glyndwr Dafis is a Welsh politician and member of the Plaid Cymru party. He was a school teacher and researcher before entering politics.-Education:...
was elected on a Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru
' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
–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....
ticket, gaining Ceredigion and Pembroke North from the Liberal Democrats. This made him the first Green representative in the House of Commons. The electoral agreement that enabled this broke down by 1995.
1997 to 2009
London Assembly
The 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...
and Welsh Assembly (and for the independent 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:...
, the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The 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...
) all of which use some form of 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...
, allowing smaller parties the chance of gaining representation. Labour also changed European Parliamentary elections to a form of proportional representation.
Combined with gradual council gains, the party has quietly gained successes.
In the 1999 European elections, two Greens were elected Members of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A 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 Lucas
Caroline Lucas
Caroline 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 England
South East England (European Parliament constituency)
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 :...
) and Jean Lambert
Jean Lambert
Jean 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...
(London
London (European Parliament constituency)
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....
). They retained their seats in the 2004 European elections
European Parliament election, 2004 (UK)
The 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 breakthrough into other European electoral regions or the Welsh Assembly.
Three Greens were elected to the first London Assembly
London Assembly
The 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. These are Cllr. Darren Johnson
Darren Johnson
Darren Paul Johnson is an English politician and prominent member of the Green Party of England and Wales...
AM, and Cllr. Jenny Jones
Jenny Jones (Green politician)
Jenny 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.
The Green Party achieved its highest ever UK General Election result in the 2005 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The 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. During the 2005 General Election, Cllr. Keith Taylor received 22% in Brighton Pavilion.
The Party has 116 local councillors
Local government in the United Kingdom
The 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...
after a gain of 5 councillors during the 2008 local elections
United Kingdom local elections, 2008
The 2008 United Kingdom local elections were held on 1 May 2008. These elections took place in 137 English Local Authorities and all Welsh Councils....
. The Greens have significant representation on Brighton & Hove City Council
Brighton & Hove
Brighton 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...
, Lancaster City Council
City of Lancaster
The 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...
, Norwich
Norwich
Norwich 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...
, Lewisham
London Borough of Lewisham
The 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 Council
Oxford City Council
The 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 Council
Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire 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 Council
Kirklees
The 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...
and Stroud District Council
Stroud (district)
Stroud 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 are the official opposition on Norwich City Council, form part of the ruling coalition that controls Lancaster City Council
City of Lancaster
The 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...
alongside the Liberal Democrats
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...
and Labour
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 Castle Morpeth
Castle Morpeth
Castle Morpeth was a local government district and borough in Northumberland, England. Its administrative centre was the town of Morpeth.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Morpeth and Morpeth Rural District, along with part of Castle Ward Rural District.The...
Council as part of an all party administration.
In this period, the Green Party of England and Wales 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 Lord Beaumont of Whitley
Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley
Timothy 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 has held its first ever leadership election in September 2008. Caroline Lucas was elected to the position of Leader, and Adrian Ramsay to the position of Deputy Leader.
Since 2010
The Green Party fielded more than 300 candidates for the 2010 general election. Party leader Caroline LucasCaroline Lucas
Caroline 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. The following week 600 new members had joined the Green Party bringing total membership to over 11,000. In previous years 600 new members was high for a whole year.
Psephological data
| date (E = European) | England and Wales | Scotland | N. Ireland (E = 1st pref.) | UK total | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974-02 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,... |
4,576 | as PEOPLE | |||
| 1974-10 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... |
1,996 | as PEOPLE | |||
| 1979E | 17,953 | as Ecology Party | |||
| 1979 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... |
39,918 | as Ecology Party | |||
| 1983 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... |
54,299 | as Ecology Party | |||
| 1984E | 70,853 | as Ecology Party | |||
| 1987 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... |
89,753 | as The Green Party | |||
| 1989E | 2,292,705 | 15 % of the vote, but no MEPs elected | |||
| 1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil... |
170,037 | ||||
| 1994E | 494,561 | ||||
| 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general... |
61,731 | 1,721 | 539 | 63,991 | |
| 1999E | 625,378 | First two MEPs elected | |||
| 2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats... |
166,477 | ||||
| 2004E | 1,033,093 | 79,695 | 4,810 | 1,117,598 | |
| 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 The 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.... |
257,695 | 25,760 | 283,455 | ||
| 2009E European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom) The 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... |
1,223,303 | 80,442 | 15,764 | 1,319,509 | |
| 2010 | 265,817 | 16,827 | 3,542 | 285,616 | First MP, Caroline Lucas, elected |