We now have an insurgent left-wing Labour party in this country - does this make the Greens redundant?
I went to the Green Party conference this weekend expecting my growing ambivalence towards the party to be reinforced.
We now have an insurgent left-wing Labour party in this country, and that’s a good thing; a Corbyn government would radically improve material conditions for millions of people, and for any of us on the left to pretend otherwise is disingenuous. I have become increasingly frustrated by many Green Party members’ refusal to engage with this new landscape and the dilemmas it throws up.
But while I did find a mood much less dynamic than previous conferences, I also found reasons to be positive.
In his speech, Jonathan Bartley claimed ‘I believe that we will be the most influential party of the 21st Century.’ This in itself is at best wildly optimistic and at worst patently absurd – but behind it is an important truth.
As Jonathan went on to say, ‘In 2010 we were told by the Tories, by Labour, by the Lib Dems – that austerity was the only answer. We bravely dared to be different. What we were saying then – that neoliberalism is dying and must be replaced – has become the mainstream.’
Before Corbynmania, there was the ‘Green surge’: a wave of support for a radical left-wing party which opposed austerity, championed public ownership, and questioned some fundamental assumptions about the economy and society. We lost the momentum. But the impact we had should not be underestimated. The Overton window – the range of policies considered politically acceptable by the public – is malleable, and can be shifted by voices pushing at its margins. Until Corbyn’s election as Labour leader, Greens were that voice on the left.
In 2015, we called for a £10 per hour minimum wage, renationalisation of the railways and free education. This May, Labour won nearly 13 million votes on a remarkably similar platform. That’s a huge vindication of what Greens have been fighting for for years.
This isn’t about taking credit – although there are many activists, from those who for years worked internally to make the Greens a radical left-wing party, to those who tirelessly knocked doors to make us an electoral threat in local areas, who now seem to be rewarded only by their own party’s declining relevance. It is about recognising the genuinely crucial role that the Green Party has played in shifting the political landscape, and thinking carefully about how we can continue to be that force.
That thinking is clearly being done by the party leadership. Jonathan’s speech lay out the beginnings of a radical vision that goes above and beyond Labour’s: replacing Universal Credit with a Universal Basic Income; a mutually owned and publicly-regulated Uber; asking, fundamentally, ‘who the economy is for.’
At conference however this wasn’t reflected in the concerns of members. Among the motions brought to the floor were not one but two which called for a re-focusing of our messaging to highlight ecology and climate change, while it seemed that much more time was dedicated to internal and organisational issues than to updating or strengthening policy.
But shunning social and economic issues in favour of a retreat to a narrow ‘deep green’ vision of environmentalism would be the death of our electoral chances and, ultimately, of any potential we might have to genuinely influence climate policy in this country. If we keep being imaginative, bold and forward-looking in all our policy areas, we have a chance to remain the vanguard of the radical left.
Even then, there are big questions to be answered about electoral tactics. Members will not accept a re-run of the progressive alliance strategy. But I doubt I am the only Green reluctant to pour my time and energy into campaigning against decent Labour MPs, for Green candidates unlikely to win the seat, when there are scores of Tories with wafer-thin majorities just a few action days away from being unseated by Labour.
One part of the answer to this is a sharp focus on local elections, which was clearly at the fore this conference. Amelia Womack highlighted the work of Alison Teal who has stood up against the Labour council in Sheffield in the battle to save the city’s street trees – just one example of Green councillors holding Labour to account. There is in many places a real disconnect between Labour’s national policy platform and its actions locally, and a strong showing for a radical left-wing Green Party in the May elections would send a message to the Labour councils that too often take their voters for granted.
There’s no pretending this isn’t a tough time for the Greens. There are no easy answers. But I left conference certain that there is still a place for us in British politics, and a real need for strong left-wing voices within the party. The urgent task now is keeping those voices there and making them heard.
Georgia Elander is a member of the Green Party. She tweets here.
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers and to make the biggest impact we can in the next general election, we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 124 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.
16 Responses to “Do we still need the Green Party?”
Rupert Read
This article is incoherent. It basically admits that Corbyn has made a ‘Left’ Green Party redundant – but then criticises those of us who are drawing the logical conclusion: that what we obviously (and desperately) need is to return to our roots, and give ourselves a USP: namely being an ecoligistic rather than a socialistic Party.
Anonymous
Brilliant article.
The Green Party has had its two best ever electoral results when focusing on issues beyond its core. Those in the party who advocate a return to the losing politics of ecologism are too blinded by their loss of power in the party to understand that such a move is both electorally foolish and against the spirit of the party. The party is leftwing in its policy and constitution with a re-distributive economic analysis as well as an ecological outlook.
Let’s stop pretending that running on Rupert Read’s populationist, anti-growth platform would do anything but abandon our principles and set us back by decades.
Adrian
I am not a Green member, but have voted for them in the past, including at this years GE.
This article is, I guess ok, because it comes from within the Green Party. But this whole narrative, is getting a bit offensive. Some 550,000 of people voted for the Greens at the election and I am willing to bet that most of them where at least aware of Jeremy Corbyn and what he had done to the Labour Party. This narrative, time and again, says to these 550,000 people – isn’t your vote basically worthless.
I didn’t want to vote for Jeremy Corbyn. I chose to the vote for the Greens, along with 550,000 others. So, yes, there is a point to the Green Party. 550,000 points.
Misha Carder
‘The most Influential party in the 21st century’.: are the words Jonathan Bartley used. As the article states many ideas are now on board. We need the Green Party to keep the envronmental focus: – that without protection of the environment we won’t have a planet fit for human habitation and environmental pollutants and unchecked capitalism will wreck the economy and NHS with man-made illnesses. We also need a Party whose social blue-print should serve to keep Labour in check and on track
Julia
Much of this article argues sensibly that the Green Party has become redundant and – very worryingly – an obstacle to ousting the Tories. Then the author says that left wing voices are needed to challenge lazy Labour councils. Well that’s true; and those left wing voices need to be inside the Labour Party, replacing those lazy councillors, not “sending them a message”. Finally the author concludes that there is still a place for Greens in British politics. Well of course there’s a place for your activists. There’s no better place for them to turn Green ideas into reality than inside the Labour Party. For those Greens who are solidly dedicated to environmentalism why not transform yourselves into a world-leading campaign around action on climate change. But the very last thing you should do is find a USP to continue seeking election. We urgently need to oust the Tory government and we cannot afford to keep splitting the left wing vote.