This morning, the New Statesman published a story claiming that Caroline Lucas MP, the Green Party’s Leader was undermining the prospects of a “progressive majority” government.
The comments string to this piece shows pretty clearly what was wrong with the analysis. As Ms Lucas herself had said to the New Statesman:
“I think we would rule out a formal coalition, but we’re very interested in talking about ways we might co-operate.”
In other words: she is ruling out being part of a formal coalition that might be formed between Labour and the Lib Dems, but openly contemplating a more informal arrangement, which could make a “rainbow” government viable.
The Green party confirmed this through its twitter account this afternoon:
“Misleading hdline … fr @newstatesman – @CarolineLucas happy to consider confidence/supply w/ reform-oriented coalition.”
This confirms my piece for Left Foot Forward on Saturday which suggested that, “a Lib-Lab coalition, with a ‘Confidence and Supply’ arrangement with the smaller Parties including the Greens – might just work.”
Now that Brown is going, and calling explicitly for a “progressive coalition government“, there is a real window for the Green Party and Caroline Lucas to play a leadership role, along with Alex Salmond and others. The Greens and the SNP are in a particularly good place to advance this agenda – because the Scottish experience of stable government operating without an overall coalitional majority, but with a “co-operation agreement” between a governing Party (in this case, the SNP) and a much smaller loosely co-operating party (in this case, the Greens) offers exactly the kind of blueprint that could see a “progressive majority” government in the whole of Britain attaining a working majority in the House of Commons.
It is notable that some Scottish Green voices have already been raising this possibility volubly, notably over at Bright Green Scotland. Scottish Green activist Ellie Pant also warns eloquently against the dangers of not seizing this progressive moment.
As this blog has been reporting, most voters and members see the Lib Dems as left-of-centre party so a progressive majority “rainbow” government would reflect the democratic popular will. The SNP and Plaid Cymru appear to be on board, ditto the Alliance Party, and the SDLP already caucus with Labour.
It is time for a progressive majority government, as Brown has boldly called for today.
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52 Responses to “Greens on board for a progressive government”
Rupert Read
Yeah, Mark – Like I need to take lessons from you on what sounds silly and what doesn’t…
I’ve explained the situation, but you don’t seem to want to listen. To have some kind of margin of security, in case of illness / defection / so as not to be held over a barrel by Nats wanting pork, etc. a ‘progressive majority’ needs to be as large as possible. Furthermore, a Green in on the Agreement would add much-needed legitimacy to what is otherwise a ‘government of losers’.
SOCIALIST UNITY » COALITION WITH GREENS AND LABOUR?
[…] Left Foot Forward reports that Caroline Lucas would support a Labour/Liberal coalition, while not formally joining […]
Morus
Rupert – I don’t entirely buy it, because I don’t think a 1 vote safety actually means that much, let alone enough to make concessions to get, but you need to respond to the more important point: what makes you think that the Lib Dems would welcome the Greens into coalition?
The Greens and Lib Dems are often in competition for the left-of-Labour, environmentally-friendly bourgeois vote, and in the 2010 General Election, you cost them a few seats.
I’ve added the Green vote totals to the recent LibDemVoice post – I think you cost them about 6 seats by standing where you didn’t stand a chance of winning. 3 of these seats went to the Conservatives. How much do you think they’re going to want to thank you by giving your leader a ministerial portfolio before she’s made her maiden speech?
NEAR MISSES
Ashfield 192 (0.4%)
Edinburgh South 316 (0.7%) – [Greens got 881]
Hampstead & Kilburn 799 (1.6%) – [Greens 759 / T Omond 123]
Oldham East & Saddleworth 103 (0.2%)
Sheffield Central 165 (0.4%) – [Greens 1556]
Swansea West 504 (1.4%) – [Greens 404]
Camborne & Redruth 66 (0.2%) – [Green 581]
Chesterfield 549 (1.2%) – [Green 600]
Oxford West & Abingdon 176 (0.3%) – [Green 1184]
Rochdale 889 (1.9%)
Truro & Falmouth 435 (0.9%) – [Green 858]
http://www.libdemvoice.org/seat-we-just-missed-just-won-19374.html
Adam Ramsay
Morus,
a) stop the squabbling. There’s loads of stuff we disagree on, that’s why we have different parties. But now the election has happened, it’s time to try and work though that.
b) no one is talking about a cabinet position for a party with only one seat. That would be disastrous for Greens, as we’d immediately lose the voice in Parliament we only just won. Similarly, no one is saying that she will be able to extract substantial policy asks in exchange for her support.
What Rupert is saying, and I said at http://www.brightgreenscotland.org is that Caroline should use her voice as leader of the 4th UK wide political party – and her one vote in the Commons, to help make the case that the majority voted for a political program of the centre, not of the right (or, unfortunately, the proper left).
No one is pretending that this will swing the whole negotiations. However, keeping the Tories out is the right thing to do, and she is right to make it clear that she is happy to help with that, if such a position arises.
Adam
Morus
Adam – I’m not squabbling. I couldn’t care less who forms the next government.
I’m simply pointing out that for all the self-aggrandizement, that the Green party vote is mathematically irrelevant to a potential Lib-Lab-SDLP-Alliance-SNP-PC coalition, and so what Caroline Lucas chooses to do is her own affair.
To assume the other parties will welcome yet another faction into the mix, let alone one that has cost them seats, is perhaps a little arrogant. To claim that the Green party are ‘needed for legitimacy, to avoid it looking like a coalition of losers’ (Rupert’s comment), is a little bizarre (the Green’s dropped in share of the vote, unlike the Lib Dems). To then claim that Lucas should play a ‘leadership role like Alex Salmond’ (main article) is patently absurd.
Lucas should probably support the progressive coalition, but it’s a matter for her. The idea that her vote means anything to the formation of that coalition is fantasy.
For the record, Lucas leads – not as you said the 4th UK-wide political party – but only the Green Party of England and Wales. Even if she could claim the votes of the Scottish and Northern Irish parties, she would still only be leading the 7th largest party (after Lib-Lab-Con-BNP-UKIP-SNP) based on UK total votes.
By all means argue about what Lucas should or should not do, but this is a reality based blog, and that means not inflating the Green party well beyond their due size.