Nearly a month on from the election, talk is growing about the prospect of Labour and the Greens formally uniting.
Since the Green Party’s vote halved last month, debate has been growing as to what the party should do next.
Now that talk has turned to potentially affiliating to the Labour Party.
The main group for left-wing Greens has been seen a lot of talk from people suggesting the party formerly unites with Labour.
The first time we heard this idea was when Jon Lansman, Labour member and one of the founders of Momentum, suggested it last year.
The model that is being talked about is that of the Co-operative Party, which goes back to the roots of the movement in Rochdale, Lancashire, where the first Co-op was formed in 1844, and they became a political party in 1917. As their website says:
“Since 1927, the Party has had an electoral agreement with Labour Party. This enables us to stand joint candidates in elections, recognising our shared values and maximising our impact.’ The Co-operative Party now has 38 MPs and many elected regional and local representatives.”
The Co-operative Party has many co-operative retail businesses as members and promotes this form of economic ownership, within the Labour Party and outside. Co-operative Party branches affiliate to their local Constituency Labour Party (CLP).
This enables them to send delegates to Labour meetings and provides a process for selecting joint Labour & Co-operative Party candidates at elections. And they contribute to the election expenses of Co-operative (and Labour) party candidates.
Members of the Co-operative Party can be solely that, or members of the Labour Party as well, but the Co-operative Party does have an independent structure, separate from the Labour Party. As an independent political party, it maintains its own membership, staff, national executive committee (NEC) and policy platform, all of which are independent of Labour’s.
So the question is – could this type of arrangement be beneficial to the Green Party? The Co-operative website does suggest a (stark) comparison when it says:
“One approach is that of the Green Party, which has stood in elections for over 40 years. In that time, the Party has secured the election of just one MP, control of a single local authority and no policies turned into law.”
The Co-operative Party, although a hundred years old, does have many more elected representatives at all levels of government, including 38 MPs, than the Green Party.
Would the Greens benefit from this situation, in pushing their agenda forward?
It is worth thinking about seriously. But there are also many obstacles.
Firstly, there would be resistance form people in both Labour and the Greens, with Labour fearing a kind of ‘entryism’ which seems to obsess it.
Meanwhile, Greens may worry about the loss of the party’s independent status and fear that (joint) Labour and Green members from the Labour tradition would take over the party.
Under Jeremy Corbyn, there are many similar policies advocated by Labour and Greens. But there are also some quite large differences.
Labour operates under a fiercely centralised structure, whereas the Greens have a de-centralised structure – with no tight control from above. Without a whip – whether Parliamentary or otherwise – Greens are also more free to voice opinions which may differ from the party line. That is something not common in the Labour Party.
That’s on top of huge policy differences over nuclear power and nuclear weapons, where Corbyn is more in tune with the Greens than the majority of his party. And then is the question of economic growth, championed by Labour but seen as the root of our ecological problems by Greens.
But if these hurdles can be overcome by some kind of agreement – which I think is possible – the rewards could significant for both parties.
For the Greens, there’s the chance to gain many more MPs and local councillors, and achieve the kind of political influence that has largely alluded us so far. Time is short. With the climate crisis in full swing, action needs to be taken sooner rather than later, and this idea might just do that.
And ecosocialists like me in the Green Party, might affiliation to Labour help spread ‘green left’ ideas to a wider audience?
For Labour, already eyeing up more Green voters for the future, this set-up could broaden the party’s electoral appeal, bringing it even closer to younger voters.
The time has come for both parties to at least explore this idea, to see how it might work in practice. Given the potential benefits that this type of agreement could bring, it’s an opportunity that can’t be ignored.
Mike Shaughnessy is a Green writer and blogs at London Green Left.
74 Responses to “Is it time for the Green Party to affiliate to Labour?”
Ron Laborde
SUCH a good idea! The Corby-Lucas photo conveying well its emotional seriousness – new policy; new approach; new government.
For early discussion by such an alignment…
First Past The Post – Proportional Representation (FPTP-PR).
Proportional representation is embedded in our existing FPTP electoral system that has its merits. Nothing, NOTHING, changes bar a trivial clerical adjustment…
Each elected MP arrives at the house of commons not with one vote (to be cast at parliamentary divisions) but with an equal share of the party vote gathered at the election. Full-PR at a stroke; at no cost; with no gerrymandering.
Simon Pickering
I one of the small number of Green Politician actually running a priciple authority in a progressive cooperation with Labour and Libdem I would suggest that Labour will have to move along way politically to make this work. The are however some very significant advnatges to Labour working with a significantly more progressive and forward thinking party than parts of Labour. There would have however need to keep gaps and clear water between the two to allow Greens to have a clear run and local and parlaimentary seats that Labour would never win as we have demonstrated here in Gloucestershire
Malcolm Cinnamond
Strange that a “green writer” should ignore/forget that there are three (arguably four) Green parties in the UK. In Scotland it seems highly unlikely that there would be any agreement between the Scottish Green Party and Scottish Labour while the current Blairite leadership continue to try to compete with the Tories on who has the hardest line on independence. As an SGP member with a high regard for Jeremy Corbyn’s achievements I would welcome co-operation between the parties, but Scottish Labour have to change their rhetoric pronto.
Martin Corney
This is an issue for the Labour Party. Green Party rules already allow joint candidates – like Labour currently do with the Co-operative Party. Labour just need to extend their rules to include Greens.
Ian Carus
Amazing to hear people on here saying the two parties have the same policy. Proportional representation still exists thanks to Labour. We’ll be spending billions on nuclear weapons thanks to Labour. If Labour – yes even the Messiah aka Jeremy – had made just a little effort we wouldn’t now be facing the ridiculous Brexit. Speaking as someone living in Scotland, we’ve seen how Labour have had no qualms in getting into bed with the Tories. How committed are Labour to the environment and sustainability? Maybe, if or when Labour splits between left and centre right then it might be a possibility. Helping to win elections and losing your soul is surely not what true Greens want.