The Greens saw some impressive results on Thursday night. What's behind the surge?
Pic: The Greens secured won new seats in Sheffield, the site of recent anti-tree felling protests.
The Greens have broken onto new councils across England, after a successful night in the local elections.
As of Friday afternoon, the party had broken on to six councils – including capturing two Conservative seats in Trafford Council, while securing new seats in Sheffield, in the wake of a dispute over the Labour council’s tree-felling.
The party also saw a breakthrough onto Richmond-upon-Thames Council, after an electoral pact with the Lib Dems resulted in four Green councillors elected.
The Greens won their youngest councillor in Prescott, with 20-year-old Kai Taylor, while Julie Howell was elected onto Peterborough Council with a majority of over 400 – taking her seat from the Tories in a significant swing.
In Worcester, city council elections saw the Tory mayor, Steve Mackay, lose his seat to the Green Party’s Louise Griffiths. The Greens now hold the balance of power there, with Griffiths telling this site “voters backed our anti-cuts message.”
The Conservatives on the county council have dramatically slashed funding for children’s services and adult social care – while giving themselves a hefty allowance increase.
Left Foot Forward spoke to Green co-leader Caroline Lucas MP on what the successes across England mean.
LFF: This is a turnaround from last year’s General Election showing – why the good result?
Lucas: “The party has become more professional – we have regional staff now for the first time. It’s really helped to spread best practice when it comes to campaigning.
“There’s a real desire to have some strong independent voices – particularly on these councils with one party states. Councils get complacent and takes residents for granted.”
Lucas highlighted an example of Labour ‘complacency’:
“[Islington councillor] Caroline Russell and I were walking around a block during the campaign, and the Labour canvassers said: ‘Don’t bother going there – they’re all ours’. It shows the attitude of many Labour councillors.”
LFF: How much did you work with the Lib Dems this election? The pact in Richmond seemed to pay off – will this be replicated in future elections?
Lucas: “This was a local party decision, and wasn’t something we were doing anywhere else. But local cooperation certainly paid off.
“It shows that with a bit of imagination you can get around difficulties of the electoral system.
She argues it’s ‘far too soon’ to talk about expanding pacts nationally.
LFF: Most of the gains have come from the Tories – was this a deliberate effort?
Lucas: “We were targeting seats everywhere – and results from Lambeth and Islington should show that. We want to get rid of the Conservatives and are delighted to show we can win seats off them, but we want to win seats across the board.
“In Sheffield – Labour was throwing kitchen sink at our councilor there [Alison Teal]. She kept her seat with vastly increased majority [going from an eight votes lead to 1,393].
The party are hopeful for gains in Burnley.
LFF: Are these gains a sign of voters returning from Labour to the Greens?
Lucas: “Our offer is very distinct from Jeremy’s Labour party, and although there are policies with similarities, [there are clear differences] on everything from Brexit to putting the environment on the agenda. I think all of that has really paid off for us.”
Lucas said Brexit was not something voters were raising on the doorsteps.
On Thursday, co-leader Jonathan Bartley wrote for this site that the election was an opportunity to end the ‘one party states’ of local councils in England. It seems they’ve made a good start.
Josiah Mortimer is Editor of Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter.
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One Response to “Caroline Lucas: Other parties can no longer be complacent in wake of Green wins”
Antnony Ely
This comment on Cllr Kai Taylor is inaccurate as he was also elected as part of an electoral pact with the Lib dems in Prescot. He himself called it publically as a loose deal alliance with the Liberal Democrats. This alliance is still alive.