Greens stand aside for Labour in second seat
The party hope it will help Labour unseat Iain Duncan Smith
The local Green Party have announced they will not stand a candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green in order to help Labour beat the Tories.
The party hopes its decision will help Labour’s Faiza Shaheen beat Tory incumbent Iain Duncan Smith in the North-East London seat.
Local party co-chair Andrew Johns said: “We have thought carefully about where to stand in Waltham Forest and Redbridge, knowing that every Green vote in Chingford and Woodford Green would be a vote for a greener and fairer world.”
“Iain Duncan Smith has demonstrated through his horrendous record on welfare that he does not care for people who are struggling to make ends meet. He also disregards the seriousness of the climate emergency, having repeatedly voted in Parliament against measures to reduce carbon emissions”.
“Any decision that can lead to him being unseated is one that will mean we are a step closer to that greener and fairer world.”
The Green decision was welcomed by Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen.
A similar decision was made last week by Greens in the marginal West Yorkshire seat of Calder Valley.
However elsewhere, the national Green Party of England and Wales has agreed a pact with the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru where the three parties step down to give each other better chances of winning.
Decisions to stand aside for either Labour or the Liberal Democrats have been controversial within the Green Party.
Critics have argued that the Greens should not work with the Liberal Democrats as Greens have more in common with Labour.
Others have argued that, unlike the Lib Dems, Labour have not offered the Greens anything in return for their standing aside.
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