The Green Sickle

The Green Party have had a good week adding 10,000 new members, many of them taking that decision after watching ‘Your Party’ argue in public. Welcome to all.

As the public element of the divisions in Your Party settle down, we can expect fewer people will join the Greens, and at a slower pace. But that is ok.

Politics works best when voters and activists find their natural homes. In a functioning democracy we would have proportional representation, and it would be considered very healthy for Greens to join and vote for the Greens, and other voters to join the party that most aligns with them. It should never be the aspiration of the Green Party to hoover up every left wing activist.

An important consideration for all left activists is that the next election will be fought under the FPTP system, and for this reason a lot of people will not be able to vote for their party of choice. This is lamentable but we must see the world as it is and not how we wish it to be.

Thus, in Holborn, it would be unwise for Greens to vote for anyone other than Andrew Feinstein. He stands the best chance of unseating Starmer. Likewise, in Bristol it would work against people’s interests if Your Party was to stand against The Green Party who achieved over 40% in the Mayoral elections there. Similarly, in seats where the SNP are strongly placed to defeat a Labour candidate, it would be counter-productive for the Greens to stand a candidate. The Greens having come second in over 40 seats at the last election should have a clean run at winning those seats next time. In seats where it is clear Your Party are better placed it would be wise to let them have a shot at unseating neoliberal MPs. We must embed the principle of mutual reciprocity so that we can work to advance what is in the best interests of ordinary people.

That said, this alliance can only happen with the agreement and support of local branches. We are lucky in The Green Party to have strong local democracy. Ultimately, the decision to stand a candidate or not will rest with each local branch. This worked well in Derby North in 2017 when local Greens agreed not to stand a candidate so as to help Chris Williamson win. It can and will work to good effect again. Informal electoral arrangements negotiated locally are the best way to make sure a left candidate wins and that local members feel their views are respected.

In 2018, the Green Party offered an electoral pact to Corbyn’s Labour and his office declined it. That mistake must not happen again.

And just as ‘Bruce the Shark’ in Finding Nemo had to learn not to see every fish he encountered as something to be devoured, it is the task of Green Party members to see electoral allies across the political spectrum if we are to ensure a left block controls the Westminster arithmetic at the next General Election. Fish are friends, not food.