Caroline LUCAS, MEP
EP-ASP 08 G 103, rue Wiertz, B-1047, Brussels
Ph: 32 2 284 5153
Fax: 32 2 284 9153
caroline.lucas@europarl.europa.eu
www.greens-efa.org/lucas

Jean LAMBERT, MEP
EP-ASP 08 G 107, rue Wiertz, B-1047, Brussels
Ph: 32 2 284 5507
Fax: 32 2 284 9507
jean.lambert@europarl.europa.eu
www.greens-efa.org/lambert

 The Green Party of the UK was founded in 1973. It was the first in Europe. Originally called 'The People Party', it changed its name to 'The Ecology Party' and then, in 1985, to 'The Green Party'. It has encouraged the growth of separate Green Parties in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Currently the Wales Green Party remains in The Green Party of England & Wales (GPEW).

The party became increasingly successful under relatively difficult political circumstances. Political structures based on a majority voting system deny the party the possibility of winning a substantial number of seats that would be easily achievable under a system of proportional representation. The Green Party had great electoral successes in the past scoring 15% in the European elections in 1989 and various local parties achieve at present results that are among the highest ever recorded for Green Parties in Europe.

The overall majority system of 'winner takes all' has prevented us from gaining a seat in the House of Commons. We have, however, one sitting member of the House of Lords who left the Liberal Democrats to join us. Lord Timothy Beaumont has done much to raise the Green Party profile in the Upper House.

In the 1999 European elections held under proportional representation two MEPs were elected: Jean Lambert for London and Caroline Lucas for the South-East region, both candidates were re-elected in 2004 with a substantially increased share of the vote.

When a governing body for London was elected for the first time in 2000 under a proportional system, three Greens gained seats in the London Assembly. In 2004, two of these Assembly Members, Darren Johnson and Jenny Jones, regained their seats.

The GPEW's strategy of concentrating local activity in one small area all year round not only at election times is paying off as more local councillors are being elected even under the first past the post system. It often happens that the election of one Green councillor is followed by the election of another so that political 'hot spots' are evolving in cities like Oxford, Lancaster, Norwich and Brighton and in smaller towns like Stroud. We have now 61 local councillors in England and Wales. This may seem very few to you but imagine having to be elected by an overall majority every time.

As there is virtually no public funding available for political parties in the UK and the Green Party does not attract substantial corporate donations, the party relies almost entirely on the funds raised by its members. These circumstances are however creating a party with a very special character that makes it different from all other parties in the political spectrum.

Membership of the GPEW is gradually rising and now stands at more than 6,000. We experienced a peak in membership after the extraordinary high vote in 1989 but this vote brought us no seats and left the party divided as to its future strategy. In the UK relatively few people join political parties compared with some other EU countries. Despite all the obstacles the Green Party has found ways to utilise the opportunities available to it effectively. The Green Party is politically very active outside formal political structures and has established good links with the media and with NGOs.

The Green Party's policies are based on core green principles like opposition to militarization resulting in a strong green voice against the war in Iraq. A different understanding of economics is another of our core principles. This leads us to oppose the privatisation of public services and to fight strongly for social and environmental justice.

Ecology, feminism, renewable energy and opposition to nuclear power, remain important campaigning areas. The rights of minorities and future generations are of prime concern. We have influenced the agenda of the British media so that Climate change for example, is widely discussed. We have a growing number of 'young greens' who often join us from grass-roots activist groups.

The GPEW works with the Scottish Green Party, the Northern Ireland Green Party and Comhaontas Glas (the Green Party of Ireland) as part of the Green Islands Network, set up in 1994. We and the Scottish Green Party are also members of the North Sea Greens whose first joint project was to agree a common position on fisheries in the heavily over-exploited North Sea.

With the election of Green Parties to other national governments and to the European Parliament, the GPEW has become more involved in the strictly political process of legislation and formulation of policy. We are in the somewhat unusual position of having no national parliamentarians but two members of the European Parliament. This has led us to appreciate the needs of smaller parties and the rich diversity to be found among the member parties of the EGP.

National Government: Labour Party (with a significant majority)

Parties Represented in National Parliament : Conservative, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales), Scottish National Party, Ulster Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Fein, Independent

Next National Elections:
Westminster Parliament: The last general election was on 5 May 2005, a date for the next election is not set but must be within 5 years
Welsh Assembly: May 2007

Latest Green Party Election Results:

• National Election Year: 2005
  MPs: 0
  Total No. National Votes: 280.000
  % Gained: 1,07
  
• European Elections: 2004
  MEPs: 2
  Total No. European Votes: 1.028.283
  % Gained:  6,3
  
• number of local councillors: 93