The Rise of The Green Party

[BobKowalski]

Making big strides in Germany and now polling nationally as the second biggest party. Did well in Belgium recently as well.

Thoughts on the recent rise. Anyone have any idea on what they stand for given there is zero coverage here on them? :)

Rough guide. Socially liberal. Economically quite centrist with an environmental theme. They also are in coalition government in several regions.

There is also a reasonable chance that the SPD will pull out of the Federal Govt Coalition early next year which will probably spark new elections.

 

[DelToro]

I'm a member of the Green Party.

Here's their political programme.

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/political-programme.html

The Green Party in this country has the age old problem of;

1) FPTP rather then PR electoral system

2) Dominance of the 2 major political parties

3) Greens are not populist and therefore would not get the coverage that UKIP got

4) Have less regard for charismatic, strong leaders and more concern for grass roots, consensus led politics which does not make for cheap soundbites and great photos

5) Don't pretend to have easy answers to difficult problems.

 

[joe123]

I like some of their policies, just a pity our electoral system doesn't really give them much of a chance of being a significant influence.

 

[Henkeman]

I like some of their policies, just a pity our electoral system doesn't really give them much of a chance of being a significant influence.

They have an MP. They don't have much influence because outside of Brighton not many people want to vote for them.

 

[Blue Hefner]

I imagine it also has a lot to do with budget and newspaper support. Also, i believe they have joint leaders due to peronal commitments of the bloke, his child has some sort of condition that requires additional care

As long as the environment locally, nationally and internationally plays well down the running order of immigrants, the ‘work shy’ and ‘political correctness gone mad’they will never get the converage required to get voted - I.e it’s a lot easier to turn up on Question Time and demand FoM is stopped than it is to explain in painful detail the sacrifices we all need to make to help prevent short, medium and long term environmental harm

I’d say the main reason they don’t get votes in this country is the budget and infrastructure of the party

 

[MillionMilesAway]

They have an MP. They don't have much influence because outside of Brighton not many people want to vote for them.

I think it's more that the FPTP system makes voting for them all but irrelevant. The Greens have 3 MEPs out of 73 from the UK, so I think they would get more support under PR systems.

 

[Henkeman]

I’d say the main reason they don’t get votes in this country is the budget and infrastructure of the party

Well, the same applied to UKIP a few years ago too.

 

[Henkeman]

I think it's more that the FPTP system makes voting for them all but irrelevant. The Greens have 3 MEPs out of 73 from the UK, so I think they would get more support under PR systems.

But they actually have an MP!! And nearly got two.

 

[Fred_Quimby]

A lot of the environmental concerns they voiced many years ago are becoming main stream now. Not popular policies but need to be addressed.

 

[MillionMilesAway]

But they actually have an MP!! And nearly got two.

Um, yes. 1 in 650+ isn't much, certainly not enough to get any leverage.

The MEP proportion would give them about 25, which is a significant bloc. I'm not saying that it would work exactly like that, but the Greens are like most other 3rd parties - the odd stronghold, but otherwise nowhere.

Why does Lucas get elected? Is it Green politics, a single brilliant individual, annoyance with more traditional parties, or something else?