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Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer described her party’s electoral performance as “beyond my wildest dreams” as she set out plans to push Labour “to be braver on the areas where they’ve been backsliding in the run-up to the election”.
The Greens won four seats last Thursday, holding Brighton Pavilion and securing Bristol Central, Waveney Valley and North Herefordshire. Including the separate Scottish and Northern Ireland parties, the Greens more than doubled their UK vote share from 2.6% in 2019 to 6.8% this July. The England & Wales party finished second in 40 constituencies and secured 7.2% of the vote.
Denyer, and fellow MP, Ellie Chowns, spoke to Byline Times earlier this week after arriving at Parliament along with fellow new Green MPs, co-leader Adrian Ramsay, and Sian Berry, and laying out what the party called a clear and achievable ten-step plan that’s a “litmus test for the direction this government plans to travel.”
Key areas of focus for the party, Denyer and Chowns said, was stopping new oil and gas projects, like the Rosebank fields, mandating solar panels on new-builds, lifting the two-child benefit cap and addressing river pollution and environmental protection.
The pair also told Byline Times that there’s a possibility of a new left-wing caucus emerging in Parliament, via the Green New Deal Rising group which helped get them elected. Eleven of the left-wing group’s 15 candidates they backed were elected.
While admitting it was “definitely time” for the Conservatives to go, Denyer’s optimism that things would change under Labour was somewhat tempered by how “quickly they’re abandoning policies before even getting into power”.
“I think there’s been a legitimate fear from many voters that if they’re like that in opposition, what would they be like in government?”
The party co-leader opined that feeling was “part of what motivated people” to vote Green, “along with the fact that we were the only party being honest about the level of investment needed to fix the problems in our public services, how we would raise the funds to do that, and offering policies that would provide real change and hope, not just incremental change.”
Denyer also claimed that the “kind of change” Labour is offering is “pretty timid” so the party will “hold them to account, to support them in areas [where] we agree, but to push them to go further”.
As examples of that, she cited new Energy Secretary Ed Miliband saying he will reverse the de facto ban on onshore wind energy, but not confirming he will stop the Rosebank oil and gas fields.
“The Labour Party said they would keep that licence in place even though the climate science is clear that we cannot be opening any new oil and gas wells at this stage of the climate emergency,” Denyer told Byline Times.
She went on to say the party will push for “simple, quick things” the government can make right now, like mandating solar panels on the roofs of all new-build housing, and policies like lifting the two-child benefit cap “which disappointingly Labour have said they support keeping”.
Denyer said the party is “not going to be shy about speaking out where we think the government could and should be going further”.
Asked whether she had had any conversations with independent MPs about joining the party, Denyer said only that the Greens have a “thorough” vetting process to ensure potential members are a “good fit”. “Whether people join the party or work collaboratively across party lines, we’re always happy to work with those who agree with us,” she added.
Asked about the potential of a new left-wing caucus emerging in Parliament, she said: “Who knows? Caroline Lucas worked cross-party with like-minded MPs, including those who were supporters of the idea of a Green New Deal. I can imagine something similar might arise this time.”
New Green MP Ellie Chowns was more positive about the change in Government than Denyer, and added that she is “super-keen to work with anybody I can find common ground with. I think politics works best when it takes a more collegial approach, trying to find where you can agree rather than constantly being polarised.”
Chowns conceded that there would likely be “areas of disagreement” between the newly elected Green MPs, but said at present, “I have no idea what they’re going to be”.
“Politics is about constructive debate,” she added, imploring the need for “political discussion that’s a bit more open. If you agree with 95%, that’s fantastic”.
“It was time for change. I think the whole country pretty much felt that,” Chowns said of the election result. But she echoed a lot of the political discussion in the aftermath of Keir Starmer‘s win saying “there are issues” with Labour having so many MPs even though their vote share “hasn’t changed”. The party won 34% of the vote, though the biggest haul of seats in generations.
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While “hopeful” the country would now move in a “better direction”, Chowns said it is “so important that we’ve got a stronger Green voice here in Westminster now because those independent voices are going to be crucial in holding the government to account.”
Asked what she might quiz Starmer on during her first PMQ’s the new MP said “the thing that pops into my mind” is pollution in the River Wye, water protection zones and funding for the Environment Agency.
“I think that’s an immediate, clear issue where we really need to move things forward and where local MPs could have a real influence in shifting things out of where they’ve been stuck for so long.”
Update 11th July: This piece initially stated the Greens doubled their national vote share from 1.1% to just under 2%. This was an error, and the correct figure UK-wide is 2.6% in 2019 to 6.8% on July 4th.
Ten steps the Greens say the Labour Government “must take” in its first 100 days. Many of these are, understandably, Green policy but not that of Labour:
- Settle a Pay Deal with Junior Doctors: Properly value their work and ensure fair compensation (Labour’s plan).
- Remove the Two-Child Benefit Cap: End this policy to support families more equitably (Labour has refused to back this).
- Prosecute Major Water Companies: Bring criminal charges against companies persistently discharging sewage into rivers and seas (Labour has committed to prosecuting failing water firms).
- Mandatory Solar Panels and Wind Power: Make solar panels compulsory on new suitable homes and reverse the de-facto ban on onshore wind projects (the latter was confirmed on Monday).
- Local Rail Link Plan: Develop a comprehensive plan to reopen local rail links to enhance connectivity (May happen under new, nationalised Great British Rail).
- Emergency Dentistry Summit: Address the urgent crisis in dental care with an emergency summit (seen as a priority for new health secretary Wes Streeting).
- Restore Public Sector Workers’ Right to Strike: Re-establish the right to strike and improve public-sector workers’ conditions (Labour has committed to introducing legislation within 100 days).
- Recognise the State of Palestine: Officially recognise Palestine and end arms sales to countries at risk of violating international law (no timeline as yet, but Labour policy).
- Introduce a Natural History GCSE: Enrich education by including a natural history course in the curriculum (not clear if Labour would do this).
- Strengthen Renters’ Rights: End no-fault evictions and provide local authorities with new powers to control rents (Labour has committed to ending no-fault evictions, but not permitting rent controls).
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Josiah Mortimer also writes the On the Ground column, exclusive to the print edition of Byline Times.
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