11:50 am May 7, 2005
What a result! Green politics are on the map in this city.
I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who voted Green on Thursday 5th May 2005 in Brighton Kemptown constituency and across the city of Brighton and Hove.
Me just after canvassing with Green councillor colleague Bill Randall on election day. I like this picture because you can see a one-way traffic sign reflected in the window with the Green poster. It symbolises for me the continued growth in the Green vote.
Greens achieved a massive breakthrough across the city, more than doubling our vote and holding deposits in all three of the city’s constituencies for the first time.
Nearly 15,000 people voted Green across the city. The Green Party won 2,800 votes in Brighton Kemptown constituency - more than 7% of the vote - double its vote in the 2001 election.
This suggests as many as one in ten voters supported us within the city boundaries itself where our support is concentrated.
In Queens Park Ward - a top target for the Greens to win in the 2007 city council elections - we were even higher.
For the full Brighton Kemptown result see the BBC Election 2005 Website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/95.stm
In next-door Brighton Pavilion constituency Greens relegated the LibDems into fourth place, winning a massive 22% of the vote: http://www.brightonandhovegreenparty.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/press_releases/ALL/278//
We nearly came second to New Labour, only trailing the Tories by less than 2%.
This is a historic achievement for a small party that a few years ago was seen as a fringe movement.
It nails on the head Labour's lies that voting Green lets in the Tories. Greens are now 'neck and neck' with the Tories and will overtake them next time.
We're taking Green politics into the mainstream and we ask voters to have the courage of their convictions and give us that extra support to make the final historic breakthrough and win the first historic Green seat in Parliament.
Greens are showing that they can and are winning under the first past the post election system where the top polling candidate wins regardless of the share of the vote gained.
Keith Taylor’s result in Brighton Pavilion constituency showed how targeted work can move Greens ahead of the Westminster parties who grab most of the media limelight.
TIME FOR A FAIRER VOTING SYSTEM
Yet the question everyone should now be asking is how much longer can this discredited and unfair voting system continue?
Blair has been re-elected with a working majority but with the smallest share of the vote in living memory - just 35%. Nearly two thirds of voters opted for other parties.
It's not a fair election system that continually delivers parliamentary majorities for a party that has been rejected by the majority of voters.
We need an urgent review of electoral law to move to a fairer system where every vote is given representation in Parliament.
Blair has failed to honour his 1997 and 2001 election manifestos to introduce a fairer voting system yet Labour shout loudly about the need to vote for them to stop the Tories getting in.
My response to Labour is: "You've had eight years to move to a fairer system of voting; yet you have failed to do so.
"You only now have yourselves to blame if you lose seats under the outdated and unfair 'first past the post' method of electing MPs."
If we don’t act, I fear the alienation and sense of grievance felt by many against the political system will spill over into violence.
The Government should act quickly to introduce a fairer voting system - starting with local elections and then moving to Parliamentary level.
I urge everyone who is concerned about the future of our democracy to lobby their MPs and join campaign groups like 'Make Votes Count': http://www.makemyvotecount.org.uk
Let’s hope the next general election will be fought under a fairer proportional system where EVERYONE'S vote counts and Labour are prevented from scaring people into voting for them.
Finally, on behalf of the Green Party in Brighton and Hove thank you for your interest in Green politics and I hope you've enjoyed this campaign blog.
We’re making electoral history and I believe we’re about to enter an era when Green politics - the politics of peace, social justice and the environment - take centre-stage.
Thank you!
Simon Williams
8 May 2005
9:30 pm May 5, 2005
Answer: I think it was visiting community groups and schools.
This picture below was taken recently when I talked to pupils at Brighton’s Steiner School.
Me and Brighton Steiner School students - not teaching French!
I talked about Green politics including the threat of climate change and what it was like to be a Green activist.
The Steiner School students were very well-informed and asked extremely intelligent questions. I suppose I should have expected that!
Anyway, what an enjoyable election campaign!
What ever the result, I think I’ve helped to promote greater awareness of Green politics across Brighton Kemptown constituency.
Thank you if you decided to vote Green!
Simon Williams
10:35 am May 5, 2005
I’ve just been visiting polling stations across Brighton Kemptown constituency and have even had a stint ‘telling’ (taking poll card numbers) from voters as they leave the polling booth.
What I can say is that there’ll be a big Green vote across the city - though I won’t make any predictions on the actual result.
The real issue I keep hearing is that people want to vote Green but are not sure about it because they fear the Tories will get in.
This is mistaken. What I'm saying in response is that whatever happens locally it seems likely that New Labour will be returned nationally.
People in Brighton are fortunate in that they can take a risk and vote for a Green voice at Westminster because Greens are so strong here.
Another Tory or Labour MP will make little difference; the first Green MP will make a world of difference.
The country desperately needs a Green voice and in Brighton voters have that opportunity. All the Labour Party has to say is ‘Don’t vote Green or you'll let in the Tories”.
This ‘letting in the Tories’ argument is Labour scare-mongering pure and simple. Labour, of course, have broken their own pre-1997 manifesto promise to introduce a fairer electoral system where every vote counts.
If they start to lose seats under a system they decide to keep against their earlier promises, they just have themselves to blame.
Johann Hari said in The Independent newspaper on 13 April 2005:
“… there are two parliamentary seats in the looming election where a vote for the Greens might be more than a protest: Brighton Pavilion [sic] and Brighton Kemptown.
“The Greens already hold the overall balance of power on the local council, and they represent the area in the European Parliament after they pushed Labour into third place at last year's European elections.
"The election of Britain's first Green Party MP would make a tangible difference: on 6 May, every Labour MP would begin nervously to swot up on climate change.
"In 1989, the Green Party had a surprising win in the European elections and it forced even the Conservatives to treat the Rio Earth Summit much more seriously."
Let’s hope enough people have the courage of their convictions and go Green in Brighton.
However you vote, have a great day!
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