Green Party thanks its voters
Friday, 7 June 2019
From Finn Jensen, Chair of Calderdale Green Party
On behalf of Calderdale Green Party, I would like to thank everyone who voted Green at the local elections and at the EU elections. At the local elections across England and Wales the Green Party increased the number of councillors by 500%. At the local elections Calderdale Green Party got twice as many votes as at the last local elections. For the first time we got a Green Party MEP, Magid Magid, elected in Yorkshire. Thanks to everyone in Todmorden and Halifax who gave our EU lead candidate Magid Magid such a warm welcome two days before the EU elections.
After his election to the EU Parliament Magid tweeted, “We did it. Today is about a Green Wave cascading through Europe & landing on the shores of Yorkshire for the first time. We're just getting started. This'll be more than a fleeting midsummer night's dream in Brussels. We're going to turn the tide of history!”
In Calderdale, the Green Party got 13% of the vote – up from 10% in the recent local elections. The LibDems got 14%, Labour 18% and the Brexit Party 35%.
With Theresa May’s resignation, we are now at risk of getting a ‘No-Deal’ PM and Conservative Party. However, with a majority in Parliament against leaving the EU without a deal it may end up with a general election or a new referendum to sort out the political impasse. That could happen at the end of this year or the beginning of next year. We need to be ready for that possibility and will campaign to remain in and reform the EU.
We urgently need to get rid of the Tory Government. The UN has produced a very critical report on social inequality in the UK. Headteachers report teachers giving food and clothes to children who are hungry. We need to end austerity policies and rebuild the public sector with proper funding for schools, childrens’ centres, libraries, transport, etc.
The warnings on climate change and loss of biodiversity/wild life are now so urgent that children and young people are going on school strikes in 110 countries demanding a safe future. From 20th September, they are asking adults to join them if they can. We need a Green New Deal to insulate all buildings to the highest standard, to fast-track renewable energy and make cheap clean public transport, reducing air pollution that results in up to 40,000 early deaths in the UK.
If anything, the last three years have illustrated the need for electoral reform. We need a system where every vote counts – to replace the first past the post system. We need proportional representation so the election result reflects what the voters actually want. In general elections about 6.5 million voters vote tactically with the first past the post system. We need 16- and 17-year olds to be allowed to vote and we need to reform and democratise the House of Lords.
Finn Jensen
Chair of Calderdale Green Party