When it was finally over, the media smoke billowing off the election battlefield somewhat obscured the fact that as well as winning all four of its target seats, the Green Party came second in another 39 constituencies. Growing numbers of us are obviously grasping the severity of the unfolding environmental situation.
Around two million people voted for the Green Party and its vision for a better future, and more than 3,000 new members have joined since the election ended.
No doubt many more would have voted Green had it not been for widespread tactical voting. On which point, as well as being grateful for those people who contacted me before the election to express their support, I appreciated the messages of those who apologetically let me know that they were reluctantly going to vote tactically this time round. Shame it didn’t pay off in North Dorset – close, but no coconut.
If we are to enjoy a true democracy, then we need to change the way we elect our politicians. Yet again the first-past-the-post electoral system has given us a government that only received a minority of the vote. This time it was Labour who benefitted, their 34 per cent vote share gaining them 63 per cent of the seats in Parliament. The Conservative’s 24 per cent vote share gave them 19 per cent of the seats, while the other parties’ 42 per cent share of the vote gave them just 18 per cent of the seats. Little wonder the Electoral Reform Society has called the result the most disproportional on record.
At the hustings events leading up to the election, there was a noticeable lack of questions about the environment. For far too long now, many politicians – and most of the media – have either denied or down-played the severity of the ever-worsening environmental situation. The unexpectedly rapid onset of the changing climate that we’re now experiencing is a massive wake-up call. We have to halt both the destruction of the natural world and global warming.
Not next year. Not next decade. NOW. Time is no longer on our side. The future can still be bright, but only if we work to make it so.
Ken Huggins
North Dorset Green Party
