We’ve obviously seen the Conservatives and Labour move away from promoting green policies after deciding the Uxbridge by-election was lost because of local opposition to the expansion of Ulez.
That shift away from green policies, however, ignores the fact that for millions of people across the UK, climate change and its devastating impact ranks among the issues they consider most important when deciding who to vote for. Any government which weakens its environmental pledges to win favour with small numbers of swing voters in target seats is doing a disservice to the many people who want to see the UK lead the way in tackling climate change.
Part of the problems ultimately comes down to our voting system. Quite simply, first past the post does not treat all voters equally. People ticking their box in marginal seats get more attention than those voting in safe seats; entire national policies can be designed around winning over a relatively small proportion of our population; and climate-harming initiatives can be announced in key seats as questionable short-term economic benefits and the need to secure cheap headlines in the run-up to elections override long-term damage to the environment and people’s health.
It wasn’t a surprise to read then that recent analysis of the British Social Attitudes survey found first past the post “distorts our debate on climate” and that the winner takes all nature of our elections prevents governments from taking the bold steps required to properly tackle climate change. First past the post, the analysis concluded, has locked the country into a “fossil-fuelled status quo”.
The current system prevents cross-party collaboration on issues which should extend far beyond party politics. It also effectively locks the majority of parties out of the political debate. Caroline Lucas does a superb job representing green ideas within Parliament, but the party rarely has a seat at decision-making tables despite polls showing 76 per cent of people support the UK reaching net zero and more than half of voters want the government to do more to tackle climate change.
People who support green policies are now in the majority, but at the last general election the Greens secured a single MP despite winning 850,000 votes. By contrast, the Conservatives returned an MP for every 38,000 votes and Labour one for every 53,000. Whichever way you look at it, that does not provide a fair reflection on the country’s voting habits.
And it matters locally as well. In the last election the Green Party won 25 per cent of the vote in Brighton and Hove but was rewarded with just seven councillors. Labour won 47 per cent and got 38. In 2019 the Greens won 52 per cent of votes in Brighton and Hove but ended up with only 19 councillors. That’s an imbalance which results in administrations which simply do not accurately reflect the feeling of local voters. Policies are now enacted based on the policy direction of a party most people in the city did not vote for.
People may argue that the Greens have an ulterior motive for backing proportional representation – and indeed Labour for opposing it. And it is true, as a party we would do significantly better under a different system. Not only would our existing votes be worth the same as everyone else’s, but a recent poll found the number of people nationally who said they would vote Green would increase to nearly 20 per cent if people felt everyone had an equal chance of winning.
More than simply an argument made to advance Green Party prospects, however, proportional representation is something which is needed to ensure people’s fundamental right to vote is not worth less based on where they live, or which seats the two major parties are targeting. It shouldn’t be controversial to suggest in a modern democracy everyone’s vote should count the same. It’s arguably why in Europe only the UK and Belarus use first past the post to elect their governments. Most of our neighbours have long realised it creates distorted and adversarial parliaments which don’t reflect the priorities of the electorate.
With one Labour councillor having resigned we have a local by-election on the way. With two others currently under investigation by their party, we may soon have two more. As Greens we will put up candidates wherever there are votes to be won and residents to represent. It would just be nice if locally and nationally, we could campaign knowing every vote secured counted the same.
Steve Davis is leader of the Greens on Brighton and Hove City Council
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