Defying a Labour/Tory squeeze that cost the Liberal Democrats two of their five seats, and wiped out UKIP, Green Assembly Members Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson were re-elected to City Hall, and Green Mayoral candidate Siân Berry moved the Greens up from 2004’s seventh place to fourth.
Darren and Jenny increased their vote for the proportional London-wide Assembly constituency by 43,000 to hold a share of over 8%, amid a rising turnout. They came third on this vote across three constituencies - West Central, North East and Greenwich and Lewisham - and the Greens also took third place in the first-past-the-post constituency vote in West Central London, with journalist Julia Stephenson winning over 10% to beat the Liberal Democrat candidate into fourth.
In the Mayoral race, Siân Berry increased the Greens’ first-preference vote share by over 20,000 votes, taking fourth place. Taking first and second preferences together, Siân added over 140,000 new Green voters, improving on 2004’s total by more than half.
In Bradford, long-serving Shipley Ward councillor Martin Love was re-elected with a comfortable majority of almost 1,000. Shipley Green Party has now held this ward since 2000. Martin and his fellow green group councillors, Hawarun Hussain and Kevin Warnes, have used this relatively safe green seat as a base to launch significant policy initiatives across Bradford, most recently winning council backing for their idea of a carbon management fund worth £700k. This fund will be used to invest in carbon-busting projects, with any resulting savings being channelled back into the fund for further sustainable investment. The two year gap until the next local election gives them the chance to press the Conservative Executive to accept the need for more ambitious council initiatives.
Greens in Stroud were celebrating after Fi Macmillan took their sixth District Council seat. The Greens finally took Nailsworth despite a popular Tory in the position and a strong general swing to the Tories. The party missed out in previous years by a handful of votes.
Margaret Wright, standing in Abbey Ward, finally became the first Green Party Councillor in Cambridge after standing as a candidate for over twenty years. Gaining 41.4% of the vote in Abbey, Margaret had a lead of 167 votes over the Labour candidate, with 812 votes cast for her altogether. Labour took 645 votes, the Conservatives 376 and the Lib Dems 129.
Overall, the Green Party increased their number of council seats to 117, with 9 gains and 4 losses.
