Greens on the London Assembly hold the balance of power. What have they done with it?
Richard Scrase interviewed Jenny Jones to find out.
Can you briefly explain how the political set up in London works? Just how much power do London Assembly members have?
The Assembly is a scrutiny body, virtually without executive power except to veto the Mayor’s budget if the Assembly can find a two thirds majority amongst its members - that hasn’t happened so far because we have four other political parties as well as us (Tory, Labour, Lib Dem and One London, a quasi UKIP group), and there’s very little middle ground to agree on. Since 2004 we have two ways of making an impact. The first is by using the media to present our policies and the second is by agreeing Green group amendments to the Mayor’s budget so that he is assured of the nine votes (Labour 7, Green 2) needed to get it through.
Over the three years we have got more ambitious, both in the number of projects and the size of funding. Some projects were feasibility studies in the first budget, but are now underway and making a real difference. Darren led on the negotiations and played our strong hand for all it was worth. It took many meetings and lots of research, but was worth the effort. In 2007/8 there will be £150m of green initiatives, including £8m on a Climate Change mitigation fund at TfL, £53m on road safety, £25,000 on an empty property hotline, £38m on cycling, and £30m on travel demand management. The Mayor himself said that we were greening all the parts of London government, including TfL and the LDA.
Some of the Mayor’s plans, like building a new road bridge across the Thames, Greens object to. How have you resolved the conflicts between Green ideals and political practicality?
It’s true that in getting all of the measures that we wanted, we also had to vote for some interim money for the bridge, but it was something that Ken wouldn’t back down on and we decided it was better to get some clear green gains. But I’m optimistic that the bridge will get moved farther and farther into the future, then become irrelevant. We’ve felt that it’s more important to get a good green tinge to London’s budget.
Accepting politics is the ‘art of compromise’, what would be the sticking points for you?
This year, we wanted a lot more money for walking and when that was turned down we dug our heels in. Generally, once the officers have checked out the practicalities of our ideas, there’s not much argument. They might suggest another way to get to the same outcome, which we are happy to go along with. We have refused to support big increases in the council tax, maintaining that cuts should be made elsewhere in the overall budget.
What impact do you think the Green Party has made on the thinking of the Mayor and his advisers?
It’s been obvious that the Mayor sees climate change as the major theme of his second term. We have often given him a practical way to take forward the agenda and he often gives us the credit for greening his whole administration. Although at first, in 2000, it was only the Mayor who wanted a good working relationship with us and his (Labour) advisors were quite suspicious, over the seven years we have developed a working relationship based on mutual respect. This means that the issues and ideas that we have consistently advocated have become more and more acceptable. This is not to say that we agree with all his decisions – there’s still an important role for us in drawing attention to his madder ideas.
What impact have you made on London transport policy? Has your position on the Metropolitan police board helped here?
When first elected, I was given the Transport portfolio. Not knowing much about it, I decided to go back to green basics and concentrate on the more vulnerable road users who were not often considered. I promoted walking, cycling and road safety. This was seen as bizarre and very limited, but it has proved to be the way forward for Transport for London (TfL). I’ve also worked on road safety, with a social justice emphasis, and while TfL has taken this up enthusiastically, it has been more difficult to convince the Police that this is about road crime and therefore it’s their job to tackle the worst abuses. Met insiders tell me that it is now on their radar in a way that would have been impossible a few years ago, but that is not to say they do enough.
You are head of the London Food board and its implementation group FIG - what do these bodies do and how does the work relate to the work of the Mayor and the LA?
London Food (LF) has been an excellent way of pushing through the issue of sustainability and questioning the wisdom of driving and flying our food around. LF is a board of food experts, with a separate steering group (FIG) which spends the money. I chair them both and it has meant linking with big spending public bodies, such as the NHS, with a view to making public procurement the driver for changes to our eating habits. This means bringing local, seasonal, fair trade, organic foods, with good animal welfare, to hospitals, schools and prisons. It offers guaranteed markets to British farmers and enables them to sell outside the supermarket system, giving them a better price and less wastage. When the Mayor gave me the job he told me to go away, write a strategy, and tell him what to think.
Previously you were deputy mayor, and you have other jobs the Mayor has given you. What additional roles do you think will be open to Greens in the future? To what extent are these linked to the Green vote?
While it’s true that the Mayor wants to keep us happy, and make sure of our votes, these things depend more on the Assembly Member’s interests and abilities. He is good at delegation and likes friendly AM’s to chair the various bodies that exist, or come up with ideas of their own. One of our budget gains was a Waterways Authority which I could have chaired, but lacking the time, we gave to a Labour AM.
How do you find your relationship with the media? Are they open to the messages you want to put out?
Our media profiles have risen and the media now know that there are issues on which we’ll say something interesting or radical. These are not always ‘typical’ green issues. The quantity of our media hits are limited only by the number of elected Greens, the number of press officers we have, and the need to eat and sleep. It’s a simple equation of more Greens equals more staff, which equals more coverage.
I would like to turn to the role the LA has in the oversight of the London Olympics. The UK won the Olympic bid in part due to sustainable development proposals built into the bid. Tell me how you are trying to ensure the Olympics stay green?
We have consistently demanded that the sustainability and legacy elements must be prioritised and not dropped when the costs rise and there is pressure to deliver. We are the only people on the media scene who are looking at the 2012 Games with an overview of the environmental and social commitments, so this area of our work will continue to increase.
