The loss of Theresa May’s clear Conservative majority has already rocked conventional assumptions, agendas and elites. The realm of the politically possible has been blasted open – because the electoral support for Corbyn has allowed a publicly popular discussion about a whole different political economy. Importantly fewer and fewer people are taking notice of the blatant newspaper propaganda being spewed out by the gutter press. This is good news for Greens.
Yes the results of the GE were disappointing, but truly they could not have been any other way given the work being done with ‘Progressive Alliances’. Now we can start to stamp out our agenda clearly. Our work on anti nuclear, farming, the Citizens Income, and small businesses can once again take centre stage.
So it’s a big thank you to all our candidates, teams and helpers who have been solid in their support and work over the last gruelling months. 2 elections in a row is nobody’s idea of a picnic. Looking forward we will need more active members to help spread the word. The Assembly elections might seem a long way away, but this is where we start doing the groundwork.
There are so many people I want to thank – Mirka for working the press office from a beach on ‘holiday’, Ian Chandler for his excellent campaign in Monmouthshire and who achieved our best vote share (despite his internet provider going bust and having to run his excellent social media campaign from public places), Lauren for stepping in as Newsletter Editor at short notice, Pippa P and David for keeping the information flowing and guiding us through the campaign launch postponement (poor Manchester) and setting up a new launch event in the blink of an eye, and of course Gren for doing so many interviews so very well. Everyone has been incredible. We might be a small team, but we are very effective.
Money is our ever present problem, so I’d especially like to give a huge thanks to all those who donated so much, and enabled us to stand in the election in the first place. Please keep fundraising everyone. Another snap election may not be far away.