Leading Green Party parliamentary candidates for London, including the party's most hotly tipped London candidate Darren Johnson (1), will gather in Lewisham Deptford on Wednesday April 21st to launch their general election manifesto (2) and unveil their widely anticipated billboard campaign.
The party is expecting its best ever results in the May 6th general election, buoyed up by the news that when voters take part in a blind survey of party policies they are most likely to choose Green (3), and the sharp rise in London membership - about to break record levels.
Darren Johnson, leader of the group of six Greens on Lewisham Council and the party's parliamentary candidate for Lewisham Deptford, says:
"The Green Party is offering something very different to the other mainstream parties - a bold and radical set of policies that appeal to voters. There's a fully costed investment programme which will simultaneously tackle the three biggest problems we face - a failing economy, rampant inequality and catastrophic climate change.
"We are mounting our biggest ever campaign in the capital. We are contesting all 73 parliamentary seats for the first time ever and have a real chance of making our breakthrough into Westminster."
A London Assembly member for the last decade, Darren Johnson was also the first Green to be elected to Lewisham Council, in 2002. In the 2006 elections, a further five councillors were elected, taking the total to six - the largest Green group on any council in London, and one of the highest Green votes overall in the whole of the UK.
Notes
1. The Greens came second to Labour in Lewisham Deptford constituency, well ahead of the Conservatives and Lib Dems, in the 2006 local elections and 2008 London Assembly elections. This year the Greens say they are challenging Labour for the seat.
2. You can download the manifesto, Fair is worth fighting for, here: www.greenparty.org.uk/policies.html
3. The Vote for Policies website at http://voteforpolicies.org.uk allows you to compare policies from six UK political parties on a range of key issues. Once you have selected the policies with which you agree, you will be shown which parties they belong to. As at April 12th, the results were showing:
* Green Party 28.37%
* Lib Dems 18.01%
* Labour 16.99%
* Conservatives 16.22%
* UKIP 10.91%
* BNP 9.51%