The Young Greens – the section of the Green Party run by young people – are holding their first National Convention in Oxford this weekend.
The event will be opened at 1.50pm on Saturday 25th October at Jesus College by Oxford’s Deputy Mayor, Elise Benjamin. This will be followed by a discussion focused on making a breakthrough into Westminster at the next General Election, with the Green Party’s Deputy Leader, Adrian Ramsay.
Adrian is himself a Young Green, and was elected the first Deputy Leader of the Party in September, aged 27. He is leader of the largest group of Green Councillors in the UK on Norwich City Council, where the Greens are now the official opposition.
Adrian will be talking about the significance of the next General Election, where the Greens are aiming to win in three target seats: Brighton Pavilion, Lewisham Deptford and in Norwich South, where Adrian is in contention to unseat former Home Secretary Charles Clarke.
Young Greens from Brighton and Lewisham will also lead the discussion, and will talk about how the Young Greens will be crucial in helping to elect the first Green MPs.
Also during Saturday, Oxford East Green Parliamentary candidate, Peter Tatchell, will be giving a talk titled 'Republic - The Case for an Elected Head of State'.
And on Sunday, the Young Greens will be joined by colleagues from Scotland, Northern Ireland the Republic of Ireland, for the second meeting of the Inter Isles Young Greens.
Adrian Ramsay will also be promoting the Greens’ key policy of providing a Living Wage to all workers, not just the minimum wage.
In 2007, Oxford Green councillors succeeded in passing a Council motion to bring in a Living Wage of £7 for Council workers, and are now pushing to have this extended to contractors as well.
Adrian said: “Green Councillors in Oxford have been at the forefront of the party’s national campaign to make sure no-one has to struggle to support themselves on low wages. Their success in bringing wages up to at least £7 an hour for many hundreds of workers is a model for other Greens across the country.
“It is particularly valuable to younger people in Oxford, as many students and young people are forced to endure very low wages in temporary and part-time jobs. The minimum wage is just £4.77 an hour for people aged 18-21 and £3.53 for workers under 18. These are poverty wage levels and have no place in the 21st century.”
Oxford Deputy Mayor, Elise Benjamin, said: “Greens are working hard to make sure young people in Oxford get decent wages and working conditions. The City Council now pays a living wage to its employees, and we’ll continue to push for this to apply not only to direct employees, but also to outsourced staff. We need to put the maximum possible pressure on employers to pay decent wages in one of the most expensive places to live in England.”