In yesterday's county elections the Green Party continued to make steady progress.
The party made its breakthrough onto four county councils - Cambridgeshire (1 seat), Devon (1), Gloucestershire (1) and Suffolk (2).
In Norfolk the Greens held 2 seats and gained 5.
In Lancashire the party successfully defended 1 seat and gained a second. Lancaster Greens also held a city council seat in a by-election, and continue to hold 12 seats on the city council.
Unfortunately the Greens had effectively lost 4 seats before the campaign began, due to council reorganisation and boundary changes (in Eastern and North East regions). The only unexpected loss was 3 out of the 5 Green Party seats on Oxfordshire County Council.
Greens gain most at Labour and LibDem expense
The Green Party ended the campaign with 123 councillors on 42 councils, up from 119 on 41.
Of the Green Party's gains, 7 were from Labour, 2 from the LibDems and 1 from the Conservatives. This too continues a familiar pattern.
The party's steady progress in the 2009 elections was reflected in recruitment, with an 8.5% growth in membership during the six weeks of the campaign.
Greens look forward to the general election
The single most encouraging result was in Norfolk, where the Greens won more votes than any other party not only in the Norwich South parliamentary constituency, but also throughout the Norwich City Council area. This bodes well for the target constituency of Norwich South, which will be contested by Adrian Ramsay, the Green Party's deputy leader and currently leader of the opposition on Norwich City Council.
And in Lancashire, in the Lancaster and Fleetwood target constituency the Greens outpolled everyone except the Conservatives.