The Green Party today issued a final plea to electors in Brighton Pavilion to vote for what they believe in, and send Green Party leader Caroline Lucas to Westminster as their MP and the first Green MP in the UK parliament.
But the Greens also appealed to voters outside their target constituencies, saying "Vote Green wherever you can, because every Green vote adds weight to the powerful message we're sending to the three biggest parties - that the public says it's time for a new direction in terms of fairness and sustainability, for serious electoral reform, for a renewal of British democracy. That's the message you send when you vote Green."
City's "windows are plastered with Green posters"
Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP issued the following personal statement to electors in her own Brighton Pavilion constituency this afternoon:
"We were delighted when those recent polls by YouGov and ICM indicated a Green breakthrough in the 2010 general election, naming this city as the place."
"We're equally encouraged by the fact that Betfair, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and William Hill all have the Green Party leader as favourite to win the Brighton Pavilion seat."
"And it's good that journalists who have visited Brighton during the campaign have seen for themselves the strength of support for the Greens here. As today's Guardian reported, ‘Brighton's windows are plastered with Green posters' "(1).
"I have an excellent team in Brighton, and I believe they have simply out-campaigned our opponents. Now all it will take is for you the voters to vote for what you believe in, and you will help make history by sending the first Green MP to the UK parliament."
"A small number of elected Greens can exercise an influence far more powerful than their numbers might suggest"
Caroline Lucas added:
"In places like Brighton, Norwich and Lewisham, the Greens have demonstrated a strong electoral track record and are at last within striking distance of winning parliamentary seats."
"The Greens have had representation in the European and Scottish Parliaments and the London Assembly for a decade, and in that time we've trebled our number of seats on city, borough and county councils around the country."
"So we've seen that a small number of elected Greens can exercise an influence far more powerful than their numbers might suggest."
"And we've also seen that a rising Green vote pushes the other parties to take more notice."
"British politics is in a state of crisis. We have to tackle the economic crisis, the environmental crisis and the fact that the public is clamouring for political change."
"So there is a greater need for Green MPs than any before. And our prospects for making the breakthrough are greater than ever before."
Notes
1. Marek Kohn writes: "On a 10-minute walk through the south of Brighton this morning, my tally of households displaying election posters was Conservative, 0; Lib Dem, 2; Labour, 3; Greens, 26. All over downtown Brighton, the splashes of fluorescent green are making houses look as though they're wearing high-visibility vests." See "Greens spot window of opportunity in Brighton," Marek Kohn, The Guardian, 5th May 2010