A string of well-known and influential figures come out for the Greens in today’s Independent on Sunday newspaper (1).
Even tough-guy actor Bob Hoskins says he’s “tempted by the Greens”, as for the first time he approaches a general election determined not to vote Labour (2).
The news comes as the Greens prepare to launch their final PR offensive (see below).
Celebs backing Green breakthrough
Today’s Independent on Sunday publishes a collection of endorsements from well-known figures ranging from actress Greta Scacchi and best-selling author Philip Pullman to comedians Mark Steel and Alistair McGowan.
Radiohead front man Thom Yorke, who is backing Cambridge Green Party candidate Tony Juniper, says "Wouldn't it be nice to have someone [in the Commons] who is doing more than paying lip service to climate change?"
Comedian Alistair McGowan urges: "Vote for what you believe in. There are no real differences between the main three parties. If you really want change, vote Green."
“Caroline Lucas has won her battle to transform the Green Party,” says the Independent’s environment editor, Michael McCarthy. “Now, she is fighting to make history in Brighton.”
Greens spring onto the offensive with new PR campaign
Buoyed up by recent YouGov and ICM polls suggesting a Green win for party leader Caroline Lucas, the Greens will enter the penultimate week of the campaign with a new PR offensive based around billboards, viral advertising and the screening on all channels of a new election broadcast distinguishing the Greens from “the increasingly similar big three,” said a party spokesperson today (3).
He continued: “It’s no bad thing that the Greens’ final big push has been heralded by a selection of well-known figures stressing, in the pages of today’s Independent on Sunday, the importance of getting Green MPs into Westminster.”
The newspaper describes how for the first time the Greens have applied their “target to win” concept – the strategy through which they have trebled the number of Green Party councillors in the last decade – to Westminster elections, concentrating a high proportion of their effort on a small number of seats in a determined bid to make their long-awaited breakthrough.
And number one target is Brighton Pavilion, the seat contested by the party’s leader Caroline Lucas – who is also favourite with bookies William Hill, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power to take the seaside seat in a two-horse race against the Tories. Caroline Lucas is also is odds-on favourite with top UK online betting site Betfair.
Notes
1. See http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/green-surge-as-main-parties-try-to-attract-ecovote-1953737.html and http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/can-caroline-lucas-change-british-politics-for-ever-1953738.html.
3. The Green Party’s election broadcast can be previewed at www.onlygreen.org.uk, where supporters can even email personalised versions of the broadcast to their friends as part of the Green Party’s Obama-style viral campaign. The billboards campaign artwork can be previewed at http://www.gluelondon.com/green-party-posters/. The integrated PR campaign has been devised by the Green Party’s retained advertising agency, glue London.