Yesterday’s Yougov poll showing the Greens on 12%, once again ahead of the Lib Dems, is good news for the Green Party. (1)
But the polls show something else interesting: the Green Party is the only party who’s vote share has improved from the start of the year to polls now. Labour has fallen; UKIP, the Tories and the Lib Dems have flatlined. (UKIP: 26 to 26). The Greens are the only party to have seen their vote share increase.
For Yorkshire and the Humber, lead candidate Andrew Cooper said:
“Our 12% vote share is good news. It shows Greens are growing and we’ll grow more. Greens could be on the cusp of a major breakthrough. But polls doesn’t make a win so no complacency here!
“Greens have been around for over 40 years. People are doing two things now: they’re discovering us and they value what we’re about, AND they see us as the best protest vote ever! Our consistent message about what we're doing to the planet, to each other, means we need to really stop and think!
“12% is a good baseline for us - but we should be at 30 or 40%. Why?
“Because our headline policies are what 60 plus per cent of people want anyway – a free, public NHS, nationalised railways that give value for money, nationalised utility companies for people nor profit, renewables to move away from oil, for cleaner industries and cleaner environments, for sharing the wealth that we all ultimately create.
“A vote for the other parties loses you those things.”