Huge support for 'yes to Europe, no to climate change'
European parliamentary group is fourth-largest
Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley has this morning celebrated his party's total vote in the European election topping 2 million.
Jonathan said: “The result of this election, with 12 per cent of the vote, a tally of more than 2 million, shows huge support for our message of ‘yes to Europe, no to climate change’.
“To beat the Tory Party in a national election for the first time is just the icing on the cake.”
Jonathan added: “The result in the UK is a reflection of what has happened across Europe. The Greens/EPA group in the European parliament is leaping to be the third-largest group, with great results from the German, French, Finnish and many other European green parties.
“The pollsters did not see approaching the 50% boost in the group to 75 seats that the voters have delivered.
“As our European parliamentary co-president Ska Keller told the BBC last night, we want to deliver on transformational climate action and the promise of social action in Europe.
“Austerity in the UK and far beyond has done great damage. The political philosophy that has allowed the wealth of the 1% to soar while many millions struggle is one of the key causes of the 2016 Brexit vote. It is causing great dissatisfaction with the politics-as-usual approach of the old parties across Europe.
“Green politics is new, different and exciting. That’s a message that particularly has captured the imagination and votes of young people across Europe and I look forward to seeing what our great team of seven MEPs can achieve in Europe.”
Notes
Greens were elected for the first time as MEPs in the Eastern, North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber regions. Greens retained seats in London, the South East and the South West (where Molly Scott Cato was re-elected).
Greens topped the vote in Bristol, Norwich and Brighton and Hove and scored notable second places in Sheffield, Cambridge and Oxford.