Readers familiar with Monty Python’s Life of Brian may guess where this article is going from the headline. In the wake of last week’s election results and those of 2023 and 2022 it is worth reflecting on the progress of the Green Party. We broke records for the fifth year in a row, won more seats proportionately than any other party, and made big breakthroughs in the north as well as the south. The Green Party now has 812 councillors, and controls 6 councils (that’s 4% of all ‘primary' councils in England). Under our “first past the post” electoral system and with no big financial backers, that’s pretty amazing.
But what have the Greens ever done for us you might well ask? Well, in Cumberland with two Green councillors and Westmorland & Furness with one Green, your representatives have been working hard to voice your concerns - and make sure action is taken - on issues ranging from small things like road safety improvements to global issues like climate change. In some areas where councils have greater Green Party representation the effect has been more noticeable with, for example, more eco-friendly housing solutions, greater investment in the local green economy, improved public transport and community energy schemes.
Green councillors like to truly represent their wards. They work hard to understand the key issues that affect and irritate people by attending local events and parish council meetings to hear the issues and work with local representatives to try and resolve them. In West Cumberland we know that people are unhappy with the state of the roads, the parlous state of public transport, the increasing difficulty of accessing health care and dentistry, the lack of affordable social housing, and the cost of living crisis.
Cumberland is not due further local elections until 2027 but there is a General Election coming (sometime soon, if not soon enough!) and now is the time for everyone to think about whether they want to vote for the same old status quo or a new progressive political regime so when the time comes there is a new group of Green MPs in Parliament and, in time, a bigger group of Green councillors on Cumberland, ready to show what the Greens can do for you.
Councillor Jill Perry