The Green Party: ‘Green Surge’ or Work in Progress?

• Main Author: Brendan Prendiville
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique 2015-12-01
• Series: Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique
• Subjects: Green Party; political ecology; General Elections; Green Surge; minority parties; environmentalism.
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/618

The Green Party has come a long way since it began standing for election in 1974. In the 2010 General Election it won its first parliamentary seat (Caroline Lucas, Brighton Pavilion) & this time, hopes were high of not only retaining that seat but also of gaining one, and possibly two others. These hopes were heightened by what the media termed the “Green Surge” in the year leading up to the election during which membership rose considerably, reflected in increasingly optimistic polling figures. The result didn’t live up to expectations in terms of seats but a sizeable increase in the number of votes left the Greens optimistic for the future. This article will analyse the reasons for this Green Surge, the politics of it and the situation the British Greens find themselves in following the results.