Greens celebrate steady election success across country despite UKIP protest vote
THE GREEN Party is today celebrating steady progress across the country in county and unitary elections, with the party having a new presence on six councils (Warwickshire, 2 councillors; Essex, 2; Surrey 1, Cornwall 1, Devon 1, Kent 1) and numbers doubling on Worcestershire County Council (to two) and Bristol Council (to four).
Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said: “I would like to thank all those who worked tirelessly on the campaign with huge amounts of energy and commitment. We were encouraged all through the campaign to receive such a good response.
“We started this campaign with the aim of spreading much more widely across the country, winning seats on councils on which we had not previously been represented, and we’ve achieved that aim.”
The Green Party now has 141 principal authority councillors, with a net gain of five councillors from yesterday’s poll.
Natalie added: “One thing that stands out is our strong results in the West Midlands. With our four |
Greens Breakthrough onto Essex County Council
THE Green Party has achieved an historic breakthrough on to Essex County Council by wining seats in Rochford West and Witham Northern Divisions.
Essex has long been regarded as "True Blue" territory yet both seats won by the Greens were from sitting Conservatives.
In Rochford West, Michael Hoy, already a district councillor, secured a majority of 336 votes over the Conservatives with the Tory, Labour and Lib Dem vote shares all falling from the 2009 elections.
In Witham Northern, James Abbott, a district councillor of 14 years standing, won narrowly from UKIP in a 4 way marginal contest with a swing to the Greens of 3.2%. Cllr. Abbott had secured second place in 2009. Labour came 4th and the Lib Dem vote collapsed.
The Greens targeted the 2 divisions to concentrate their resources whilst also standing in 88% of seats across the county.
Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, visited both Witham and Rochford during the election campaign. She said
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Two Green county councilors elected in Worcestershire
Matthew Jenkins elected with 200 majority in Worcester St Stephen
John Raine elected, after recount, in Malvern Trinity
Matthew Jenkins and John Raine have become the first two Greens ever elected to Worcestershire County Council. (1)
In Malvern, the Greens took Malvern Trinity from the Lib Dems. John Raine won, after a recount, by just 5 votes with 535, over Richard Chamings of UKIP.
In Worcester St Stephen, Matthew Jenkins won with 1179 votes (over Conservatives in 2nd with 910; Labour in 3rd with 689).
Notes
1) Going into the 2013 county council elections, Clive Smith held Malvern Link division for the Greens, but he had been elected as a Lib Dem in the 2009 county elections, defecting to the Greens in 2012.
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Bristol Green Party doubles number of councillors in local election win
BRISTOL Green Party today celebrated as it doubled its number of councillors in this year's round of local elections, taking the Greens' tally to four council seats. The new councillors are Rob Telford in Ashley, Daniella Radice in Bishopston, [cu1] Both seats were previously held by the Liberal Democrats.
Cllr Tess Green, who has led the Greens on the council since 2011, commented: "We are absolutely delighted with our gains and would like to thank everyone who voted Green. This result demonstrates that our policies of environmental and social justice are appealing to voters more and more. In this age of austerity voters are looking for a party which puts people before profit and works to give Bristolians more say in local decision-making – and that's the Green Party."
Voters in Ashley ward made electoral history in Bristol by electing Rob Telford to make Ashley the first ward in Bristol to be represented by two Green councillors. Rob, who will join Green Party |