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Green Party (UK)


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Green Party was a Green political party in the United Kingdom. It has been succeeded
by three political parties:
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Part of the Politics series on

Green politics

the Green Party of England and Wales


the Green Party in Northern Ireland
the Scottish Green Party
The Green Party was originally formed as PEOPLE, or the Ecology Party, in Coventry in
1973, with the first edition of Manifesto for a Sustainable Society as the party's statement of
philosophy and policies. This document was inspired by Blueprint for Survival, published by
The Ecologist (then edited by Edward Goldsmith). The party changed its name to become the
Green Party in the 1980s.
In 1973 policy concerns included economics, employment, defence, energy (fuel) supplies,
land tenure, pollution and social security, as then seen within an ecological perspective. "Zero
growth" (or "steady state") economics were a strong feature in the party's philosophical basis
and the all-UK party became a persistent and growing presence in general elections and
European elections, fielding often enough candidates to qualify for television and radio election
broadcasts.

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v d e
As the Ecology Party, with Jonathon Porritt as a prominent member and an election manifesto
called The Real Alternative, the party fielded over 50 candidates in the general election of
1979, and so qualified for election broadcasts on television and radio. The party received 39,918 votes and membership jumped
tenfold, from about 500 to over 5,000.

Again as the Ecology Party the party fielded over 100 candidates in the 1983 general election and took 54,299 votes.
The party was the Green Party in the 1987 general election and took 89,753 votes.
In the 1989 European election the Green Party won 2 million votes, and received 15% of the overall vote. This pushed the Liberal
Democrats into 4th place (with 6%) and has been described by David Butler and Dennis Kavanagh as the most successful protest
vote ever (The British General Election of 1992). At this time however European elections in the UK were run on a purely first past
the post basis and therefore the party failed to gain any seats. Nonetheless mainstream political parties were alarmed by the
party's election performance and adopted some Green policies in an attempt to counter the threat[citation needed].
In the 1990s both the Scottish and Northern Irish wings of the party established themselves as separate entities. The three UK
parties co-operate closely.

External links

[edit]

Green Party of England and Wales


Scottish Green Party
Green Party in Northern Ireland
Teddy Goldsmith - Daily Telegraph obituary
Categories: Political parties established in 1973 | Political parties disestablished in 1990 | Green political parties | Green political
parties in the United Kingdom | Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom

This page was last modified on 4 May 2010 at 09:01.


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