First Published in the Huffington Post

At long last the media is covering the Green Party. While calling it a surge may be a little premature, today’s poll showing them on 8% (once again above the Liberal Democrats) is highly newsworthy. As someone very much on the left of British politics I consider this a cause for celebration. The Greens are achieving the recent period of success not by clinging to the centre ground or by focussing purely on environmental issues. On the contrary it is their promotion of an explicitly left wing and anti-austerity agenda that has brought their recent success, as they have been able to stake out ground vacated by the unceasing neo-liberalism of the other parties (including UKIP). There has long been a need for a populist but credible party to the left of Labour – throughout the Blair and Brown years, New Labour wooed centre right voters in the knowledge that the party had no competition on its left flank. Just as UKIP has forced the Conservatives to pay attention to its core voters the Greens are showing Labour that what it views as it’s traditional vote can no longer be taken for granted.  Continue reading →