Green party breakthrough victory in Brighton
So the Green jinx has at last been lifted. Caroline Lucas has been elected MP for Brighton Pavilion.
It’s not quite true to say that she is the UK’s first Green MP. From 1992-2000 the party shared the MP for Ceredigion, Cynog Dafis, with Plaid Cymru. But she’s the first one in England and the first to represent only the Greens. It’s a massive breakthrough, not only because she’s a brilliant, charismatic, humane politican who will enrich parliamentary life, but also because it proves it can be done, even under our antiquated political system.
If the Greens, despite all the odds, can take a seat in a first-past-the-post election, think of what they’ll be able to do if, as now seems possible, we get proportional representation. Think how much more might be achieved if we also get a fair party funding system, which doesn’t leave the small parties scrambling for pennies while billionaires slip cheques into the pockets of the big players.
Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2010/may/07/caroline-lucas-uk-first-green-mp
Video: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/video/2010/may/07/caroline-lucas-green-party
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