Re-elect Jean Lambert, London's Green MEP

In addition to the national referendum of Green Party members on whether we should elect a Leader (see below), London members will be receiving another set of important ballot papers soon.

The London party is currently selecting our candidates for the 2009 Euro Elections and I'm part of a group working to ensure that the party re-selects our fantastic sitting Euro-MP, Jean Lambert.

As the re-elect Jean blog says:

We're a group of Londoners, some of us are members of the Green Party, others are not, but we are all really pleased that back in 1999 London was the first place in the UK to elect a Green politician to represent us in the European Parliament. We're proud that Jean Lambert is our Euro-MP and so we're working to make sure she gets re-elected in 2009.

And if you're on Facebook, you can join the re-elect Jean group.

Reason vs Emotion

An excellent article by Jonathan Freedland in today's Guardian about how people respond to politicians, looking at why the Democrats keeping losing elections they 'should' win.

Freedland is writing in response to Drew Western's new book, The Political Brain, which seems to be a psyhcologist's take on an argument made very coherently by George Lakoff (a Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics) in Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate.

Lakoff's book is an excellent analysis of why how you say things is as important as what you say. As Freedland points out in his article, this is often mistaken for dumbing down or populism - but there is a big difference between, on the one hand, knowing your audience and talking to them (rather than at them, as so many politicians are wont to do) and on the other, re-writing your policies based on focus groups and opinion polls.

The fatal flaw in the New Labour project was not that they decided to communicate more effectively, but that they thought they needed to adopt right wing policies along with the effective communications techniques that the right have been using for decades. I'm hopeful that the Green Party is in the midst of improving its ability to communicate its vital message whilst avoiding the trap that Labour fell into.

Irish Greens hold six seats - may enter government

We've recently seen the Scottish Greens take a pivotal role in the new parliament and it looks like the Irish Green Party (Comhaontas Glas) may be about to go one better and take cabinet posts. The Greens held all six of their seats, while other smaller parties (Progressive Democrats, Sinn Fein, Socialist) and independents all lost seats. Green leader Trevor Sargeant has ruled out a formal coalition with Bertie Ahern's Fianna Fáil but may be able to find an arrangement that guarantees progress on Green priorities and may even end up with a seat at the cabinet table.

The Green's Election broadcast (a better quality version is on RTE) was much praised and is well worth three minutes of your time.

PRE-ELECTION ANALYSIS FROM RTE (Irish National Broadcaster)

Six years ago the Green Party did not even have a leader. Now, depending on the numbers game after the election, a Green leader could even be the next Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister).

Talk about climate change!

The scenario of a Green Party Tánaiste, of course, would only come into play if the party entered a coalition with Fianna Fáil.

Trevor Sargent, the party leader, has said that while he would not lead the Greens into a coalition with Fianna Fáil, he would consider serving in Cabinet.

That may be considered a strange position to adopt but these are different times for the Greens.

Since dropping the notion of collective leadership in 2001, the party has been on a curve of increasing professionalism. That evolution saw the party go from one seat in the 28th Dail to six in the now dissolved 29th Dáil.

The party has continued to adopt modern campaigning methods and techniques and these, allied to heightened global awareness of environmental issues, the impact of the Al Gore movie and local issues such as the contamination of the Galway water supply have all combined to give momentum the Greens as they hit the campaign trail.

Most political pundits now accept the party will certainly hold its six seats and that it could even double it to 12 seats, perhaps even a few more if it gets all the right breaks.

Even if the Greens do not hold the position of Tánaiste after the election the party looks a sure bet to have ministers at the Cabinet table, whatever the shape of the next government.

First Green on Northern Ireland Assembly

Great news from Northern Ireland. Brian Wilson has just become the first Green to be elected to the Northern Irish Assembly.