Most of these questions are not really relevant to the role I am standing for, so I have given very brief answers to some of them for general interest.
1. What impact do you think the Green Party’s eco-socialist policies have had on the party’s growth and how can that be sustained?
I don’t know which policies have contributed to the party’s growth, or even how that could be determined. I am not sure that it is useful for us to use the term “eco-socialist” as few people outside the party would understand it.
2. The recent Tory by-election defeats suggest the electorate are making their own decisions on strategic voting. How can the Green Party intervene to turn that to its advantage?
In constituencies where we are already in a strong second place local parties may wish to make agreements with other opposition parties in the area. The question is whether they would want to make agreements with us.
3. What would be your priorities for campaigns outside election periods that would raise our profile in communities, engage our members and attract new ones? How could that be financed?
I think the question of clean air is a good focus for local campaigns, especially now that Baroness Jenny Jones has introduced the Clean Air is a Human Right bill.
On finance, I know we simply don’t have the financial resources.
4. How can the Party improve the way it communicates its policies to the BAME and white working class?
No comment at this time
5. Should the Green Party review its policy on NATO in the light of the current conflict in Ukraine and what would be your approach?
No comment at this time
6. The 24 hours news cycle means that contributions from our spokespeople have to be rapid if they are to be given media space. How can we manage that whilst maintaining democratic accountability?
Our spokespeople are currently appointed by GPEx, and not elected, so they are not subject to any sort of democratic accountability. We have seen recently how difficult it was to remove a spokesperson who was speaking out against established party policy in a different policy area (and not really contributing to their own policy area).
7. Given that some Government policies such as privatisation and reducing rights are a thread crossing different sectors how can spokespeople cooperate on our overall messaging to ensure this is addressed?
My very radical suggestion would be that our spokespeople should speak to each other, in a spirit of cooperation.
8. How would you raise the international relevance and profile of the GPEW?
No comment at this time
9. The Green Party has recently encountered difficulties in maintaining a respectful and comradely debate on issues where there has been sharp disagreement. What would be your approach to improving the atmosphere in which these debates take place?
If I am elected to the Internal Communication Coordinator role, one of my priorities would be to work on improving members’ understanding of how policy decisions are made, and what our established policies actually are. I would also work on improving members’ understanding of the party’s ethos, which is laid out in many places including the Code of Conduct. Furthermore, it is important to recognise how right-wing sources have deliberately promoted certain fringe issues as a way of fragmenting the left and to avoid falling into those traps.
It should always be possible to avoid acrimonious argument by adhering to the code of conduct and avoiding “ad hominem” attacks, even when the topic is controversial. We should not let disagreements over policy details distract us from our overall goal as a political party of getting Greens elected at every level of government. Because that is exactly what our opponents would love to see.
10. How can we ensure a level playing field in internal elections
when some candidates have the advantage of
access to a national
platform and networks?
I think some of our practices around internal elections need to be revised, as they seem to have been formulated before the age of the constant news cycle and social media. It is bad practice for the party to tell national spokespeople not to do their jobs and not to appear in the media because they are standing for a role in our internal elections. They should not use that role to campaign, obviously, but inevitably it would make them well known in the party. Members have every right to consider an individual’s performance in a national role when considering whether to vote for them.
Perhaps we could give more debate time and more publicity to the new candidates who do not hold a role, to balance things out?
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