Debra Cooper – Policy Development Committee

 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 could gear my answer to this question by predicting my expected audience in this group in an attempt to gain favour. I choose not to.

 I have not seen the evidence that ‘eco-socialist’, as opposed to other Green policies have grown the party. If you have UK wide evidence, then please forward it to me.

When campaigning in my view you have to know your audience. For instance I stood for the Senedd elections in May 2021. I increased the vote by 238%. This was the highest percentage vote increase in the whole of Wales. I knew my audience - a moderate Conservative/Labour swing seat, not previously given to voting Green, Plaid Cymru, or Liberal Democrats in any noticeable way.  I highlighted ecological issues, and never once mentioned socialism. If I had then I believe that the Green vote would have been lower.

I was a teenager during the Thatcher years, in an area which was badly hit by the closure of the mines and the steel works. I have never described myself as a socialist, although I hold many of the values. I avoid using the term ‘socialism’. It works as a concept in some communities, but not others. 

If you target the concept of eco-socialism to certain groups within society, then I am sure that it will work well. Is the concept of ‘eco-socialism’ understood by the general public? They are the voters.

 

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?

My area was a conservative marginal seat in the recent by-election. I knew that the majority of conservative voters would be influenced by central government behaviour in their next voting choice, despite having 3 hard-working conservative councillors (1 was not), who were more green than local Labour prospective councillors (Labour hold a majority in Cardiff Council). I would have targeted the moderate conservative voter in the selection of material for leaflets and stood on a clear Green Policy ticket. I was selected as the local candidate, but a deal was made with PC, so I stood down.  The Green Party did not stand in Cardiff. 1200 of the people who usually vote in my ward did not vote this time. Labour won the by-election. I believe in Green Party values, and the only way to win is to campaign all year round, be involved in your local community (I run a local community cafe on a voluntary basis and am involved in a local community gardening project). Highlight local issues and get them in the press and spoken about by locals. People will vote for people they know and trust. We hold the moral high ground on climate change, and I am no longer convinced by the ‘don’t vote Greens, they never win’ argument. They can and do now. So that is what we have to convince the voter. PR would be nice, but we have to campaign without it, we work with the system that we have.

 

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?

As Cardiff are involved in an alliance that I voted against, I am not active in local Cardiff activities at present.  I decided that I would work in cooperation with local members in Bridgend, who are new to the party and want to reactivate the dormant Bridgend Green Party. Our local members are already involved in their local communities in voluntary roles, which we will publicise. Bridgend has a very small membership group.

 Our priority in Bridgend is different from the priority in Bristol.

 Our priorities are to establish an active party, raise our active and inactive membership numbers, and explain to the voting public who the Green Party are.  We are doing that by arranging a rolling programme of monthly meetings in the three towns, Maesteg, Bridgend and Porthcawl. We are standing in a by-election in August. We have put out one leaflet. The result will show us where our voting baseline is. It is my intention to have a summer, autumn, winter and spring newsletter. It will have information about what the Green Party stands for and how to join and become active. It will also cover issues local to the three main towns. Membership is low, so finances are low. We will do what we can and I will fundraise for supporters and members to contribute to leafleting costs. We are lucky that we have a skilled film-maker who will produce films, and a translator who are both willing to work pro-bono. I work part- time, and will work with our regional campaigns officer to produce high quality leaflets. I have applied to attend the Target to Win Campaigns course, but have yet to hear back about that.

 

4. How can the Party improve the way it communicates its policies to the BAME and white working class?  

The Green Party show a lot of anxiety regarding BAME and working class membership. This can be off-putting for new-comers. I often cringe when this is talked about to BAME people are new to the green party. We need to be a welcoming party, and acceptance of diversity in other ways is necessary. Veganism is common and often talked about in interviews in the Green Party. It may be off-putting to certain groups who have it within their cultural heritage to celebrate with a variety of foods. Sexuality is often discussed in open forums. This may cause embarrassment with cultures where such discussion is considered private.  My sexuality is private, and I have no desire to discuss it in any open forums. To be more inclusive then we have to accept that people have certain beliefs that may conflict with others within the party. Welcoming diversity as about acceptance of differences in opinions and behaviours too.

Working class people? There are people unable or choosing not to work for a variety of reasons, working poor people, working middle income people and the working richer people.  A campaigner in Bridgend was amazed that a woman that he talked to do not know that the Green Party was a political party. We have to move within our communities and become known by our actions, be it voluntary work, meeting in local pubs, litter picking. One of members runs a uniform swap shop for children in his local community. 

 

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?

The Green Party is at present reviewing our entire Peace Security and Defence policy, and I am in the PSD working group. We are reviewing our policy on NATO. In the next week or two you will have the opportunity to have your say on NATO and other PSD related issues. There will be an article appearing in Green World, written by me, with a survey attached. Please complete the survey. My role is to collate your answers and use them to inform policy. Please read the article. I will not state my opinion here, as my role is to research a wide variety of opinions and seek to represent a consensus view of our membership. It is a very emotive topic. Please go to Green Spaces and read the proposed PSD policy. The expectation is that there will be a workshop in the Autumn conference, and then the final policy will be ratified at the Spring conference. Speak now, or forever hold your peace. Remember too that we have to reach a decision on this very important issue surrounding NATO, and that if consensus is to be reached then compromise is essential. We cannot wreck such an important policy. It will have to be a policy that is reached by majority decision, and be in keeping with our philosophical basis.

I have checked, and I can still stand for Policy Development Committee, but will declare my involvement in writing the policy to the others on the policy committee.

 

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?

Not all forms of media are rapid. This is a passive question. Spokespeople must be proactive and establish relationships with Local and National media. They must learn to control the media and want the media to come to them. They must also have access to well-written, accessible and up to date policies, which all interlink with each other and do not contradict. I do also believe in easy read and accessible documentation being available for all policies on the grounds of inclusion. Whereas the spokesperson on PSD has to know that Green policy inside and out, they may only need quick access to an easy read policy on Education, so that they know the fundamentals of each policy and can easily access them. So this echoes the imperative I highlighted in Question 5. We need conference to work for the good of the Green Party and expedite essential updates and rewrites of policy. Democratic accountability depends on all members rolling their sleeves up and actively contributing to working groups whilst policies are being written. 

 

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?

 

I have no idea what this question means. Yes there are rights being eroded, and privatisation is on the way. Whose ‘overall messaging’ are you referring to? Why don’t you think that spokespeople will be ‘on message’?

 

8. How would you raise the international relevance and profile of the GPEW?

This is not an area that is specifically within my remit as Policy Development Committee.

 

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?

I have been a member of the NASUWT and attended many conferences.

Some members wait until conference and then decide that they do not like something that is put to conference. People should participate in the policy development committees, and contribute to articles and surveys. They should be proactive in their community and in producing policies. They should be productive and useful to the Green Party by delivering leaflets. The Peace Security and Defence Policy that I am involved in writing will be the most difficult of policies to get through Conference. What all members need to realise is that without getting this policy through Conference we leave our spokesperson and indeed the whole party open to ridicule and attack from the other parties and the media.

If I were able to influence change, I would run Standing Orders like they do at Union Conference. Standing Orders would not allow the same people to speak time after time. They would have a time limit where each motion has to be put to a vote. They would actively look for previously unheard speakers. They would have cards submitted as a synopsis from the potential speakers, and choose speakers accordingly. They would allow the call for ‘Put’, ‘Further Heard’ and all ‘Inclusion’ cards would be submitted in advance and judged on merit without being addressed unless they were of substance. They would mute rudeness; they would close the chat function during debates.

 

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?

There are several ways to choose candidates. There are hustings and our write ups on Green Spaces, which reveal something of ourselves.  I personally have made choices based on what I have read and listened to the hustings. I have noticed that some candidates are getting more coverage than others. That is not always to their advantage.