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?
The Green Party is proudly eco-socialist and I am proud to be an eco-socialist myself. Green Party policy is eco-socialist in terms of being committed to environmental, social, economic & racial justice in all contexts and that guides our actions as a party. The Philosophical Basis includes the commitment to people and planet over profit (PB106) and understands that system change is vital in creating the individual change we want to see for a more sustainable society (PB111). These policies have endeared us to the electorate and represent the values of Green councillors of hard work in our local areas to create better communities. While the electorate may not describe themselves as eco-socialist, they overwhelmingly have eco-socialist principles, and we must be able to appeal to those people.
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?
Not relevant
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 would work closely with the Campaigns Coordinator to ensure that we are able to effectively run and communicate our campaigns to a wide audience. There is no good having a campaign if nobody knows about it, so I would be proactive in reaching out to media to help our campaigns committee get the message out that Green campaigns matter and have an impact in our communities. Personally, I would ensure that we are proactive in supporting striking workers at this current turning point in trade union activism and fill the political void left by the rightward lurch of the Labour Party. This would not have significant costs but would encourage disaffected trade unionists to join us and work for a greener and fairer society.
4. How can the Party improve the way it communicates its policies to the BAME and white working class?
The Green Party has a representation and accessibility problem certainly and we must change the way in which we operate to connect with people across all backgrounds. Where we campaign, we win and get support and that is consistent across all demographic groups. That is why I would work closely with the Elections Coordinator and as a general member of GPEx to encourage diverse representation in those seeking office across the country for the Green Party. The Green Party must have more people of colour, disabled people, trans people and women in positions of power on GPEx & GPRC and that is the way to break down institutional barriers, by electing the people who need the change made.
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?
NATO membership is certainly a hot topic at the moment, and I am still open to arguments from either side of the debate as to the merits of NATO. If a review takes place and Conference passes a motion on our position on NATO, I will faithfully represent party members’ views even if I disagree with them because I am proud of the democratic nature of the Green Party.
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 an incredible asset to the party and in theory allow for quick access for media organisations to come to us and ask for our views on a given matter, very important in this fast-paced political climate we currently live in. However, there are two major problems I see in the way the spokespeople current work; the first issue is that they do not line with government departments, meaning that media searching for our spokesperson have a more difficult time finding them, meaning they will not ask and simply publish the story without us – I believe that is not acceptable and is a failure of our party governance. The second issue I see is the difficulty in contacting many of the spokespeople, with the website simply directing to their Twitter pages of which many do not have open DMs, meaning that they are inaccessible to media. I would change this by putting their party email addresses on this page.
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?
Our spokespeople are very talented and knowledgeable in their individual areas, and we should certainly be fully utilising them that we can. However, we must remember that our leadership and other notable Greens who are not spokespeople are also available to speak and can be advised by the spokespeople before speaking if it is a topic in their given area. The Green Party has a wide breadth of talent, and we must fully utilise that in all we do.
8. How would you raise the international relevance and profile of the GPEW?
Not relevant
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?
There are plenty of debates that can be had respectfully in this party on things like policy views on HS2, nuclear energy and development sites but one thing the Green Party should never compromise on is human rights. We proudly support human rights in this party, and we fight for intersectional liberation for all groups: people of colour, women, trans & non-binary people, disabled people, young people, the GRT community, etc. As External Communications Coordinator, I will take a leading role in oversight of spokespeople, and I will not allow an individual that holds views antithetical to the Green values of inclusion and kindness to be appointed as a spokesperson and representative of this party.
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?
Not relevant
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