Ken wearing a "Jen then Ken badge" with enthusiastic young Green, Elliot Folan
At an extraordinary meeting of the London Green Party on Monday members voted to recommend Labour’s Ken Livingstone as second preference choice for Mayor (after first choice Green candidate Jenny Jones).
Livingstone attended the first half of the meeting at the Party’s Headquarters, fielding questions on his record and policies, before the Greens debated their position. The meeting voted by a ratio of just over two to one to align itself with Labour’s Mayoral campaign.
Members asked the Labour candidate about his attitude towards gay rights, violence against women, rent rises, public sector cuts and the financial sector as well as more traditional green interests like walking and cycling, air pollution, the right to protest and incineration.
Relationship to Labour
Particular questions were asked about the relationship with Labour and the way that some Labour branches had spun a similar decision in 2008 to make it appear that the Greens had “given up” and were simply calling for a Labour vote. Concern was also raised that Labour was a “toxic brand” whose behaviour in the boroughs was far from cooperative and friendly.
Livingstone told the meeting that after the election of Ed Miliband as leader “New Labour is dead” and boasted that he had a far friendlier relationship with the current leader than the previous incumbents. He also said that if he was elected Mayor he would give Jenny Jones an important job to inflict a “reign of terror” on cycling and walking regardless of whether the party backed him at the meeting.
Some members were concerned that associating the Green Party with the behaviour of Labour councils across London could be extremely damaging while others insisted that this was not an endorsement of Labour, just their Mayoral candidate.
After a long and friendly meeting the Party voted 45 to 19 to recommend a second preference for Livingstone.
Jenny Jones said: “The voting system gives Londoners a chance to make a positive Mayoral first choice for a more equal, healthier and affordable London. However, should I not be counted among the top two candidates after the first round, then I want a Mayor who will work with Green Party Assembly Members to deliver on pay equality, less pollution and cheaper fares.”
Mr Livingstone said: ”What we are seeing is that as we get closer to the election a broadening alliance of people wants a fairer London. The Green endorsement for second preferences is a key building block to winning change on May 3rd. I am very pleased that the Green Party has decided to encourage their supporters to cast their second preference votes for me.”
The Mayoral race has always been decided on second preferences and although the Greens’ decision is unlikely to influence many voters, or the outcome of the election, it does align them politically with Labour’s platform. This will no doubt delight some, horrify others and leave the rest still confused about how the voting system works.
2 Comments
I suppose i am unuasual in being someone who is a socialist and a green who would really struggle to cast any preference for mr livingstone. i would prefer it if parties just said they trusted there own voters to make a decision on second preferences.
one blessing that av didnt go through is that all third parties from tusc to ukip would be bombarded with these questions 24 hours a day.
Actually the feedback I’m getting at the moment is the further to the left you are (excluding left groups) the less likely you are to care about Livingstone’s chances… it’s extremely interesting and feels very different from 2008.
I’m leaning towards your view that people should just leave it up to their supporters, although I do like the idea that parties can be rivals without actually having to cast them as the devil :)