I would say one of the big patterns of the night is the swing to independents… double the numbers that were standing for re-election, compared to more like 20% boosts to each of Labour and the Lib Dems.
I’d be interested to know how many of the new independent councillors formerly sat as Labour (and defected over, eg. party position on the Middle East) or as Tory councillors (and essentially defected from a sinking ship)
@simon_brooke massively. I mean, it is statistics of small numbers, but it’s looking like a great election for the greens, and (IMO) therefore for the country. My local council got its first Green member last night 👏
@drandrewv2@simon_brooke The problem with the independents is that they are a diverse group. Those who think the Tories are too socialist/too radical and those who think Labout are too left wing/right wing.
As well as those who stand on local issues too.
The Greens are at least a single national party. And an indication of a direction that many people are thinking.
But, mostly, it is a rejection of party politics. And rightly.
@SteveClough@drandrewv2@simon_brooke actually they are not. Similar aims and often share policies, but Greens in different nations in the U.K. are not the same thing. You might think this is being pedantic, but have a closer look.
@simon_brooke@SteveClough@drandrewv2 but most parties in England (ok there is a Cornish party and I would be very surprised if Yorkshire doesn’t have one) are single national parties 🤨
@Wen@simon_brooke@SteveClough@drandrewv2 I agree the single nation (which somehow cannot see itself) is England. Just as people with Received Pronunciation talked about ‘people with accents’ some English people have a Received Political Identity which means that they have no structure in which to be the ‘other’. These people don’t understand the English Green Party as separate from and distinct to the other greens, because they are always the ‘received’ model.
@ScotHomestead@simon_brooke@SteveClough@drandrewv2 Yes, it does seem to be a perception of the Green Party from England. Knowing Greens in England, Scotland and Germany I am very confident they don't have any of illusions of hard cohesion as opposed to shared goals. The English media doesn’t understand that.
@Wen@simon_brooke@SteveClough@drandrewv2 I’m sure the English greens do - but it’s the attitude/media I was referring to (just to be clear). Done a wee edit to be fair.
@Wen@simon_brooke@SteveClough@drandrewv2 They won 4 seats. But that's not really relevant to the point I was making, which is in the local election there are loads of non national parties, which don't tell you anything about national trends. And it's therefore reasonable to distinguish the greens as a national party, even if that nation is England not the UK.
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