UK Greens look to mayoral race as a platform

The race for the London Mayor’s job is heating up, with Boris Johnson and Ken Livingston almost neck and neck with around three months to go. It is highly unlikely any other candidate will even get close to the ‘big two’, but the Green party is very keen to make its voice heard, and make climate change and sustainability high up on the agenda. It is being reported that they are targeting 3rd place as a viable achievement from the election, ahead of the liberal-democrats.

Jenny Jones, the Green Party mayoral candidate says, “For Greens, it's incredibly important that we're on the platform.” Elections offer an opportunity for smaller parties to make their voices heard, and make sure the leading parties take note of alternative views. In fact the London Mayoral election uses the transferable vote, which means that smaller parties can endorse another party in the run up to the elections to encourage a preferred second choice. It gives these parties considerable power in influencing who will win in a tight election.

Jones is quite clear where her preference lays, with history as Mayor Livingstone’s green transport advisor. "For me personally and for London generally, it would be better to see Ken back," argues Jones. "But if he doesn't have green stuff in his manifesto, then we're certainly not going to recommend a second preference." Johnson, on the other hand, she feels has sidelined the Green Party, despite successes with the cycle hire. His relationship with the banking sector is also seen as a criticism along with the lack of improvement in air pollution.

The Green Party have not been without their criticism too. Over the years they have been accused both of silencing more extreme environmental views, and of creating a platform for them. They tread a difficult tightrope between drawing in more moderate environmentalists, and maintaining their core support and avoiding fraction. A good example of this is their view on alternative medicine.

The mayoral campaign however, is not likely to be fought on environmental issues. Climate change is not on the tips of Londoners tongues at the moment and issues such as public transport and crime are seen as some of the key issues. This is a microcosm of what is occurring around the globe; politics is looking to satisfy a demand for jobs, economic welfare and social security rather than looking at global environmental problems.