Green 2000

Last updated

Green 2000 was a movement to streamline the constitutional arrangements of the Green Party of England and Wales in the early 1990s, with the stated aim of getting a Green government by the year 2000. [1]

Contents

Overview

The constitutional changes passed in 1991 included:

These Executive and Regional Council structures replaced a very large single "Green Party Council".

Although the changes were adopted by the party, many of the members who proposed the changes left the party at the end of the first year's executive, in September 1992, leaving 'decentralists' and a leftist group called Association of Socialist Greens grouped around the newsletter The Way Ahead, who had opposed the changes, in charge of the party's new structures. [2]

Derek Wall says: “The right around the Green 2000 faction wanted to make us into a mainstream party with mass appeal, ditch the radicalism, reengineer the Party constitution and centralise power. We fought them. I remember Sara Parkin talking to the Independent about 'socialist parasites' i.e. myself and Penny Kemp who had been members nearly as long as her. They won and then imploded, when the Party received just a couple of percentage at the 1992 General Election. When the 'realists' believe in achieving a Westminster Parliamentary government by 2000 (thus Green 2000), give me fundamentalism.” [3]

Critique of Green 2000

The aim that the Green party could enter government by 2005 was optimistic to some, but it reflected an ‘electoral’ bias the real division in the Green Party. Opponents at the time felt that direct action, grassroots networking and other tactics were more likely to provide political benefit than a focus on gaining councillors and then Westminster seats. Morrissey, for instance, believed:

“The Party is itself a coalition between its environmentalist and electoralist right wing and a left which is libertarian and anarchistic. The former is comfortable with the traditional party form and conventional political activity. The latter could have rejected the idea of party altogether but has instead tried to reinvent it.” [2]

The group of Green 2000 supporters that ran the party in 1991-2 presided over an unsuccessful General election campaign, which was ill-prepared, and led to a subsequent demoralization and large drop in membership. The party was also unable to cope with the growth in members it had experienced some years before. The strategy was open to criticism for raising hopes unrealistically and not then delivering the necessary changes needed to drive the party forward. However, the Green 2000 group itself felt that the 'decentralists' managed to sap their energies and prevent direction being formed. [4] It also strengthened those in the party who shared Green 2000's electoral bias but thought they were going about in the wrong way.

Effect on party long term

After the departure of Green 2000 the structures that they had put into place remained. A constitutional review was set in motion which lasted three years which was to finally put a number options to the party conference. However even though there was a clear majority for change none of the proposals quite gained the needed two-thirds majority.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)</span> German democratic socialist political party

The Party of Democratic Socialism was a left-wing populist political party in Germany active between 1989 and 2007. It was the legal successor to the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), which ruled the German Democratic Republic as a state party until 1990. From 1990 through to 2005, the PDS had been seen as the left-wing "party of the East". While it achieved minimal support in western Germany, it regularly won 15% to 25% of the vote in the eastern new states of Germany, entering coalition governments with the Social Democratic Party of Germany in the federal states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westminster system</span> Parliamentary system of government

The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary government that incorporates a series of procedures for operating a legislature, first developed in England. Key aspects of the system include an executive branch made up of members of the legislature, and that is responsible to the legislature; the presence of parliamentary opposition parties; and a ceremonial head of state who is separate from the head of government. The term derives from the Palace of Westminster, which has been the seat of the Westminster Parliament in England and later the United Kingdom since the 13th century. The Westminster system is often contrasted with the presidential system that originated in the United States, or with the semi-presidential system, based on the government of France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Austria</span> Political system of Austria

Politics in Austria reflects the dynamics of competition among multiple political parties, which led to the formation of a Conservative-Green coalition government for the first time in January 2020, following the snap elections of 29 September 2019, and the election of a former Green Party leader to the presidency in 2016.

The Green Party of England and Wales is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay have served as the party's co-leaders. The party currently has one representative in the House of Commons and two in the House of Lords, in addition to over 700 councillors at the local government level and three members of the London Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Greens</span> Scottish political party

The Scottish Greens are a green political party in Scotland. The party has seven MSPs in the Scottish Parliament as of May 2021. As of the 2022 local elections, the party sits on 13 of the 32 Scottish local councils, with a total of 35 councillors. They hold two ministerial posts in the Yousaf government following a power-sharing agreement with the SNP in August 2021, marking the first time Green party politicians formed part of a government in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales</span> Head of the Green Party in England and Wales

The Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales is the most senior political figure within the Green Party of England and Wales. The role was introduced alongside that of deputy leader in 2008. Prior to this, the party's public spokespersons were principal speakers. There were two principal speakers, one female and one male, who were elected annually at the Green Party's Autumn Conference and held no vote on the Green Party Executive (GPEx).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Green Party</span> European political party

The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) parliamentary group in the European parliament which is formed by elected Green party members along with the European Free Alliance, European Pirate Party and Volt Europa. The European Greens' partners include its youth wing the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG), the Green European Foundation (GEF) and the Global Greens family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)</span> Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

South of Scotland was one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament when it was created in 1999. The region was replaced with South Scotland in 2011 following a review.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Party (UK)</span> Defunct green political party in the United Kingdom

The Green Party, also known as the Green Party UK, was a Green political party in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Greens (Poland)</span> Polish political party

The Greens is a political party in Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Greens (Luxembourg)</span> Political party in Luxembourg

The Greens is a green political party in Luxembourg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monica Frassoni</span> Italian politician

Monica Frassoni is an Italian politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2009 and as co-chair of the European Green Party from 2009 to 2019. In 2018, she was elected at the local Council of Ixelles in the Brussels Region, representing the Ecolo party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Australian Legislative Council</span> Upper house of the legislature of Western Australia

The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses of Parliament sit in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth.

Derek Norman Wall is a British politician. He was the joint International Coordinator for the Green Party of England and Wales and stood against Prime Minister Theresa May as the Green candidate for Maidenhead at the 2017 general election. Formerly the party's Principal Speaker, he is known as a prominent eco-socialist, campaigning both for environmentalism and socialism. Alongside his political role, Wall is an academic and a writer, having published on the subject of ecosocialism and the wider Green politics movement. He is a contributor to the Morning Star newspaper and a blogger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Left (England and Wales)</span>

The Green Left is an anti-capitalist and eco-socialist grouping within the Green Party of England and Wales. It seeks to constitute a network for "socialists and other radicals" in the Green Party, as well as "act[ing] as an outreach body that will communicate the party's radical policies to other socialists and anti-capitalists outside the party." It includes some prominent members of the Green Party of England and Wales, and held its first meeting on 4 June 2006. Green Left members were early supporters of an "ecosocialist international", such as the Ecosocialist International Network (EIN) Green Left publishes the 'Watermelon' a publication promoting eco-socialist policies to Green Party members on an array of issues. Green Left has a social media presence including on Twitter and Facebook. The Facebook site is very busy and has 9,000 members. Green Left engages the wider left with the aim to build for real change with eco-socialist policies and including just transition and supporting workers struggles. Green Left is very supportive of the Green Party Trade Union Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Young Greens of England and Wales</span> Youth wing of the Green Party of England and Wales

The Young Greens of England and Wales (YGEW) is the official youth branch of the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW). All members of the GPEW who are under 30 years old and/or full or part-time students are members of the Young Greens and are allowed to get involved with their activities.

The Gauche Plurielle was a left-wing coalition in France, composed of the Socialist Party, the French Communist Party, the Greens, the Left Radical Party, and the Citizens' Movement. Succeeding Alain Juppé's conservative government, the Plural Left governed France from 1997 to 2002. It was another case of cohabitation between rival parties at the head of the state and of the government. Following the failure of the left in the 2002 legislative election, it was replaced by another conservative government, this time headed by Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Left (Germany)</span> German political party

The Left, commonly referred to as the Left Party, is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative. Through the PDS, the party is the direct descendant of the Marxist–Leninist ruling party of the former East Germany, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). Since 2022, The Left's co-chairpersons have been Janine Wissler and Martin Schirdewan. The party holds 28 seats out of 736 in the Bundestag, the federal legislature of Germany, having won 4.9% of votes cast in the 2021 German federal election. Its former parliamentary group was the smallest of six in the Bundestag, and was headed by parliamentary co-leaders Amira Mohamed Ali and Dietmar Bartsch.

The Green Party of England and Wales has its roots in the PEOPLE Party started in Coventry in 1972/3 by four professional friends. It then changed its name to the more descriptive Ecology Party in 1975, and to the Green Party ten years later. In the 1990s, the Scottish and Northern Ireland wings of the Green Party in the United Kingdom decided to separate amicably from the party in England and Wales, to form the Scottish Green Party and the Green Party in Northern Ireland. The Wales Green Party became an autonomous regional party and remained within the new Green Party of England and Wales.

The Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) is a group advocating electoral reform in New Zealand. It was founded in 1986. The group has been reformed as the Campaign for MMP to fight to retain Mixed-member proportional representation at the 2011 referendum on the issue.

References

  1. Green Party history Archived 2005-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 "Article by John Morrisey". Greens.org. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  3. Derek Wall (2006-07-05). "Interview with Wall". Another-green-world.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  4. Challenge Magazine, Winter 1995