Responses from candidates for Deputy Leader of Green Party of England And Wales - Green Leadership

Following the publication of questions to leadership candidates in June, and the announcement on 2nd July of Candidates successfully nominated to be Leader or Deputy Leader of Green Party of England and Wales, Green House Think Tank gave all the candidates 1 week to submit answers.

Leadership Candidate Responses

1. Where are we now?

Do you think the UK is currently a democracy? Would you agree that our society’s economic and governance systems are broken beyond repair? If so, what is the Green alternative pitch? How much does economics need to change to deal with the climate emergency? 

Alex Mace

Yes, the UK is currently a democracy, one with a huge amount of room for improvement. The Government won over 60% of the seats in the Commons, on barely a third of the vote. Here in Worcester, Labour won nearly half the seats on the city council on less than 30% of the vote – less than the Green Party’s 33%. We need to have proportional representation at all levels of Government, so that representation matches votes. I would also support a citizen’s assembly to establish a written constitution. Our current unwritten rules allow too much room for bad actors, like Boris Johnson, to simply override our democratic processes for their own gain. We need replace our unelected upper house – having bishops involved in our laws, alongside “treasurers” for the Conservative Party is a farce.

Our economy needs to be focused on a national effort to reach net zero as soon as possible, alongside restoring our depleted natural world. This is not something to be afraid of – there is a great deal of jobs and opportunity to be had insulating homes, installing solar panels, rewilding, building out active travel and public transport infrastructure.

Chas Warlow

The UK is currently a parliamentary democracy. However, the first-past-the-post electoral system makes it unrepresentative of the wide variety of views and beliefs held by the electorate. We need to change the electoral system to one based on proportional representation, as outlined in Green Party policy.

It’s true that our society’s current economic model has no regard for planetary boundaries and our political systems as currently constituted are not fit for the purpose of protecting our environment and delivering a fair and healthy society. The national economy should be run for the well-being of the nation – this means we take bolder action to reduce pollution and reduce inequality. The Green Party has these principles at its heart.

The climate and nature emergencies mean that the commonly accepted economic model needs to be challenged and changed: the public purse needs to invest in public goods like clean energy, clean air, clean water, healthcare and affordable housing and an equitable tax system needs to be introduced. We need to prevent a climate and nature breakdown – this means that our economic policies need to be clearly prioritised and focused on that goal.

Ash Routh

We live in a deeply flawed democracy, but I don't recognise that there is an actual meaningful difference between "repair" and "rebuilding" in the context of our economic or governance systems. Call it a repair, call it a rebuild - what we need is a radical change in how the UK is run. We should, as a first step, abandon first past the post, and engage a more representative election system. We also need to stop chasing infinite economic growth, and recognise that this is unsustainable on a planet with finite resources. Our economic priority should be provision of necessary services for everybody, with minimal environmental impact, not chasing wealth-driven metrics.

Ani Townsend
No Response Received

Mothin Ali
No Response Received

Antoinette Fernandez
No Response Received

Rachel Millward
No Response Received

Thomas Daw
No Response Received

Frank Adlington-Stringer
No Response Received

2. How best can Green Parties help to transform our culture, politics and economy?

How should Greens deal with the gap between aspirations, expectations, and living within planetary boundaries?

Chas Warlow

We need to move rapidly away from the economic growth model that is currently accepted and unchallenged and move towards a model that prioritises the well-being of people, communities and the environment. We need to prioritise meaningful work in sustainable sectors. We don’t need to curtail people’s aspirations – but we do need to communicate how commercial activity can fit into the bigger picture of protecting our environment and providing public goods. We also need to promote active citizenship: there is currently very little in our education system that promotes engagement with local politics, civic duty and civic pride. This means that, as a society, we have lost the understanding of what the public good means. We need to build the picture of a fair and engaged society that lives within planetary boundaries. Policies such as UBI will help to allow people the freedom to become more socially engaged – UBI also provides a host of other beneficial things: support and flexibility, e.g. for artists and for carers. A policy that promotes a four-day working week will also enable a much healthier society.

Alex Mace

Most voters understand our climate is changing and humans are responsible, and that urgent action is needed. It doesn’t matter what your preferred “ism” is, if we don’t have a habitable planet to live on.

My opinion is that we can live within planetary boundaries with fairly minimal adjustments to the lives of the majority – many of which would be positive changes. Homes that are energy efficient are cheaper to run and more pleasant on hot days and cold days. Walkable and wheel-able cities are nicer places to be. Food with low food miles is better quality and supports the local economy. Local energy generation requires fewer pylons and has lower transmission losses. Fast and reliable trains are more pleasant than airports and planes. Nationalised public infrastructure is run for the benefit of its users, not shareholders. The main people who would be upset by these things are fossil fuel companies, owners of mega farms, vehicle manufacturers, hedge funds and the like. The idea of focusing on personal carbon footprint is a distraction. Government can do these things and make life better for nearly all citizens.

Ash Routh

The glamorisation of excessive wealth is extremely harmful, and should be tackled. People are being taught that it's a good thing to seek excessive wealth, and consume in a way that is wasteful and unnecessary. Tackling this culture as vapid, irresponsible, and directly harmful to the general population is something that we, as greens, should do at every opportunity.

Frank Adlington-Stringer
No Response Received

Ani Townsend
No Response Received

Rachel Millward
No Response Received

Mothin Ali
No Response Received

Thomas Daw
No Response Received

Antoinette Fernandez
No Response Received

3. Role of Green leadership?

How do you see your role as a leader within a democratic party? On what issues should Green Parties be a broad coalition that embraces diverse opinions, and on what issues do you feel a unified position is needed?

Chas Warlow

Members look to the leadership of the Party to provide guidance, assurance and certainty on difficult topics. They also expect our leaders to be balanced in their views. A unified position is needed on our broad philosophy of creating a sustainable society. Within the framework of global environmental, social and economic justice, the Party should be strong enough to be a broad coalition. A unified position is needed on our energy and economic policies. A unified position is needed on peaceful resolution of international conflict. However, my personal position is that it is more important to allow dissent and discussion than to close down debate and exclude people with dissenting voices – this openness is what allows us to have integrity as a party and our integrity is vital to the way we are perceived by the general public. It’s also vital to our electoral chances.

Alex Mace

The role of the leader of a democratic party is to demonstrate our values to the wider public, be an articulate advocate for what we believe in, and to inspire voters, activists and members to vote for, campaign for, donate to and do more for the party.

The Green Party of England and Wales can and should be a broad church in most cases. Our goal first and foremost is to prevent climate and nature breakdown, preserving our planet and to keep it habitable for all current species who live on it. There are many policy positions that flow naturally from that goal, such as nationalisation of our key utilities, because if they are private ownership then there is a duty to maximise shareholder value, which is incompatible with minimising the impact on the planet. Supporting international development is important because the climate emergency will inevitably impact developing countries most seriously, and our aid can help build renewable energy infrastructure and prevent wars for dwindling resources.

We can welcome any opinion that is compatible with preventing climate breakdown. The greater the climate benefit of a policy, then the less room there is for difference of opinion on it.

Ash Routh

As a deputy leader, I'd be one amongst several voices that I would hope offer a diversity of opinion. As a party, I think we should try to be collectively representative of our membership. The party has and always will be a broad church, and I gladly welcome greens even if they differ from the party on some specific policy areas. What is important, however, is that where people hold a view where the majority of the party differs from them, that they are mature and respectful about it. Where we need to find unity is when a democratic decision has been made - we pull together as one unified force. It's fine not to engage with the party on an issue of disagreement, but I think it's wildly inappropriate for somebody to constantly ask the party to relitigate an issue over and over again simply because the party has taken a view that they don't agree with. Where the party has moved away from my perspective on an issue, I have tried to be considered and respectful. I haven't always been delighted by those outcomes, but I also haven't lost sight of the bigger picture.

Antoinette Fernandez
No Response Received

Rachel Millward
No Response Received

Frank Adlington-Stringer
No Response Received

Mothin Ali
No Response Received

Thomas Daw
No Response Received

Ani Townsend
No Response Received

4. Electoral strategy?

How should Green Parties balance gaining more nationally elected representatives as soon as possible with building a movement and consensus to transform our culture, economy and politics across the party and wider society? 

Does it pay to be provocative with messaging or does this risk recent electoral success? On which issues are you prepared to be provocative?

Alex Mace

The point of a political party is to get elected and make change. Having elected Greens in the room is vital at every level of Government, so that we can make the case for action on the climate emergency as fast as possible. This forms a vital part of building a movement and consensus to transform our culture, economy and politics, but a party seeking election inevitably must be more measured than other groups can. We must do the hard work – speaking to residents regularly, acting on their issues and informing them about what we have done. In Worcester, what we hear is “you’re the only ones who come outside of elections”, or “you’re the only ones who come AT ALL”. Reform succeeds by offering easy answers. The Green Party succeeds by listening.

I don’t think it does pay to be provocative, and it does risk our recent electoral success if we are. Much of the media in this country is owned by mega-rich who want Reform to win because they will get even richer. Provocative words from us will be reported negatively and turn people away. We open people up to voting Green by listening, not telling.

Chas Warlow

There are already many organisations in civil society that are actively working to transform our culture, economy and politics (XR, Just Stop Oil, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Positive Money, Make Votes Matter) – it is not incumbent on Green Parties to lead that fight. We are a political party seeking to be elected to implement our policies.

Provocative messaging could pay dividends, depending on the message and the audience. I’m prepared to be provocative about a few things:

• the wealthy class – we should tax them more;
• large corporations, especially fossil fuel companies – we should tax them more;
• the Royal Family – we should abolish it;
• the House of Lords – should be reformed drastically;
• artificial intelligence – it’s not all it’s cracked up to be;
• private education – should be abolished;
• neoliberal/neoclassical economics – should be rejected;
• we should be acknowledging our class-ridden society.

I’m not in favour of provocation for its own sake – we need to retain integrity and a willingness to engage.

Ash Routh

We need to learn from Reform. We're better at groundwork and year-round campaigning, but we can't pretend not to see how polls currently look. Reform aren't where they are because of the kind of work we do, they're there because their messaging is evocative and convincing. Our messaging has been far too timid and polite. As glad as I am that we've won 4 seats in the house of commons, timidity and fear isn't going to get us anywhere. If we play it safe, then incremental growth isn't going to actually put us in a position to govern for a very long time. We need to be bold, brash, and confident - it's the only way we can break through in the polls like Reform have.

Thomas Daw
No Response Received

Antoinette Fernandez
No Response Received

Mothin Ali
No Response Received

Frank Adlington-Stringer
No Response Received

Ani Townsend
No Response Received

Rachel Millward
No Response Received

Find out more about Candiates:

• Mothin Ali
• Chas Warlow
• Frank Adlington-Stringer
• Thomas Daw
• Antoinette Fernandez
• Rachel Millward
• Ash Routh
• Ani Townsend
• Alex Mace