DOCSLIB.ORG

Better Europe for a Better Greens

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Better Europe for a Better Greens GREENS A BETTER FOR EUROPE – Sir Mark Rylance – While Greens in the UK have always suffered from a grossly unfair electoral system, in the European Union they have been able to flourish as part of a small but GREENS effective group of European Greens since their first election in 1999. Greens have had a significant influence on the policies impacting more than 500 million EU citizens, underlining environmental standards and challenging FOR economic and social orthodoxy. While Greens have often been marginalised by the political and media elites in Britain, across Europe, Greens have been seen as ‘the voice of reason’ and the ‘adults in the room’. A With Brexit threatening our ongoing influence on European policy-making, former and current UK Green MEPs Caroline Lucas, Jean Lambert, Keith Taylor and Molly Scott Cato reflect on their time in Brussels and chart a course for the party’s new relationship with the BETTER EU-wide Green movement. This guide to two decades of UK Green achievements in Europe also brings together analysis from prominent academics, journalists, campaigners and Green MEPs from across the EU. EUROPE TWENTY YEARS OF UK GREEN INFLUENCE IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, 1999–2019 EDITED BY LIAM WARD WITH JAMES BRADY GREENS FOR A BETTER EUROPE GREENS FOR A BETTER EUROPE TWENTY YEARS OF UK GREEN INFLUENCE IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, 1999–2019 EDITED BY LIAM WARD WITH JAMES BRADY LONDON PUBLISHING PARTNERSHIP Copyright © 2019 Office of the Green MEPs, Natalie Bennett, James Brady, Reinhard Bütikofer, Samir Jeraj, Klina Jordan, Tony Juniper, Jean Lambert, Caroline Lucas, Wolfgang Rüdig, Molly Scott Cato, Keith Taylor, Liam Ward and Owen Winter Published by London Publishing Partnership www.londonpublishingpartnership.co.uk All Rights Reserved ISBN: 978-1-907994-88-3 (paperback) ISBN: 978-1-907994-89-0 (ePDF) ISBN: 978-1-907994-90-6 (ePub) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This book has been composed in Adobe Garamond Pro Copy-edited and typeset by T&T Productions Ltd, London www.tandtproductions.com Cover design by Minute Works This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic License. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creative commons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ or send a letter to: Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA CONTENTS biographies vii preface by tony juniper xiii Part I Setting the scene: history and context 1. Green parties and elections to the European Parliament, 1979–2019 3 Wolfgang Rüdig 2. Proportional representation and Britain’s democratic deficit 49 Klina Jordan and Owen Winter Part II The UK’s Green MEPs: in their own words 3. London, Brussels and beyond: my work as a Green MEP 83 Jean Lambert 4. From Brussels to Westminster: how corporate power captured politics 115 Caroline Lucas 5. Changes 133 Keith Taylor Part III The UK’s Green MEPs: perspectives from friends 6. Greens and campaigners: a natural affinity 165 Natalie Bennett vi CONTENTS 7. Powerhouse parliamentarians: how Greens made friends and influenced policy 183 Samir Jeraj Part IV Brexit and beyond: solidarity for the future 8. Stronger In? The logic of pan-European co-operation in the era of Trump and climate change 207 Molly Scott Cato 9. European Greens: a global vision? 227 Reinhard Bütikofer index 237 acknowledgements 249 BIOGRAPHIES About the authors Natalie Bennett was born in Australia, where she began her work- ing life as a journalist, after studying agriculture at the University of Sydney. She has lived on three continents, having spent four years in Bangkok, half of which saw her working as a volunteer for the National Commission on Women’s Affairs. Natalie was also involved in UN consulting on women’s and children’s issues. However, she was always going to head back to the UK (having visited first as a backpacker in 1990). So, after settling in England, she fostered a career in British national newspapers, working for The Telegraph, The Times, the Independent and finally as editor ofThe Guardian Weekly for five years. Natalie joined the Green Party in 2006 and was leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2012 to 2016. After serving two terms as leader, she has continued in full-time politics as former leader, focusing particularly on the North and Midlands of England, on issues including universal basic income, fracking and making the UK a democracy. In 2017 she was the Green Party gen- eral election candidate for Sheffield Central, where she now lives. Reinhard Bütikofer is an MEP (Greens/EFA) and the co-chair of the European Green Party (EGP). He sits on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) as a full member, and on the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) as a substitute member. He is viii BIOGRAPHIES the vice-chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with the People’s Republic of China as well as a member of the Del- egation to the United States and a substitute member of the ASEAN delegation. Before being elected to the European Parliament in 2009, Mr Bütikofer was the co-chair of the German Green Party, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (Alliance 90/The Greens), from 2002 until 2008. He was the party’s secretary general from 1998 until 2002. Prior to that he served as the chair of the Greens in the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg. From 1988 until 1996 he served as a member of the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament. His engagement with the German Greens began when he was elected as a member of the city council in Heidelberg in 1984. Samir Jeraj is a freelance journalist and author. From 2008 to 2012 he served as a Green Party councillor in Norwich. He has written extensively on housing issues and social affairs in the UK. Inthis capacity, he served as Keith Taylor’s researcher on his reports on the growth of foodbanks and other types of emergency food aid in the South East of England. Samir co-authored The Rent Trap: How We Fell Into It and How We Get Out of It (Pluto Press, 2016), a book about private rented housing. Klina Jordan co-founded and facilitates Make Votes Matter, the UK movement for proportional representation. A lifelong activist, Klina’s dedication to environmental and social meliorism has led to a focus on systemic change to enable progress: working to get the basic build- ing blocks of democracy into place. She has diverse expertise from a 20-year career including events, marketing, business development, management and sustainable enterprise. She uses that experience to lead a positive and practical movement for real democracy, including a growing alliance of parties, organisations and public figures, dozens of local campaign groups and tens of thousands of activists. Tony Juniper CBE is a long-serving British environmentalist. He has worked with many environment and conservation organisa- tions, including as executive director of Friends of the Earth and as BIOGRAPHIES ix president of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. He has worked as an environment advisor to The Prince of Wales and as a fellow with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. He is the author of many ecologically themed books, including the multi-award-winning best seller What Has Nature Ever Done for Us? (Synergetic Press, 2013). Tony was the Green Party candidate for the Cambridge constituency in the 2010 general election. Jean Lambert has been London’s Green Party MEP since 1999 and a member of the Green Party since its early days. She has been a long-standing member of the European Parliament’s Commit- tees on Employment and Social Affairs, and Civil Liberties, usticeJ and Home Affairs; the chair of its official Delegation for relations with South Asia; and the co-president of its anti-racism intergroup, among others. She has participated in EU election observation missions in Africa and Asia. Jean is a winner of The Parliament Magazine’s award for human rights work, and she is a patron of human rights theatre company ice&fire. A passionate internation- alist, Jean co-chaired the Green Party’s Greens for Europe cam- paign during the EU referendum, and she is the party’s national migration spokesperson. Jean was a teacher in East London before becoming a Green MEP. Caroline Lucas was first elected as MP for Brighton Pavilion in 2010. She served as leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2008 to 2012, and co-leader from 2016 to 2018. From 1999 to 2010 she was one of the party’s first MEPs and represented the South East region until becoming the UK’s first Green MP. Caroline holds numerous senior positions in parliamentary groups, such as chair of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) on climate change and limits to growth; deputy chair of the APPG on renewable and sustainable energy; and vice chair of the APPGs on better Brexit for young people, drug policy reform, European citizenship rights, proportional representation, refugees, and sixth form colleges, among others. She also sits on the UK parliament’s influential Envi- ronmental Audit Committee and has sat on temporary committees x BIOGRAPHIES set up to scrutinise British government legislation. Caroline’s book, Honourable Friends? Parliament and the Fight for Change (Portobello Books, 2015) details her first parliamentary term as a fresh, Green voice before the House of Commons. She has also co-edited a book on cross-party working: The Alternative: Towards a New Progressive Politics (Biteback Publishing, 2016). Wolfgang Rüdig is a Reader in Politics at the University of Strath- clyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • (CAL) Calls for Caroline Spelman MP to Be Held
    19 March 2012 ‘Clean Air in London’ (CAL) calls for Caroline Spelman MP to be held accountable and resign for the UK misleading the European Commission (Commission) over its Plans and Programmes for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and other serious public health failings Commission will be asking the UK authorities to comment on CAL’s claim that the UK unlawfully obtained a time extension until 2011 to comply with the PM10 daily limit value in London because the public was not consulted on time on the updated air quality plan UK set to be fast-tracked to the Court of Justice of the European Union if breaches of PM10 air quality laws are confirmed in London i.e. just two steps short of £300m per annum fines Three cheers for Jean Lambert MEP, Keith Taylor MEP, Darren Johnson AM, Jenny Jones AM, Caroline Lucas MP and the Green Party for their effective teamwork and action to protect public health. We now need others to act urgently Clean Air in London (CAL) lodged a formal complaint in two parts with the European Commission (Commission) on 15 January 2012 over the UK’s failure to comply with air quality laws in London and elsewhere (the Complaint). Details can be seen at: http://cleanairinlondon.org/legal/clean-air-in-london-lodges-complaint-over-breaches-of-air-pollution- laws-in-london/ Jean Lambert and Keith Taylor, Green Party MEPs for London and the South East of England, wrote to Commissioner Potočnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, in support of CAL’s Complaint and have now received a formal response.
    [Show full text]
  • 2016 London Mayoral Disability Hustings
    2016 London Mayoral Disability Hustings Text Transcript – 14-04-2016 ANNA: Hi. Welcome to our Hustings here today. I'm Anna; I'm from Leonard Cheshire Disability, thank you all for coming and travelling all this way, thank you for the candidates for coming as well. We are ready to start, so Peter White who is here our chair is going to introduce us. [Applause] In order to turn the microphones on, just press the red button on the microphones. PETER: Can everybody hear at the back OK. SADIQ: Is that working? PETER: Excellent. So my first job as a blind person was to identify the letter red! [Applause] which I was unable to do! Anyway ladies and gentlemen, I'm really impressed at how many people we have here and I think that is an indication of how necessary this kind of operation that we're doing today is. How important it is. I'm Peter White, all I have to say about myself is I have done quite a lot of broadcasting on disability issues and we're going to get through as much as we can today. I know a lot of people have points they want to make so my main job will be to keep things moving. So, a warm welcome, as I say, to what London means to us. A special Hustings, designed to ensure that the many questions which disabled Londoners have about the way their city is run can be put directly to the candidates for Mayor of London. There is a genuine concern that these issues aren't often given the time they need to be explained, that often her misunderstood, skipped over, briefly, or just ignored.
    [Show full text]
  • 2019 European Elections the Weight of the Electorates Compared to the Electoral Weight of the Parliamentary Groups
    2019 European Elections The weight of the electorates compared to the electoral weight of the parliamentary groups Guillemette Lano Raphaël Grelon With the assistance of Victor Delage and Dominique Reynié July 2019 2019 European Elections. The weight of the electorates | Fondation pour l’innovation politique I. DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THE WEIGHT OF ELECTORATES AND THE ELECTORAL WEIGHT OF PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS The Fondation pour l’innovation politique wished to reflect on the European elections in May 2019 by assessing the weight of electorates across the European constituency independently of the electoral weight represented by the parliamentary groups comprised post-election. For example, we have reconstructed a right-wing Eurosceptic electorate by aggregating the votes in favour of right-wing national lists whose discourses are hostile to the European Union. In this case, for instance, this methodology has led us to assign those who voted for Fidesz not to the European People’s Party (EPP) group but rather to an electorate which we describe as the “populist right and extreme right” in which we also include those who voted for the Italian Lega, the French National Rally, the Austrian FPÖ and the Sweden Democrats. Likewise, Slovak SMER voters were detached from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Group and instead categorised as part of an electorate which we describe as the “populist left and extreme left”. A. The data collected The electoral results were collected list by list, country by country 1, from the websites of the national parliaments and governments of each of the States of the Union. We then aggregated these data at the European level, thus obtaining: – the number of individuals registered on the electoral lists on the date of the elections, or the registered voters; – the number of votes, or the voters; – the number of valid votes in favour of each of the lists, or the votes cast; – the number of invalid votes, or the blank or invalid votes.
    [Show full text]
  • Estonian Research Agreement a Social Agreement to Ensure the Further Development of Estonian Research and Innovation
    Estonian Research Agreement A social agreement to ensure the further development of Estonian research and innovation Sharing the common belief that research, development and innovation are strategically important for the well-being of the Estonian people and sustainability of society, the parties to this agreement confirm the need to guarantee the performance of the objectives agreed upon in the Estonian Research and Development and Innovation Strategy 2014–2020 “Knowledge-Based Estonia” and undertake to commit to the achievement of these objectives. For this purpose, they agree upon the following: 1. the undersigned political parties, represented by their Chairpersons, are in favour of increasing the public funding of research, development and innovation to 1% of the gross domestic product and maintaining it at least on the same level in the future. To this end, the parties agree that it will be specified in the 2019 state budget strategy that the target level is to be reached within three years with the addition of equal funding amounts; 2. Estonian research institutions, represented by the President of the Board of Universities Estonia, an association uniting Estonian public universities, affirm that research institutions will establish the institutional arrangements required for conducting and providing further incentive for performing high quality research and cooperation between researchers and entrepreneurs; 3. Estonian researchers, represented by the President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences and the President of the Estonian Young Academy of Sciences, affirm that Estonian researchers will do their best to ensure that the resources at their disposal are used for research and development in a way that guarantees a balance between basic and applied research, with the primary focus on developing fields aimed at the advancement of the Estonian economy and society; 4.
    [Show full text]
  • Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: Opportunities and Uncertainties
    ISBN 0 85403 604 0 © The Royal Society 2004 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1998), no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, or, in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licenses issued by the appropriate reproduction rights organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to: Science Policy Section The Royal Society 6–9 Carlton House Terrace London SW1Y 5AG email [email protected] Typeset in Frutiger by the Royal Society Proof reading and production management by the Clyvedon Press, Cardiff, UK Printed by Latimer Trend Ltd, Plymouth, UK ii | July 2004 | Nanoscience and nanotechnologies The Royal Society & The Royal Academy of Engineering Nanoscience and nanotechnologies: opportunities and uncertainties Contents page Summary vii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Hopes and concerns about nanoscience and nanotechnologies 1 1.2 Terms of reference and conduct of the study 2 1.3 Report overview 2 1.4 Next steps 3 2 What are nanoscience and nanotechnologies? 5 3 Science and applications 7 3.1 Introduction 7 3.2 Nanomaterials 7 3.2.1 Introduction to nanomaterials 7 3.2.2 Nanoscience in this area 8 3.2.3 Applications 10 3.3 Nanometrology
    [Show full text]
  • Green Parties and Elections to the European Parliament, 1979–2019 Green Par Elections
    Chapter 1 Green Parties and Elections, 1979–2019 Green parties and elections to the European Parliament, 1979–2019 Wolfgang Rüdig Introduction The history of green parties in Europe is closely intertwined with the history of elections to the European Parliament. When the first direct elections to the European Parliament took place in June 1979, the development of green parties in Europe was still in its infancy. Only in Belgium and the UK had green parties been formed that took part in these elections; but ecological lists, which were the pre- decessors of green parties, competed in other countries. Despite not winning representation, the German Greens were particularly influ- enced by the 1979 European elections. Five years later, most partic- ipating countries had seen the formation of national green parties, and the first Green MEPs from Belgium and Germany were elected. Green parties have been represented continuously in the European Parliament since 1984. Subsequent years saw Greens from many other countries joining their Belgian and German colleagues in the Euro- pean Parliament. European elections continued to be important for party formation in new EU member countries. In the 1980s it was the South European countries (Greece, Portugal and Spain), following 4 GREENS FOR A BETTER EUROPE their successful transition to democracies, that became members. Green parties did not have a strong role in their national party systems, and European elections became an important focus for party develop- ment. In the 1990s it was the turn of Austria, Finland and Sweden to join; green parties were already well established in all three nations and provided ongoing support for Greens in the European Parliament.
    [Show full text]
  • GREEN FOCUS - Fall 2010
    Fall 2010 www.cagreens.org R S Big Green Party elections set for Green Party candidates statewide offer clear mayor, supervisor While Green Party candidates run for choice at ballot for frustrated CA voters state and federal offices, it’s home – on a By Cres Vellucci local level – where Greens win. This Nov. There’s no doubt – the Green Party can- choices – Secretary of State candidate surance companies, he said, adding: “By 2 is no different. didates for local, state and congressional Ann Menasche and Attorney General can- driving private insurers out of business, The highest profile local races involve offices this November ARE the “indepen- didate Peter Allen – are lawyers who have we’ll save hundreds of billions of dollars Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin – dent candidates” that, according to polls, spent decades working for social justice, each year – money the highest Green officeholder in the state, voters have been civil rights and “environmental sanity,” that can guarantee and Dan Hamburg – former member of clamoring to vote as Menasche puts it. everybody has ac- Congress and 1998 Green candidate for into office. “I am running for Secretary of State cess to high qual- Governor now running for Supervisor in In all, 34 candi- because I have witnessed how corporate ity health care.” Mendocino County. dates are running domination of elections has increasingly Green Congres- Both races are key to Green Party pres- for office under undermined the hopes and dreams of or- sional candidates ence and power in the state. the Green Party dinary Californians (but) I firmly believe are just as steadfast.
    [Show full text]
  • The Green Spruce Aphid in Western Europe
    Forestry Commission The Green Spruce Aphid in Western Europe: Ecology, Status, Impacts and Prospects for Management Edited by Keith R. Day, Gudmundur Halldorsson, Susanne Harding and Nigel A. Straw Forestry Commission ARCHIVE Technical Paper & f FORESTRY COMMISSION TECHNICAL PAPER 24 The Green Spruce Aphid in Western Europe: Ecology, Status, Impacts and Prospects for Management A research initiative undertaken through European Community Concerted Action AIR3-CT94-1883 with the co-operation of European Communities Directorate-General XII Science Research and Development (Agro-Industrial Research) Edited by Keith R. t)ay‘, Gudmundur Halldorssorr, Susanne Harding3 and Nigel A. Straw4 ' University of Ulster, School of Environmental Studies, Coleraine BT52 ISA, Northern Ireland, U.K. 2 2 Iceland Forest Research Station, Mogilsa, 270 Mossfellsbaer, Iceland 3 Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Department of Ecology and Molecular Biology, Thorvaldsenvej 40, Copenhagen, 1871 Frederiksberg C., Denmark 4 Forest Research, Alice Holt Lodge, Wrecclesham, Farnham, Surrey GU10 4LH, U.K. KVL & Iceland forestry m research station Forest Research FORESTRY COMMISSION, EDINBURGH © Crown copyright 1998 First published 1998 ISBN 0 85538 354 2 FDC 145.7:453:(4) KEYWORDS: Biological control, Elatobium , Entomology, Forestry, Forest Management, Insect pests, Picea, Population dynamics, Spruce, Tree breeding Enquiries relating to this publication should be addressed to: The Research Communications Officer Forest Research Alice Holt Lodge Wrecclesham, Farnham Surrey GU10 4LH Front Cover: The green spruce aphid Elatobium abietinum. (Photo: G. Halldorsson) Back Cover: Distribution of the green spruce aphid. CONTENTS Page List of contributors IV Preface 1. Origins and background to the green spruce aphid C. I. Carter and G. Hallddrsson in Europe 2.
    [Show full text]
  • GREEN YOUTH for a GLOBAL GREEN CHANGE Documentation
    GREEN YOUTH FOR A GLOBAL GREEN CHANGE Documentation of the 2nd Global Young Greens Congress Berlin, 8th to 14th of August 2010 Dear readers! 3 A short history of the Global Young Greens 4 HISTORY 2nd Congress 8 programmE 9 Regional Meetings 10 Workshops 12 the perspectives of small content scale farming and the agricultural issues 16 Green New Deal – A Concept for a Global Economic Change? 17 Impressions 18 General Assembly of GYG Congress Berlin 2010 20 Summary of our Structure Reform 21 GYG in Action 22 Passed Proposals 23 Statements 25 Participants 26 Introduction of the new Steering Committee 28 Plans 32 THANK-YOU‘S 30 IMPRINT 31 2 global young greens—Congress 2010 Dear readers! We proudly present to you the documentation of the 2nd Global Young Greens Congress held in Berlin from 8th to 14th of August 2010! More than 100 participants from over 50 countries spent five days of discussing as well as exchanging opinions and experiences from their homecountries in order to get closer together and fight with “Youth Power for a Global Green Change“. Workshops, fishbowl discussions and a world café were organised as parts of the congress. The debated topics were endless – reaching from economics and gender issues to social justice, peace and conflicts and - of course - climate change. After three days of debating, two days of General Assem- bly followed. In this, new structures were adopted as well as several topical proposals to form a wider political platform. With this documentation, we are trying to show what the congress was about and what was behind.
    [Show full text]
  • Moderators & Speakers
    Moderators & Speakers Marcus Asner Marcus is a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP in New York. Marcus served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York from 2000 to 2009, where he was Chief of the Major Crimes unit for two years. As a prosecutor, Marcus led the U.S. prosecution of United States v. Bengis, one of the largest poaching cases in history, which involved a massive scheme to import into the U.S. illegally harvested lobster from South Africa. At Arnold & Porter, Marcus routinely counsels clients on a wide variety of environmental and wildlife trafficking issues, and writes and speaks frequently on international wildlife trafficking and corruption. He has given training to INTERPOL and other law enforcement entities on wildlife trafficking, has testified on trafficking issues before the U.S. House of Representatives, and has conducted briefings for the U.S. Congress on wildlife trafficking and related issues. Marcus currently serves on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking, where he co-chairs the Subcommittee on Law Reform. Pablo Ballesteros-Palaez Pablo is currently with DG Research and Innovation. He was formerly with DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. He also has experience with Transparency International EU where he dealt with EU anti-corruption legislation and EU money laundering, and conducted research on EU Institutions transparency, accountability, independence and integrity. 1 Anne Brosnan Anne is a member of the Presidency of the ENPE and Chief Prosecutor at the UK Environment Agency. She has been a qualified solicitor for twenty-five years. She previously headed the Agency’s Serious Casework Group.
    [Show full text]
  • Icm Research Job No (1-6) 960416
    ICM RESEARCH JOB NO (1-6) KNIGHTON HOUSE 56 MORTIMER STREET SERIAL NO (7-10) LONDON W1N 7DG TEL: 0171-436-3114 CARD NO (11) 1 2004 LONDON ELECTIONS QUESTIONNAIRE INTRODUCTION: Good morning/afternoon. I am ⇒ IF NO 2ND CHOICE SAY: from ICM, the independent opinion research Q7 So can I confirm, you only marked one company. We are conducting a survey in this area choice in the London Assembly election? today and I would be grateful if you could help by (14) answering a few questions … Yes 1 No 2 ⇒ CHECK QUOTAS AND CONTINUE IF ON Don’t know 3 QUOTA Q1 First of all, in the recent election for the ***TAKE BACK THE BALLOT PAPERS*** new London Mayor and Assembly many people were not able to go and vote. Can you tell me, did ♦ SHOW CARD Q8 you manage to go to the polling station and cast Q8 When you were voting in the elections for your vote? the London Assembly and London Mayor, what (12) was most important to you? Of the following Yes 1 possible answers, can you let me know which were No 2 the two most important as far as you were Don’t know 3 concerned (15) ⇒ IF NO/DON’T KNOW, GO TO Q9 Q2 Here is a version of the ballot paper like the These elections were a chance to let one used for the MAYOR ELECTION. the national government know what 1 (INTERVIEWER: HAND TO RESPONDENT). Could you think about national issues you please mark with an X who you voted for as I felt it was my duty to vote 2 your FIRST choice as London Mayor? MAKE SURE Choosing the best people to run 3 RESPONDENT MARKS BALLOT PAPER IN London CORRECT COLUMN I wanted to support a particular party 4 I wanted to let the government know Q3 And could you mark with an X who you my view on the Iraq war 5 voted for as your SECOND choice? ? MAKE SURE RESPONDENT MARKS BALLOT PAPER IN ⇒ VOTERS SKIP TO Q16 CORRECT COLUMN Q9 Here is a version of the ballot paper like the ND one used for the MAYOR ELECTION.
    [Show full text]
  • Panel 4 the ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN
    The ecological movement in Greece: organizational and electoral expression in Greece 1974-2009 Bouranta Vasiliki Phd Candidate, Faculty of Law, Economics and Politics, Department of Political Sciences Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Abstract In the European elections of June 2009 and for the first time in the electoral history of Greece the Ecologist Greens managed to elect one of their candidates as a representative in the European Parliament. In the early national elections of October that followed, the party gathered 2,53% of the votes cast in the territory, their largest share in their short history. The Party failed naturally to participate in the distribution of seats of the Greek Parliament; however this percentage of valid votes is for many an indication of the rise of a new eco-movement to the Greek political space. In Western Europe, and especially in developed industrialised countries such as Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain etc., 'green' parties acquired stable electoral stream and managed in several cases to gain “access to power” and be able to shape policies regarding the environment and other wider social and economic problems of their country. However, this was not the case of Greece where the ecological movement did not manage to develop to the point to become an equal “player” to the political deliberation but was always present in the background. More specific, my research question is why was not the greek ecological movement able to establish a mass party like the Socialists and therefore “build” a steady electoral power and influence in the political life of Greece. I aspire to answer to that question based on theories of voting behaviour of the electorate, focusing on “issue voting” theory.
    [Show full text]