Seats where Green Party came 2nd: my comment

 Bristol East

The selected candidate had to go after controversy and Ani kindly stepped in, a councillor in the highly student area of Central ward.  I spoke to Ani at election day and admire her work on inner change and healing divisions in the party.  The seat is an obvious target for those of us in The South, and I hope selection will happen early.  I am told by East residents that we hope to gain councillors there which would allow us majority control of the city council.  The area is home to the Barton House scandal.  Bristol's acorn community union members noticed structural problems which were first ignored then the evacuation took place, and residents were moved back in.  As a result a councillor candidate withdrew from the stress and party insider Ed was made Councillor last-minute and is now Lord Mayor.  I have fond memories of Easton this diverse and neglected suburban part of the city, canvassing during the holy month of Ramadan, and inviting muslim members to a social in the local pub.

Huddersfield

Andrew Cooper is a well-known and respected councillor who keeps getting re-elected.  He has in the past stood for the green party leadership, living very close to media city in Salford.  In Leeds, the party have recently won a surprise win in the neglected Gipton and Harehills ward, which may also vote green in the future.  The candidate there became famous and is popular on both left and right sections of social media, with tiktok and youtube followings, and was backed by Andrew Cooper.  The area has a high muslim population alongside Dewsbury which elected an independent MP.  Many mosques are present and each one sent coaches full of protesters to London last year.  Like many non-target constituencies, the area received a visit from the Green Party's deputy leader Zack.  Andrew Cooper is involved in the Local Government Association representing over 800 green councillors and working alongside independents and even UKIP and Reform councillors in the green and independents group.  The party hopes to increase its councillors to perhaps 900 next year so this arrangement may or may not continue, as the greens form their own local government association grouping.

Sheffield Central

The seat was a winner in local elections and activists boycotted the candidate Alison who then stood as an independent, due to her views on gender.  Alison had been a leading tree campaigner to defend the urban forest from Labour's outsourcing which was removing healthy mature trees. As a result of the local activist boycott, Sheffield was dropped from the party's short list of 2nd-tier target seats.

Bristol South

The party came 2nd.  The candidate had joined as a former Labour party member and is a new Councillor.  She was part of Bristol's full slate launched alongside now MP, Carla.  She has been an autism and SEND campaigner, an issue that other parties are ignoring and one that Councillors will work hard to help young families with.

 Hackney South and Shoreditch

For such a diverse borough, the Green Party's current make-up could be described as hipster or Yuppies.  The Party holds 2 Councillors in 2 wards in the constituency which holds huge potential against an overwhelmingly Labour dominated town hall.  Recently Labour have split and formed a new grouping for Gaza.  They previously supported Zoe's run for Mayor forming the group "Corbynistas for Zoe".   The Green Party candidate was a last minute replacement after the previous hopeful who had mental health issues had a spot of in-fighting and endorsed the young trans rights activist from the Lib Dems, in the London Assembly, earning a 5 year suspension, possibly longer.  She doubled down on the remarks which became quite personal.

Leeds Central and Headingley

Headingly is of course the home of Martin SOC a long time Green Party campaigner for peace and disarmament with views on foreign policy. Martin previously served as a Labour Councillor.  The party has re organised itself into a single Leeds party.  The candidate Chris a retired lawyer did fund raise for a local aviation emissions campaign as well as for the party and the retained deposit and money that was not spent on printing leaflets will go back to Leeds Green Party's machine to grow its number of councillors across the city.  While appearing professional and having a clear candidate photo and video of him talking against a blank indoor background, a campaign could be developed with more people, more team-work, and more creative inspiring videography.

Manchester Rusholme

I must admit I have not recently been to Manchester and only met former Hulme Councillor Ekua and a few others.  Ekua has inspired many people.  Labour piled in to lose her the seat as a green.  This constituency contains Hulme which of course was where Deyike was.  Labour have taken Manchester for granted.  Like London, we can't just point at dog poo and pot holes; we also have to do politics and we have to do it differently.  Unlike Chris' video, the candidate's video in manchester is well-produced with music, with shots envisioning the city and broader issues, but is also the candidate talking a lot.  I would like Deyike's fund to support her in being selected early for this seat and having another shot: but Manchester has failed to properly win Councillors this year and that would have to change for it to go the way of Bristol.  In my view the party should not have given up on Hulme so easily.   With its significant Jewish community I remain fascinated with Manchester and last visited when Deyike was alive.  I have also protested there against the Conservative Party conference.  The Green Party needs to update its policy on High Speed 2 to win somewhere like this, but the transport policy working group is in my view dominated by greens against hs2.

The candidate being a local mum is excellent: all that's needed for gold candidate material is to be a school governor.  Caroline Lucas is a mum; it's different from the stereotype or what many greens would consider a good candidate embedded in the community.  In the recent election a key message was the vote green poster drawn by Emily, age 7 and the importance of a better world "for our children".  Many responded to this by volunteering while their partners looked after the kids.

Hackney North and Stoke Newington

This is where we got a stonking vote in a recent byelection.  If everyone that voted for us last week, remained loyal, we will have a wonderful Jewish Councillor, possibly alongside a wonderful Black MP.  With 4 MPs and all of them white, this is where it could change.  But will the Deyike fund support someone here?  This in my view is 1 of 2 or 3 inspiring London campaigns, but will be ten times the hard work in the face of Labour who have dominated the council and the city for decades.  It's likely that if Dianne moves on, we'll have a controversial and unpopular right wing Labour candidate to defeat, possibly in a by election.  The only other by election we've ever won in the region is nearby, in Highgate.  In a recent Mayor by election, due to a scandal, the Green Party candidate, who is a London Assembly Member and Mayor candidate 2024, increased the vote share.

Lewisham North

With no councillors here, the former stomping ground of Darren Johnson founder of the LGB greens in the 1980's - expelled recently for criticising the green policy on gender - Lewisham is unlikely to come up as a target again.  I am experienced enough to remember the last time we targeted there.  Labour mobilised across London to make sure we lost our Councillor grouping of 9 and never gained a foot hold, while the Lib Dems also behaved unhelpfully.

Birkenhead

Jo was an excellent candidate here gaining local TV coverage.  We have a large group of Councillors and Jo makes an excellent case for selecting Birkenhead as a target constituency.  It is likely that if Jo is selected here, Labour will throw everything at it.  The Green Party's clean campaign pledge might be useful in deflecting these.  Green Party Conference will take place soon in Manchester and this will be where we will see how The North will begin its journey to Westminster.

Jo is endorsed by the Muslim Vote alongside Sian and Carla.

Walthamstow

Walthamstow experienced a good result in the London elections.  We can win Councillors there.  As an outer London resident I take an interest in areas like this.

Peckham

Following on the momentum from the London elections with the same candidate, Peckham has failed to win any Green Councillors in the face of heavy Lib Dem and Labour forces.  I have visited the area and it is where our office was at the Biscuit Factory in Bermondsey.  If we win in 2026 I will be pleased, and this would be a step towards more Assembly Members in 2028.  We can win here: coming 2nd last time in the London Assembly.  But the danger is targeting it, possibly losing, and then losing elsewhere.

Lewisham West and East Dulwich

I welcome this new entry who has lived in various places around the capital.

Manchester Withington

The transport campaigner Sam came 2nd but came 3rd in a recent Council election in Withington: quite an achievement for Manchester.  With all these Manchesters popping up I would hope they can raise their game and increase their Councillors which went from zero to 3 recently.

Tottenham

David Lammy's seat.  I was present here at the count.  The area shows potential but members should have more of a say in the party's strategy, which has failed so far to win any councillors.

Dulwich and West Norwood

Pete Elliot is popular in the party, has served as a councillor, and served in the army.  He has been the green party's housing spokes person.  He lost his seat after the estate that elected him was decanted by Lambeth Council's property development arm.  Previous candidates for the seat have been promising.  Lambeth was the stomping ground of Rashid Nix a London Assembly candidate, and Jonathan Bartley the former co-leader of the party.  Many promising people have stood to be Councillors here, including a highly disciplined team of non-target candidates who didn't do any campaigning in their own wards.  One of the main organisers here resigned after gender disagreements and we now have a group of 2 councillors who have focussed on climate emergency and housing.  One of the other organisers here moved to Bristol and became a Councillor.

Bristol North East

Lorraine stood and won re-election several terms as a Councillor in Eastville ward.  She stood before in a different ward.  She stood in Bristol East twice for Parliament.  She stood in the Kingswood by-election.  The Labour MP stood and won in the Kingswood by-election.  Before he was the directly elected Mayor of Lewisham.

Leeds South

The candidate Ed is a local city councillor and a dad. Hilary Benn is the cabinet minister for Northern Ireland

Norwich South

The sitting MP here is Clive Lewis.  A well known member of the socialist campaign group, he's been a military veteran, and somewhat of a green new deal champion.  The Greens have held many council seats here. Many promising people have stood in the seat including our own newest MP and co-leader Adrian Ramsay.

Islington South and Finsbury

This is where Carne Ross stood.  He is a great guy and it's been a pleasure working with him over the recent 9 months.  It would make sense to have some kind of arrangement with Corbyn independent activists, but we would ideally want them to help here in the South of the borough, not just in the North, while our own members would be unable to help in the North due to party rules.  The proximity to independent MP seats is a complicating factor which has so far failed to yield results.  4 Green MPs were elected and 5 Corbyn inspired independents.  Those areas are spread far and wide across the country, not next to each other.  We have councillors here just in Highbury that has been Corbyn's constituency, but have failed to break through into other wards.

Bristol North West

Mary Page joined from the Lib Dems and stood as a Councillor.  She scrapped the mayor, an elected executive mayor who used to run Bristol.  The Mayor was replaced with a committee system.  The MP there is Darren Jones, part of the new labour cabinet and not such a popular guy amongst the pro Palestinian camp.

Stratford and Bow

Our dear friend Joe previously stood in a by election against Labour and ended up being beaten by a Newham Independents Councillor, who had resigned from Labour (This was before the Gaza latest war and was fought on such issues as ULEZ and parking).  How the tables have turned with Joe coming comfortably against 4 independents and 2 smaller parties.  Joe was one of those dedicated remainers in the later hours of the post election celebration that took the time to chat with me, and I'm in awe of his service to the party as the co-chair of its most senior governing body alongside a Greater Manchester colleague.  This seat shows huge potential for the Green Party in the face of a climate and nature emergency.  The local party are well-organised and building capacity by using social media to engage volunteers.  They won their first seats on a fully Labour council and formed an opposition group.  Independents can not form an opposition group.  Joe took the time to tell me that the writing is too small and pictures not big enough, on the local unison leaflet.  The selection for Joe in this seat was contested by other local Newham Councillors but he came out on top.

Streatham and Croydon North

 Half Streatham half Croydon, the candidate here was an MEP for 9 months for the area, so one of the few serious people who could be an MP.  He serves as a Councillor in Streatham.  The boundary changes make this an interesting seat.  Croydon also has some Councillors in the south / east.  He fought this campaign brilliantly.  The MP comes over from Croydon North with a similar large majority. He has been a minister and is now Environment Secretary (for environment food and rural affairs)

Vauxhall and Camberwell Green

Known to me as Cat, the serial candidate stood in Nunhead in Southwark in 2022 coming in 5th place.  A young candidate whom I believe has been involved with the green party's 30 under 30 elite leadership training programme.  The local MP has supported the right-wing candidate in a Labour Leadership election against Corbyn.

Liverpool Wavertree

Tom Crone was elected as a Councillor in 2023.  He stood for Mayor.

Liverpool Riverside

Riverside has been a green constituency targeted before.  I have visited the constituency and it is home to Labour's annual conference.

Manchester Central

Ekua needs no introduction.  She is an artist and defected as a Labour Councillor after being disciplined by Labour for breaking the unwritten rule not to stand against the leader.  She has served as a senior Labour Party elected official as well as Councillor for Hulme.  The Green Party conference is due to take part in Manchester.  I met Edkua on her visit to North London to talk about women in green politics.

Leyton and Wanstead

If I were disrespectful to the service the MP here has given to our country in the RAF, I would say this is the sort of place with a big Labour lead where there is a bitter selection battle and a candidate is parachuted in.

Typically for a green candidate she has stood in a local election and come 4th.  Less typically unfortunately is the fact that she comes from a working-class background, a background that has been badly under-represented in the Green Party.

Sheffield Heeley

This is of course Alexi a tireless pro-Palestinian campaigner whose motion pushed through the city council has condemned Keir Starmer and his support for genocide.  On similar lines he adapted a protest chant from the USA for our dear leader Keir Starmer. I met Alexi when he came to London with the Sheffield green party banner.

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough

Re-elected as a City councillor since May.  Sheffield Central is one of the most promising targets in terms of council representation translating into MPs.
 

Hornsey and Friern Barnet

Again I was at the count for this one, Barnet Green Party provided the candidate though most of it is in Haringey.  Neither borough has any green councillors.  The candidate stood in the most recent round of council elections and was pleasantly surprised at the swing towards the greens across the country where polls predicted a 3rd place.

Cardiff South and Penarth

Anthony Slaughter is the leader of the Green Party in Wales.  After winning in the Senneth, he hopes the party will become independent of the Green Party in England.  I met Anthony on one of the big days out in Bristol laying the ground work to our big win.  Many members came over the border to get us this, and we as team Carla owe them a return visit over the next 2 years towards their breakthrough.

Hove and Portslade

Was it this or Kemptown with the bitter Labour selection battle as a new Labour candidate was parachuted in to replace the much loved firey socialist. I visited the constituency before boundary changes.  We focussed our efforts on Brighton Pavilion this time.  In any Green Party election campaign in these cities my advice would be to win back those council seats you lost, and maybe win a few more to get a majority control of the council.  To do this the party will learn to fend off attacks from other parties.  This is a city where independents are also at play. Sophie is a mum and might find the time to become one of those councillors or to help elect more here.  Peter Kyle is a cabinet secretary for science, innovation and technology

Poplar and Limehouse

This is the seat of Aspana Begum, the 1st Hijab wearing MP if I'm not mistaken.  Poplar is the home of the Battle of Cable Street, in which Jewish and Irish communities united against the Police and Fascists.  It is also the home of Natalie, who worked to win 3 London Assembly Members including our mayor candidate, and is the sole Councillor in the Green Party there.  Natalie took the time to chat with boring old me after the London Assembly elections and we discussed her visit to Colindale.

Lewisham East

Lewisham East's green candidate Michael stood for Lewisham Mayor coming in 2nd place despite an independent candidate challenger.  The Mayor was vacant after the Bristol Labour candidate resigned and moved out of London.

Queen's Park and Maida Vale
This was of course Vivien who is the chair of the Jewish Greens.  Vivien met with me and organised a speaker meeting which Mona her running mate also attended.  We attended a Palestinian restaurant and caught up with another attendee, from UK Friends of Standing Together.  Vivien is an experienced candidate and represented the party at hustings and has been a wonderful source of advice for me. 

The new Labour MP is famously the leader of Camden Council and Starmer ally.

Greenwich and Woolwich

Greenwich's Green Party candidate is a fairly new entry and I seem to remember reading about her when considering how to vote in the party list last year.  Greenwich does not have green councillors and narrowly lost out last time.  It has long been a borough of strong 2nd place results with my young green friend Marek standing here back in 2010.  The result follows a similar trend of 2nd place results in the London Assembly super- constituency.

Oxford East

Oxford East has been a green constituency targeted before.  It fits the old stereotype of university towns.  The candidate quadrupled her vote here since she stood here in 2010 coming 4th

Nottingham East

A constituency I am familiar with from my student days.  The sitting MP is popular with young people and adept at social media.  A carer, trade unionist, and member of the socialist campaign group, we're unlikely to want to unseat her, but could help push her in the right direction and keep Labour true to their values.   The East Midlands missed out on any greens representation in the European Parliament.

I would also ask, what constituencies are not on the list?

East Birmingham, the only Green Party council where I had to make a complaint to the borough about the behaviour of a sitting Councillor.  I don't think he is in post any more, but may have joined another party.  Many of their efforts previously targeted at Solihull have been re directed to North Herefordshire where we now have an MP, who has previously served for 9 months as an MEP.  It's likely this will remain the case, as well as defending many seats held across the West Midlands region.  Again, if we are to win here on the site of Birmingham International and the NEC, we're going to need a new rail policy.  This is the stomping ground of the green party's Head of Elections who was a Councillor here and also spent a lot of time helping Adrian Ramsay's previous runs for Council and Parliament in Norwich South.

There were no 2nd places in the NE region.  They should take comfort in the fact that Brighton Pavilion had the greens go from 3rd to 1st place: so we really can win anywhere.