Caroline Jackson, one of our 23 (out of 61) Green Party councillors on Lancaster City Council, has been elected as Council Leader with the support of the 7 Lib Dems and 5 Independents. This is her third time as Council Leader, and leading a council without an overall majority is never easy. We wish Caroline and the rest of our councillors every success in implementing Green policies in Lancaster.

Councillor Caroline Jackson

New Group on Lancashire County Council

The bad news in Lancashire was, of course, the election of 53 Reform councillors which resulted in their taking control of the council. The Tories previously controlled the council with 48 seats which fell to 8. Reform took 63% of the seats with just 36% of the vote, and their new cabinet is made up of 10 white men, failing to reflect the diversity of Lancashire residents.

The good news is that, for the first time ever, we managed to stand a full slate of 84 candidates. Well done all our candidates who gave electors throughout all of Lancashire the option to vote Green, and a special thanks to Clare Hales, one of our Field Organisers, who organised this.

The best news is that we increased our Green Party councillors from 2 to 4 with new wins in Lancaster and Accrington.

Our 4 Green councillors have have joined with 7 Independent Councillors to form a new group which has been registered as Progressive Lancashire. Green Councillor, Gina Dowding is the Deputy Leader of the group, which is now the largest opposition group on the County Council.

With such a large majority, Reform will be able to push through many of its policies but Progressive Lancashire aims to be an effective and constructive opposition, holding the leadership of the County Council to account on matters which affect residents across Lancashire.

Lancashire Green Councillors

Hamish Mills, Sohail Asghar, Gina Dowding, Paul Stubbins

Suspensions Lifted

At our AGM in April, we called for the lifting of the suspensions of our two former North West chairs and 3 members of the national Standing Orders Committee, and for all other suspensions to be reviewed. We are pleased to report that these suspensions were lifted and that there is now a review of all other suspensions under way.

Ex Labour Councillor Joins the Greens

Cumberland Councillor, Helen Tucker issued  her statement of resignation from Labour  on Wednesday 7th May stating it was because “the decisions and policies coming from Westminster no longer align with my values”.

She listed all the shortcomings of Labour that we as Greens are well aware of, including not fully funding teachers’ pay awards, failing to address child poverty and the refusal of the government to stop sending arms to Israel.

We welcome another disillusioned ex-Labour member who joins the thousands of others who see the Greens as the progressive party the country needs.

Two other Cumberland Labour Councillors resigned recently and now stand as Independents. Cumberland is still controlled by Labour but we can hope for more Green successes when the next elections are held in 2027.

Councillor Helen Tucker

2025 Election Results

Across England, the Green Party successfully defended 35 council seats and won an additional 44. The Lib Dems won an additional 163 whilst the Tories lost 674 and Labour 187.

Despite our increased number of councillors, these elections were a disaster for those of us who share Green Party values due to Reform – a socially regressive party of climate change denial –  having major successes, including the election of 677 councillors, control of 10 councils and winning the Halton and Runcorn parliamentary by-election.

We can hope that this is a blip and that there will not be a continued upward trajectory for Reform but cannot take that for granted. We need to work even harder to be seen as the true alternative to Labour and Tories.

Other News

North West Green Party; Election Strategy Day

With the Tories and Labour both totally discredited and Reform reaping the benefits, it is more important than ever that our party offers a credible alternative. At our AGM in April, we agreed that we would have a full day’s discussion on why the Green Party has not made a major breakthrough and what we can do to change this situation.

Your North West Committee is working to organise this all members meeting, and full details will be circulated shortly.

As the only progressive party campaigning throughout the whole of the UK we have a great responsibility to offer a real alternative and we hope that a large number of members will participate in this discussion.

Trades Union Liaison Officer

We will be seeking members willing to undertake this role and this will be the subject of a separate communication.

The full role description will be circulated and the North West Committee will co-opt a member from amongst those expressing an interest.

External Communications

We are very pleased to announce that, the North West Green Party committee co-opted Jane Turner to the role of External Communications Officer at our meeting on 15th May. 

Yours in solidarity,

 Paul Davies

Chair of North West Green Party Committee

chair@northwest.greenparty.org.uk 

The post NWGP Newsletter June 5th 2025 appeared first on North West Green Party.

I would also like to thank the members of the outgoing committee who have worked hard in difficult circumstances for the last 12 months.

You no doubt joined our party because you wish to change the world for the better. The planet is close to the point of no return, Gaza is being bombed into oblivion  and millions of people in the UK are depending on food banks. The other parties are proposing to penalise the most marginalised, demonise immigrants and curtail our right to protest. Trump is starting a trade war and aligning with his fellow bullies, including Putin, regardless of the impact on Ukraine and Europe as a whole. There has never been a more important time to be involved in politics.

Like me, I suspect that many of you wish that there was someone else to do the heavy lifting of door knocking, leafleting or becoming a councillor. Like it, or not it is just us – the thin Green line of Green Party members – who are keeping the flag flying for progressive politics.

I stood for the North West committee in order to play my small part in making the political progress we all crave for but unfortunately immediately found myself embroiled in internal matters with two of  my predecessors having been suspended from the Party last year for reasons that escape me.

The Green Party Regional Council (GPRC) have the power to suspend members when;

 “…..there is an immediate risk to the well-being of the party, a party body or an individual member…”

There is widespread concern about the length of time that members are left waiting without the complaint being properly investigated and brought to conclusion. In addition many of us are concerned at the way in which the term “immediate risk” is being interpreted.

At our AGM on 13th March those present voted to ask the Green Party Executive to intervene to get an immediate review of all suspensions, with a view to overturning those that do not meet the clear criteria of evidence of immediate risk for their imposition. 

I hope that this matter can be quickly resolved and will keep you informed of developments. I hope we will never go down the road followed by the Labour Party of using lengthy suspensions to promote certain factions and destroy others. I hope these suspensions are an aberration and we can be a tolerant party that encourages freedom of expression and vigorous debate. 

There is a lot of work to do. I hope we can quickly get the suspensions reviewed and continue working together for the planet, peace and an end to inequality. On a much more positive note, we now have a fully functioning Regional Committee in the North West  that will work with  members to campaign and promote the policies of the Green Party. We will be sending out a newsletter soon with important information about upcoming elections.
 

Best wishes,

Paul Davies,
Chair North West Green Party Committee

chair@northwest.greenparty.org.uk

The post NWGP Newsletter March 25th 2025 appeared first on North West Green Party.

New interim Chair and Secretary for NW Green Party After the No Fault Suspension of our interim chair and our secretary, the North West committee has appointed new members to fill those roles for the time being

Kai Taylor of Knowsley Green Party will be taking on the role of interim chair and Melanie Forrest of North Lancs Green Party will be taking on the role of interim Secretary. As neither of them have access to the official email accounts yet, please direct any emails for the Chair to kaitaylor1997@hotmail.com and the Secretary to melbarnjj@outlook.com

The post NWGP Newsletter 11/09/2024 appeared first on North West Green Party.

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The post NWGP Newsletter 22/05/2024 appeared first on North West Green Party.