Britain needs real change now

Keith Bessant, who stood as the Green Parties candidate in the last General Election, is hoping to significantly improve his vote. He said: "People are disillusioned with the three main parties. Britain needs real change now on the pressing issues that face our society such as climate change and the power of big business. Other parties fail to challenge the way our society is run for a minority, thus leading to an apathetic and disempowered electorate. We need a politics and economics that puts people first and delivers real quality of life."

Our unfair electoral system leaves many people with this dilemma.

Every election Labour Party urge us to 'Vote Labour to keep the Tories out'. That's blackmail. Don't give-in to blackmail - vote for what you believe-in!  Otherwise the system will never change. 

17 per cent of the vote - level pegging with the Liberal Democrats

Congratulations are due to many for an excellent campaign - with these elections we're in a more stronger situation as a party than ever. In Stroud District our average vote was 17 per cent - level pegging with Lib Dems.

Nationally we got 1,028,283 Euro-votes - the highest since 1989. This time it's a lot more sustainable due to our presence in the London Assembly, the European Parliament, Scottish Parliament and 26 local authorities.

The Gloucestershire Green Party cannot, of course, implement the necessary radical changes on its own. But what we can do is get local councillors elected and work from the inside of the political system. We work both locally, nationally and internationally. Greens have two MEPs nationwide, and hope another will be elected for the South-West region in the forthcoming Euro elections. The England & Wales Green Party is part of a 31-nation, pan-European Green alliance, since only by working together can change be achieved.
 

Progressive people everywhere are looking for an alternative to the current political mainstream, and this is what the Green Party provides.

Incredibly, in spite of all the evidence on climate change, shrinking of biodiversity and widening inequalities both nationally and internationally, today's world powers remain focused on the generation of wealth in monetary terms, rather than in terms of the quality of life for all people.

The explosion in both population and affluence of the 20th century has created a series of problems that never existed before yet traditional politics ignores this. The sheer number of human beings now precludes the possibility of any of us living a wealthy existence, in terms of resources. The earth resources must be carefully husbanded if they are to provide for us all not recklessly plundered without a thought for the future.

Every elected Green works towards this goal of a fair and genuinely secure future. Here in Gloucestershire, we are facing issues relating to development, safe drinking water, GM foods and public transport breakdown. We bring fresh, innovative thinking to the council chamber to tackle these issues.

Common sense says that you can't just keep on squandering resources. It is not too late to embrace sustainability, though. For most people in the West, it will simply mean directing our energy into recycling and re-using resources rather than just exhausting and discarding them. The idea of sustainability is something that more and more people are embracing.