The leader of the Green party, Caroline Lucas, won its first parliamentary seat when she was elected to the Brighton Pavillion constituency in the 2010 British General Election. The Green Party won the seat from the Labour party with an 8.4 % swing in voting. The Green Party will therefore be part of a hung parliament that is still in doubt on the morning after the general election, as the Conservatives have won a majority of the seats but not enough to form a government of their own. Labour could stay in power if they make an alliance pact with the Liberal-Democrats and other parties to reach the 326 seats needed to form a new government.
Caroline Lucas Becomes First Green MP in British Political History
Caroline Lucas won the Brighton Pavilion constituency with 31.3 % of the vote, up 9.4 % on the 2005 election. Nancy Platts for Labour was second with 14,986 votes (28.9 %).
The result partly vindicates the Green Party's general election strategy of focusing most of its resources into three seats it viewed as winnable. Brighton Pavilion has a large amount of environmentally aware and active people. (Walker, Peter; Historic win for Greens in tight Brighton race, guardian.co.uk/politics, Friday 7th May, 2010)
The Green Party also campaigned on a platform of mainstream socialist policies that many voters feel the Labour government has abandoned over the last thirteen years.
Green Campaigner Wins Shock Parliamentary Seat
As well as the victory for the Green party, environmental campaigner and millionaire, Zac Goldsmith, was also elected to parliament after winning the Richmond Park seat in south west London. Goldsmith had 29,461 votes (49.7%), with Susan Kramer of the Liberal Democrats second with 25,370 (42.8%). It was a 7% swing from Liberal Democrats to Conservatives.
Goldsmith led campaigns against climate change, GM foods and pesticides while editing the Ecologist magazine.
Goldsmith has recently published a book called The Constant Economy, which calls for green choices to be made affordable for all.
Climate Change and Environment Minister Wins Safe Seat
Ed Milliband has passionately campaigned for environmental issues in the United Kingdom and around the world as the leader of Labour's Department for Energy and Climate Change, including leading the Labour delegation's campaign at the Copenhagen Cop 15 summit in 2009.
Milliband was re-elected to his safe Doncaster North constituency with a large majority, winning 19,637 votes (47.3%), with Sophie Brodie second for the Conservatives with 8,728 votes (21%).
The BBC has a comprehensive British General Election 2010 coverage.
Marc Latham - Doctor of Philosophy and experienced freelance writer searching for truth and meaning, and reporting it in clear and concise copy.
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