Brighton & Hove Greens announce that the Green Party membership in the city shot well past the 1200 mark yesterday and continues to climb. The news came as the national Green Party’s UK membership passed that of Ukip and Lib Dems(1), making the Green Party the third largest party across the UK(2).
Brighton & Hove Green Party chair, Tom Druitt, said: “Today’s record announcement in Brighton & Hove shows us that the Green surge is alive and doing phenomenally well in our city. Not only is the Greens’ popularity here increasing along with the rest of the country but at the moment it’s rapidly accelerating. Yesterday we welcomed a staggering 150 new members in just one day.”
Green councillor Ruth Buckley, deputy leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, said: “The Green surge locally has been propelled by the work of our superb and dedicated MP, Caroline Lucas, and by the many successes of the Green-led council. The Greens, in times of government-inflicted austerity measures have boosted the city’s economy, creating hundreds of jobs. This city now has safer, less polluted streets, better social housing, revitalisation of run-down areas, fairer pay for women and the low paid, more successful tourism, and, of course, a respected voice at Westminster. No wonder so many people in the city are deciding to join us. Voters throughout the country are discovering that, with their support, Greens truly can make a difference.”
The news also reinforces last month’s announcement that in the respected polling by conservative Lord Ashcroft, Green MP Caroline Lucas had opened up a ten point lead in her Brighton Pavilion constituency.
Yesterday evening, the national Green Party’s membership UK passed that of Ukip (41,943) and the Lib Dems (44,576), and this morning stood in excess of 47,000, after a day in which 2,000 new members joined in less than 24 hours. At the same time the latest Sun/YouGov poll put the Greens (at 8%) 2 points ahead of the LibDems (6%) in general election voting intentions.
The party’s new membership is spread across all three city constituencies.
Notes
(1) www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/15/green-party-membership-surge-leaders-debates
(2) Or fourth largest party if including the Scottish National Party