21 October 2014
The Green Party is polling ahead of the Liberal Democrats for the first time in a decade.
In the latest Ashcroft National Poll, which was released this afternoon (1), the Greens are up three percentage points. The Party have been polling neck-and-neck with the Coalition partners for much of 2014 but this marks the first time in a decade that the Party has edged ahead.
The Green Party, the only party offering a genuine alternative to business-as-usual Westminster politics, have robustly challenged (2) the broadcasters’ proposals to exclude the Greens for the planned televised Leaders’ Debates ahead of the General Election.
Almost 200,000 people have signed a Change.org petition (3) calling for the Greens to be invited to present their progressive policies which challenge the Westminster status quo. Prime Minister David Cameron has suggested (4) that the Greens should be involved if Ukip are. Both parties have one MP.
Polling which puts the Greens ahead of the Lib Dems puts more pressure on the broadcasters to invite the Greens in the interest of both democracy (5) and fairness.
Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said:
"This poll result reflects the direction of travel of support for both parties in recent months.
“The coverage of our exclusion from the leader debates under current plans has certainly given more voters a chance to hear a little about the Green Party, and learn about policies such as making the minimum wage a Living Wage, bringing the railways back into public hands and saying that the profit motive has no place in healthcare.
"Our membership surge indicates that they are clearly liking what little they have had the chance to hear and this further strengthens our case for inclusion in the debates."
The Green Party outperformed the Lib Dems at the May 22 European Elections both in terms of MEPs returned and percentage of the total vote (6).
Green Party membership has surged in 2014 (7). It is up 57% this year alone and continuing to sky-rocket as more and more people learn about the Green Party’s people over profit policies.
Notes:
1 http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2014/10/ashcroft-national-poll-con-28-lab-31-lib-dem-7-ukip-18-green-8/
2 http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/15/green-party-ultimatum-tv-debates-exclusion
3 http://greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/10/15/leaders’-debates-the-public-want-the-greens-included/
6 http://greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/05/26/european-elections-greens-gain-50-more-meps,-push-liberal-democrats-into-fifth-place/
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