GREEN PARTY
Carla Denyer applauded for making case for taxing the rich to invest in public services in leaders debate
She railed against austerity and NHS privatisation
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer was applauded during the 7-way leaders debate for arguing to tax the rich in order to invest in public services. Denyer was up against Labour’s Angela Rayner, the Tories’ Penny Mordaunt, the SNP’s Stephen Flynn, the Lib Dems’ Daisy Cooper, Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and Plaid Cymru’s Rhun Ap Iorwerth in the debate.
The second question put to the leaders was on the future of the NHS. In response to the question, Denyer said: “The Green Party are the party that’s ready to be honest about the need for investment” in the NHS.
She then added: “The NHS has been chronically underfunded for decades. It’s on its knees. This cannot be allowed to continue. Most of us agree about that.
“But the answer is not as the Conservatives and, surprisingly, Labour think,- to invite big multinational companies further into our National Health Service. The answer is investment and protecting our NHS from privatisation.
“We announced our health and social care policy just yesterday and that included a £30bn investment for our health services, £20bn on social care”.
When asked by the host Mishal Husain how the Greens would finance this, Denyer went on to make the case for taxing the rich to fund public services. She said the funding “come from reforming the tax system, because currently the UK tax system is unbelievably unfair. It puts more onus on lower income working people to contribute to the treasury than it does towards the super rich – the millionaires, the multi-millionaires and the billionaires. And so the Greens would make some adjustments to that system, so that those with the broadest shoulders who can most easily afford to pay quite a modest amount and that will provide plenty of funding for decent investment in public services that benefit all of us.”
Her comments were met with applause from the audience in the studio.
Carla Denyer applauded for making case for taxing the rich to invest in public services in leaders debate
She railed against austerity and NHS privatisation
7 June, 2024
LEFT FOOT FORWARD
Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer was applauded during the 7-way leaders debate for arguing to tax the rich in order to invest in public services. Denyer was up against Labour’s Angela Rayner, the Tories’ Penny Mordaunt, the SNP’s Stephen Flynn, the Lib Dems’ Daisy Cooper, Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and Plaid Cymru’s Rhun Ap Iorwerth in the debate.
The second question put to the leaders was on the future of the NHS. In response to the question, Denyer said: “The Green Party are the party that’s ready to be honest about the need for investment” in the NHS.
She then added: “The NHS has been chronically underfunded for decades. It’s on its knees. This cannot be allowed to continue. Most of us agree about that.
“But the answer is not as the Conservatives and, surprisingly, Labour think,- to invite big multinational companies further into our National Health Service. The answer is investment and protecting our NHS from privatisation.
“We announced our health and social care policy just yesterday and that included a £30bn investment for our health services, £20bn on social care”.
When asked by the host Mishal Husain how the Greens would finance this, Denyer went on to make the case for taxing the rich to fund public services. She said the funding “come from reforming the tax system, because currently the UK tax system is unbelievably unfair. It puts more onus on lower income working people to contribute to the treasury than it does towards the super rich – the millionaires, the multi-millionaires and the billionaires. And so the Greens would make some adjustments to that system, so that those with the broadest shoulders who can most easily afford to pay quite a modest amount and that will provide plenty of funding for decent investment in public services that benefit all of us.”
Her comments were met with applause from the audience in the studio.
Who are the four candidates the Green Party hope to get elected to parliament?
These could be the next Green MPs
The Green Party of England and Wales launched its general election campaign yesterday. Among the things we learnt from it was that the party is still focussed on winning four seats in the House of Commons. So who are these four?
2. Carla Denyer
Carla Denyer is standing for the Greens in Bristol Central, where the party won every council seat that make up the constituency in this year’s local elections.
Denyer is one of Berry’s successors as co-leader of the Green Party, and served as a Councillor in Bristol for 9 years from 2015-2024. During her time as a Councillor, Denyer successfully brought a motion to declare a climate emergency, making Bristol City Council the first local authority in the UK to do so.
In the 2019 general election, Denyer stood for the Greens in the old Bristol West constituency, coming second with 24.9% of the vote. Although Bristol Central is a new seat, it is broadly the successor to Bristol West which was held by Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire in 2019.
3. Adrian Ramsay
In Waveney Valley, Adrian Ramsay is contesting for the Green Party. Waveney Valley is another new constituency which includes some of the Mid Suffolk Council area, where the Greens won an overall majority in the 2023 local elections. While there is no obvious constituency that it succeeds, the area has historically voted strongly for the Tories.
Ramsay is Denyer’s fellow party co-leader and has been a major figure in the Greens for well over a decade. He served as the party’s first ever deputy leader from 2008-2012 and as a Councillor in Norwich from 2003-2011. At the time of his initial election, he was one of the youngest Councillors in the country.
Ramsay previously worked as the Chief Executive of the Centre for Alternative Technology from 2014-2019.
4. Ellie Chowns
Ellie Chowns is standing for the Greens in North Herefordshire. Chowns stood in the seat – which has had only minor boundary changes – in 2019. She came fourth, picking up just shy of 10% of the vote, with the Tories winning.
Chowns was an MEP for 9 months from the 2019 European Parliament elections until the UK formally left the European Union in January 2020. During her time as an MEP, Chowns was arrested at a protest seeking to allow Extinction Rebellion demonstrations to continue.
Chowns is currently the Green Party’s housing spokesperson and previously served as Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member for Environment and Economy during the period that the Greens jointly ran the Council with independents. While in the Council’s cabinet, Chowns told Left Foot Forward that one of the Greens’ achievements was instigating free bus travel across the county on weekends.
Chowns is an international development expert and has worked as a lecturer at the University of Birmingham.
These could be the next Green MPs
May 31, 2024
LEFT FOOT FORWARD
The Green Party of England and Wales launched its general election campaign yesterday. Among the things we learnt from it was that the party is still focussed on winning four seats in the House of Commons. So who are these four?
1. Sian Berry
Sian Berry is the Green Party’s candidate in Brighton Pavilion – the only constituency the Greens have ever won. Caroline Lucas held Brighton Pavilion in the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 general elections, and Berry is looking to keep the seat Green for the fifth election in a row.
Berry was the party’s co-leader from 2018-21 and has a long history in the party. She was a Green member of the London Assembly between 2016 and 2024 and has stood three times for Mayor of London.
Throughout her political career, Berry has frequently campaigned for more sustainable and affordable transport, and for improvements in housing – particularly stronger rights for private tenants.
Sian Berry is the Green Party’s candidate in Brighton Pavilion – the only constituency the Greens have ever won. Caroline Lucas held Brighton Pavilion in the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 general elections, and Berry is looking to keep the seat Green for the fifth election in a row.
Berry was the party’s co-leader from 2018-21 and has a long history in the party. She was a Green member of the London Assembly between 2016 and 2024 and has stood three times for Mayor of London.
Throughout her political career, Berry has frequently campaigned for more sustainable and affordable transport, and for improvements in housing – particularly stronger rights for private tenants.
2. Carla Denyer
Carla Denyer is standing for the Greens in Bristol Central, where the party won every council seat that make up the constituency in this year’s local elections.
Denyer is one of Berry’s successors as co-leader of the Green Party, and served as a Councillor in Bristol for 9 years from 2015-2024. During her time as a Councillor, Denyer successfully brought a motion to declare a climate emergency, making Bristol City Council the first local authority in the UK to do so.
In the 2019 general election, Denyer stood for the Greens in the old Bristol West constituency, coming second with 24.9% of the vote. Although Bristol Central is a new seat, it is broadly the successor to Bristol West which was held by Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire in 2019.
3. Adrian Ramsay
In Waveney Valley, Adrian Ramsay is contesting for the Green Party. Waveney Valley is another new constituency which includes some of the Mid Suffolk Council area, where the Greens won an overall majority in the 2023 local elections. While there is no obvious constituency that it succeeds, the area has historically voted strongly for the Tories.
Ramsay is Denyer’s fellow party co-leader and has been a major figure in the Greens for well over a decade. He served as the party’s first ever deputy leader from 2008-2012 and as a Councillor in Norwich from 2003-2011. At the time of his initial election, he was one of the youngest Councillors in the country.
Ramsay previously worked as the Chief Executive of the Centre for Alternative Technology from 2014-2019.
4. Ellie Chowns
Ellie Chowns is standing for the Greens in North Herefordshire. Chowns stood in the seat – which has had only minor boundary changes – in 2019. She came fourth, picking up just shy of 10% of the vote, with the Tories winning.
Chowns was an MEP for 9 months from the 2019 European Parliament elections until the UK formally left the European Union in January 2020. During her time as an MEP, Chowns was arrested at a protest seeking to allow Extinction Rebellion demonstrations to continue.
Chowns is currently the Green Party’s housing spokesperson and previously served as Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member for Environment and Economy during the period that the Greens jointly ran the Council with independents. While in the Council’s cabinet, Chowns told Left Foot Forward that one of the Greens’ achievements was instigating free bus travel across the county on weekends.
Chowns is an international development expert and has worked as a lecturer at the University of Birmingham.
Green Party launches general election campaign with pledge to protect NHS from privatisation and clean up rivers
"We are very clear that these are our priorities - our NHS, housing, climate and nature, public services, and the quality of our water."
"We are very clear that these are our priorities - our NHS, housing, climate and nature, public services, and the quality of our water."
Chris Jarvis 30 May, 2024 LEFT FOOT FORWARD
The general election is now in full swing, with parties out on the streets and in the media to make their case to voters. Today, the Green Party of England and Wales formally launched their general election campaign in Bristol, where the party’s co-leader Carla Denyer is hoping to become its second ever MP.
Outgoing Green MP Caroline Lucas opened the launch by saying the Greens were carrying out their “most ambitious general election campaign ever”. She went on to say that by getting more Greens elected to parliament, a Labour government would be “pushed to be bolder and braver on everything from housing, to the NHS, to the accelerating climate crisis”.
Denyer and her fellow co-leader Adrian Ramsay spoke at the campaign launch to set out the party’s core campaign messages. Among them were a commitment to build affordable homes, take action on the cost of living crisis, reverse NHS privatisation and clean up rivers and seas.
As well as attacking the Tories’ record in office, the Greens also used their launch to heavily criticise the Labour Party’s policy offer in the election.
Denyer said: “People are disappointed by the way Starmer has backtracked on his promises on green investment, his weak offer on housing, and now we have Wes Streeting telling us that more privatisation of the NHS is a good thing. When the challenges we face are so huge, people tell us they’re disappointed by the lack of ambition from the Labour Party.”
She added: “Across the country, people now have the chance to vote for real hope and real change. Our politics is broken, our public services are on their knees and people are worse off now than when the Conservatives came to power 14 years ago.
“The case for change is obvious, but it has to be real change that offers real hope. Half measures and broken pledges will not do. The Conservatives are clearly on their way out of government, but Labour is failing to offer the real change needed.
“We have the practical solutions to the cost-of-living crisis, building new affordable homes, protecting our NHS from creeping privatisation and cleaning up our toxic rivers and seas.
“That’s why it’s so important that when Labour form the next government, they are pushed beyond the timid change they are offering, pushed to be more ambitious, braver, not to skirt around the edges of the massive crises facing our country, but to actually make real change that benefits people’s lives every day. That’s what Green MPs can do.”
Ramsay echoed many of Denyer’s comments. He told the attendees at the launch event: “After so much damage by the outgoing Conservative government, we need more than a few tweaks from a new Labour government. Green MPs will push the next government for bold action to achieve the real changes that are needed to confront the big challenges that our country faces, and people know that.”
“Over the past five years, we have increased the number of councillors five-fold. From here in Bristol, to councils across Waveney Valley and from Newcastle to Hastings, Greens are on the up. And over the next few weeks, we will build on that success and on 4 July ask voters to elect at least four Green MPs in our target seats and support our candidates standing right across England and Wales.”
He went on to say that the Greens would increase healthcare funding “so that everyone can see an NHS dentist and doctor when they need one”. Denyer then added: “We are very clear that these are our priorities – our NHS, housing, climate and nature, public services, and the quality of our water.”
The Greens are primarily targeting four seats in this general election.
The party is hopeful of holding onto Brighton Pavilion, where Caroline Lucas has stood down as an MP and former party co-leader Sian Berry is hoping to replace her.
The Greens are also hoping to get Denyer elected in Bristol Central. In this year’s local elections, the Greens won every council seat within the constituency and is now running the Council as a minority administration.
Waveney Valley is the seat being contested by Ramsay. The constituency includes some of the Mid Suffolk Council area where the Greens won an overall majority in the 2023 local elections.
Finally, former MEP Ellie Chowns is the Green candidate in North Herefordshire, the party’s fourth target constituency.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
The general election is now in full swing, with parties out on the streets and in the media to make their case to voters. Today, the Green Party of England and Wales formally launched their general election campaign in Bristol, where the party’s co-leader Carla Denyer is hoping to become its second ever MP.
Outgoing Green MP Caroline Lucas opened the launch by saying the Greens were carrying out their “most ambitious general election campaign ever”. She went on to say that by getting more Greens elected to parliament, a Labour government would be “pushed to be bolder and braver on everything from housing, to the NHS, to the accelerating climate crisis”.
Denyer and her fellow co-leader Adrian Ramsay spoke at the campaign launch to set out the party’s core campaign messages. Among them were a commitment to build affordable homes, take action on the cost of living crisis, reverse NHS privatisation and clean up rivers and seas.
As well as attacking the Tories’ record in office, the Greens also used their launch to heavily criticise the Labour Party’s policy offer in the election.
Denyer said: “People are disappointed by the way Starmer has backtracked on his promises on green investment, his weak offer on housing, and now we have Wes Streeting telling us that more privatisation of the NHS is a good thing. When the challenges we face are so huge, people tell us they’re disappointed by the lack of ambition from the Labour Party.”
She added: “Across the country, people now have the chance to vote for real hope and real change. Our politics is broken, our public services are on their knees and people are worse off now than when the Conservatives came to power 14 years ago.
“The case for change is obvious, but it has to be real change that offers real hope. Half measures and broken pledges will not do. The Conservatives are clearly on their way out of government, but Labour is failing to offer the real change needed.
“We have the practical solutions to the cost-of-living crisis, building new affordable homes, protecting our NHS from creeping privatisation and cleaning up our toxic rivers and seas.
“That’s why it’s so important that when Labour form the next government, they are pushed beyond the timid change they are offering, pushed to be more ambitious, braver, not to skirt around the edges of the massive crises facing our country, but to actually make real change that benefits people’s lives every day. That’s what Green MPs can do.”
Ramsay echoed many of Denyer’s comments. He told the attendees at the launch event: “After so much damage by the outgoing Conservative government, we need more than a few tweaks from a new Labour government. Green MPs will push the next government for bold action to achieve the real changes that are needed to confront the big challenges that our country faces, and people know that.”
“Over the past five years, we have increased the number of councillors five-fold. From here in Bristol, to councils across Waveney Valley and from Newcastle to Hastings, Greens are on the up. And over the next few weeks, we will build on that success and on 4 July ask voters to elect at least four Green MPs in our target seats and support our candidates standing right across England and Wales.”
He went on to say that the Greens would increase healthcare funding “so that everyone can see an NHS dentist and doctor when they need one”. Denyer then added: “We are very clear that these are our priorities – our NHS, housing, climate and nature, public services, and the quality of our water.”
The Greens are primarily targeting four seats in this general election.
The party is hopeful of holding onto Brighton Pavilion, where Caroline Lucas has stood down as an MP and former party co-leader Sian Berry is hoping to replace her.
The Greens are also hoping to get Denyer elected in Bristol Central. In this year’s local elections, the Greens won every council seat within the constituency and is now running the Council as a minority administration.
Waveney Valley is the seat being contested by Ramsay. The constituency includes some of the Mid Suffolk Council area where the Greens won an overall majority in the 2023 local elections.
Finally, former MEP Ellie Chowns is the Green candidate in North Herefordshire, the party’s fourth target constituency.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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