Natalie For Leader

This morning the Green Party elected me as its new leader – thank you to all of the members who voted, whether for me or others, taking part in choosing the future direction of the party. You can find my new leader’s website here.

I am honoured by the party’s support and very pleased to take on the responsibility of helping us all to move towards promoting our vision of a radical new economic and environmental vision for Britain and electing many more councillors, MEPs and MPs around the country.

I look forward to working with Cllr Will Duckworth, who has been elected as deputy leader. Throughout the campaign I’ve spoken often of the strength of the West Midlands model that has seen explosive growth in the number of councillors in the region, and I’m sure his experience of that will be invaluable.

I take the responsibility the party has given me extremely seriously and, as laid out in my plan for leadership (pdf), I have a concrete program of work to start on straight away on top of commitments like this weekend’s party conference, press work and the newly formed national executive.

I’d like to encourage the party to hold me to my election promises and my plan for leadership. After 100 days I hope members will go back to my plan and demand to know why I’ve fallen short, if I’ve not completed the ambitious tasks laid out there – and equally I’d like members to get on board and help with that ongoing project of turning the Green Party into a major political force in this country, ensuring that everyone in England and Wales has elected Green representatives.

As leader I intend to help the Greens become a truly national party, spreading the best practice of our work in the West Midlands,  Norwich, Brighton, Bristol, Lewisham and elsewhere and helping us build a real support network so that local parties are not left to sink or swim but are given support to seize opportunities or given help when times are tough.

That will be building on the tremendous work already done, particularly over the past few years, and particularly by the outgoing
leader and deputy leader, Caroline Lucas and Adrian Ramsay. Caroline as our first MP will remain a huge national figure, and I look forward to working with her and learning from her experience. I’m also very much looking forward to visiting the growing Green groups around the country, from Brighton, where we are running our first council, to our strongholds of Norwich and Lancaster, the growing force of Solihull and the impressive Bristol party.

Through the campaign I put the case to Green Party members that we need to be more electorally ambitious, set out practical ways of meeting our ambitions by building a party fit for purpose and that we need to keep to our distinct radical politics – building committed Green voters as we grow rather than borrowing voters from other parties.

I’d like to thank everyone who helped in the campaign, voted in the election, the other candidates for leader, deputy and GPEx and the Electoral Returning Officer, Jon Nott, who had the unenviable responsibility of overseeing the first truly contested leadership election the Green Party has ever had. It was a hotly contested election with an unprecendented number of hustings, online questions, and voter engagement reflecting the important decision put before the party.

I shall see some of you at conference this weekend and I shall be travelling the country, getting to meet and listen to as many members as I can before the year is out. I look forward to working with you, would like to thank you once again for your confidence and let’s get on with the job of building that movement for radical change.

This was written a couple of weeks ago in response to a question from James Mackenzie of the Better Nation blog. He’s decided to stop his online hustings at the third question, but I thought since this is a question often debated, it was worth putting my response here.

Our media work, at heart, has three functions. To win new supporters, to win influence for our ideas and to give existing supporters confidence that we are presenting a distinct political vision.

We need to make that difficult break out of the Guardian ghetto into the higher circulation tabloid papers. If we are aiming to increase our Parliamentary group then we have to win working class voters and that means reaching them through the media outlets and papers that they are reading.

And our messages must demonstrate our unique contribution to UK politics – and in particular focus on how our vision offers everyone in Britain a better life, through policies such as the living wage and decent pensions and benefits. Gloom and doom about the environment or economics is not going to win large numbers of votes.

We also need to ensure that we are arming our supporters with the arguments on the major issues of the day. If our members and voters think we simply have nothing to say on big issues like education, the Eurozone crisis or Syria – for example – then over time we risk losing them.

As I outlined in my Plan for Leadership, I would ask political committee to identify the 10 major political issues of the day then ensure we have a fully formulated, up-to-date response on all of them, starting with the Policies for a Sustainable Society and drawing on party and NGO expertise. That would then be a rolling programme to ensure we remain up-to-date. And I’d like to see that there is a public reference document prominent on the national website setting out the main points of our arguments.

Matty Mitford is the campaigns co-ordinator in the Green Party executive, and was the driving force behind the successful, high-profile Boris Keep Your Promise campaign on funding for rape crisis centre in London. She’s now an ambulance despatcher, having previously been the No2ID local groups coordinator. There’re just so many reasons why I’m delighted by her endorsement.

Matty said: “I know Natalie would make a fantastic Green Party leader; her politics are radical enough to set us apart from the other grey parties but are always based on in-depth knowledge and research which allow her to argue our point with real weight and conviction – something which is essential if we’re to re-engage disillusioned voters. She communicates with clarity and conviction and, having seen her in action speaking on countless panels, debates and hustings, I know she can hold her own with the toughest of opponents. Her skill in messaging and depth of understanding of issues both international and at home, will stand us in good stead with the countless voters in the UK who are confused as to where to put their X.

This was written a couple of weeks ago in response to a question from James Mackenzie of the Better Nation blog. He’s decided to stop his online hustings at the third question, but I thought since this is a question often debated, it was worth putting my response here. It was written before the most recent Electoral Commission donations figures were published, in which we raised the fourth-highest level of funds of any party for the reporting period.

The keys to fundraising are politics and professionalism. Politics because we have to inspire people to invest in the party, and professionalism because donors need to feel confident we will put their money to good effect.

But we do also need to improve the “mechanics” of our fundraising. In particular we need to get better at our major donor work. If we check the publicly declared accounts at the Electoral Commission we can see that, since the general election, there have been fewer than 20 major donors to the party in those two years and these are from an extremely restricted geographical area.

I believe we can do much better on this front and am really pleased to see that the national party has been making progress in this area over the last few months, but local parties have to take responsibility for this too – they have the knowledge on the ground and have built relationships with those who might make significant donations.

But while we have to get the organisation of raising money in mass appeals for small donations (eg online “thermometers”), from trade unions, companies and major donors right, we need to remember that ultimately it is being politically inspiring and electorally effective that will bring in serious cash.

People need a reason to give money, otherwise all the good organisational work will have little impact.

Thanks to Elisabeth Whitebread for her endorsement which i know she thought long and hard over. Elisabeth is a stalwart of Hackney Green Party but some of you will know her through the great work she did around rewriting our marine and fisheries policy and from policy committee where she is an invaluable asset.

“At the start of the Leadership campaign period, I had not decided who to vote for, having no clear allegiance to any one candidate. I decided to let the different campaigns play out before making my decision. I realised that the skills that the candidates would display in running for this position are very similar to those needed to be a good Leader: a grasp of the issues that matter to people; an ability to communicate our radical vision clearly; a personality that people want to back; a collaborative approach; and not least an incredible work ethic.

“Natalie’s campaign has demonstrated that she has all of these qualities in abundance. Her Plan for Leadership (pdf), demonstrating what she would do in her first 100 days in office, is a great piece of work that shows a true vision for the Party: ambitious, and yet realistic. The fact that Natalie has clearly thought through so many crucial elements of the job of Leader just affirms what her hustings appearances had led me to believe: that she is thoughtful, a team player, full of ideas, and willing to get stuck in and do some hard work. That’s just what we need from our new Leader, and Natalie has my vote.”

I’ve been talking throughout the election about the West Midlands model of working – which has been highly successful, delivering a leap in just two years from three councillors in the region on three councils to 13 on seven.

I’ve just been asked “what is it”, and thought it was worth explaining further the broad framework. (It often arose at hustings also – e.g. in the Manchester hustings.

I’m not going to spell it all out here – this is a public space that can be read by our opponents are well as members – but it means in short the whole region working as a team, with a regional organiser providing guidance and help.

Among the elements are encouraging the identification of the top priority seats and the concentration of resources – people, knowledge, skills – in those. Those priorities are based on winnability, but also on the overall benefit to the party of the victory – e.g. getting into a new council. Then making sure those councillors are supported and helped to be effective, and not overworked.

There’s also a focus on developing new parties and supporting existing ones to grow and develop – and a recognition that good governance, although it doesn’t sound very exciting, is important.

Also the sharing of best practice guides, from how to greet new members when they join to models of “one minute surveys” and canvassing data use.

And critical is focused regional fundraising that helps to pay for it all.

In the Green Party local parties are, of course, rightly, sovereign, so it is up to them whether to decide to take part in the regional working – but it is worth noting that this May every priority seat was won!

There’s lots to it but in short it means ensuring every bit of resource is directed to good electoral effect. In contrast in the past we’ve tended to just leave local parties to sink or swim according to their own efforts.

We’re working very hard already with limited resources – what we need to do is work smarter, and make sure we’re making that as easy as possible for everyone who wants to get involved.

Thanks to presenter Iain Dale, who decided to hold a radio hustings for the Green Party leadership, giving us an hour of airtime to speak about Green Party policies and get the word out.

And LBC has kindly put this up as a free podcast (normally you have to pay) – so this is available for everyone to listen to here.

I was pleased to have lots of space to talk about our living wage campaign – the minimum wage should be a living wage, no excuses; and to answer the almost inevitable caller “Don’t the Greens want us to live in caves?” with “no, we want you to live in a well-insulated, affordable-to-run home, to build lots more social housing and provide greater security for private tenants”.

Thank you to Clare Norman for her endorsement. It’s important that, as a party, we improve at getting our ideas and initiatives into the media – whether that’s the local press and TV, broadsheets and tabloid newspapers or national TV and radio.

“I am supporting Natalie.

“As national press officer during the 2010 election campaign, I could rely on Natalie being available at any any hour for interview or media engagements. While I am not diminishing the inward looking elements of the leadership role, being available for media will continue to be critically important and Natalie was always willing to go to a studio at a moment’s notice, or was ready with a useful quote and relevant comment for journalists.

“Being media savvy is a skill, and is always harder than people think. Natalie is confident, intelligent and convincing when fronting for media engagements and if we want to get our radical agenda across to a wider audience, then we need someone who can deliver on all media platforms.

“From experience, I know Natalie excels at this (and is the most experienced and qualified person to take some pressure from Caroline’s many media requests).”

Over at the Speaker’s Chair this weekend I have a featured piece on my week in politics. Apparently this is the fiirst time the site has hosted a contribution from a Green Party member, so I’m glad to be a trail blazer.

The article describes my hectic week when the leadership ballot papers started landing on doormats between hustings, action days, writing, committee meetings, answering members’ queries, hand delivering campaign letters, and launching my Plan for Leadership (pdf) it’s surprising I had any time to sleep.

Come to think of it I don’t think I did.

Thanks very much to Benali Hamdache from Tower Hamlets Green Party for his lovely endorsement. The meeting Benali’s referring to was an extremely useful and positive meeting organised by the campaign group Abortion Rights.

“I first saw Natalie speak at a public pro-choice meeting at Westminster. She immediately stood out as a clear presenter of important policies that need communicating. As time has gone on I’ve been more and more impressed with her incisive contributions to the London Green Party, her clear communication skills at the leader hustings and her commitment and passion for Green politics.

“Having talked to Natalie she knows her stuff, and is well informed on a range of issues. Her plans on electoral campaigning for the party and expanding our membership are ambitious but achievable.

“If the Green party wants a leader that is a clear communicator, with a brilliant grasp of policy, ambitious plans for the party and an impressive CV they should pick Natalie Bennett as leader.”

Over on the New Statesman today I’ve got a new blog up – “Poverty of aspiration” – a phrase that should have gone out with Victorian frock coats.

It’s inspired by the rage I feel every time I hear – and I hear it often – a Labour politician talking about “poverty of aspiration” – or the “need to raise the aspiration of my constituents”.

This is a phrase that suggests there’s not great structural barriers that stop people getting jobs, getting a decent education, getting a decent life for themselves – like the lack of jobs, low pay, poor and overcrowded housing, hopelessly inadequate benefits, discrimination and plain bad luck and ill health – rather it’s just that the poor aren’t trying enough.

You expect to hear such tosh from the mouths of Tories, but it is infuriating to hear from Labour.

Some thoughts on a question from a Green Party member…

No matter how critical the environmental condition of the planet, democracy remains a non-negotiable essential to tackling it, in my mind, on both philosophical and practical grounds.

Which is not to say that what we have today in Britain, with our cabinet of millionaires and our banker-driven liberalisation and privatisation agenda, could be described as true democracy.

But if we are to deal with the huge environmental and social challenges ahead – not just climate change, but soil degradation, water shortages, destruction of the ocean ecosystems etc – we need to ensure decisions about how to allocate scarce resources are made collectively, for the good of all, and that can only be done by democracy. That’s the philosophical argument.

The practical argument is that we can offer everyone a better life within the framework of lower resource use – far shorter working hours, more time for family, friends and hobbies, less stress and a greater sense of security – and those will be attractive to the many, the mass of voters, but not recessarily to the few who now run our quasi-oligarchy.

I’m particularly honoured by this endorsement.

Cllr David Rogers chaired the hustings at Norwich, and he decided to give his support after listening to the debate.

David said: “The Green Party has the right policies; now we need results.

“Natalie Bennett has the ideas, and the professional and personal qualities to lead the Green Party to the next level of electoral success.”

I was greatly honoured when Jean Lambert MEP agreed to contribute the foreword to my Plan for Leadership: My First 100 Days (PDF).

Thanks! – and I thought it was worth sharing more widely …

“The Green Party has never been more needed – we have the policies that offer the only viable way forward for Britain. But voters – while we know they agree with our policies in blind “taste tests” – are not going to flood to us automatically. We have to win them over.

Politically, organisationally and strategically we have to raise our game if we are to become a truly national party that leaves no region left untouched.

The Greens were not set up to become a “one-hit wonder” of the political world, winning one Parliamentary seat and leaving it at that. The Greens were launched because we have to help save the world.

That’s a big responsibility.

If we are to win more political influence for our ideas, as well as seats on councils and in parliaments, we need to combine our knowledge, energy and political vision with the nuts and bolts of what is to be done.

This document outlines Natalie Bennett’s vision for her first one hundred days as leader, should she be elected
- and we should hold her to it! Natalie’s first one hundred days are going to be a whirlwind, but they are that vital period when party members get to know her and shape her leadership and where she gets to settle in for the all-too-short haul to the European election in 2014.

That process of defining what leadership means to the Greens starts here.”

A response to a member’s question…

I’m completely opposed to building new nuclear power stations and want to see the existing ones closed down as soon as possible. With the long-term problems associated with nuclear power, not least among which is the problem of waste, we are handing down insoluble problems to future generations.

Critically, we need to be urgently investing in renewable energy, and even talking about new nuclear is a distraction from that.

The best way to prevent nuclear disasters is to shut down the stations, pure and simple, although improving safety is important – however, we also desperately need to improve transparency in the nuclear industry, something made more difficult by the previous government’s decision to privatise.

I want to see the UK as a nuclear-free zone in terms of nuclear power and nuclear weapons, and one of the key drivers of the long-term subsidy nuclear has received has historically been nuclear weapons. (You can see me speaking about nuclear weapons at a recent rally here: http://youtu.be/ifUQ_X6qyso)

You only have to speak briefly to Mustafa Korel, Hackney Green Party’s campaigns coordinator, to know that he’s a man who’s deeply embedded in his community, dedicated to his professional work of engaging young people in civic participation, and passionately dedicated to the Green Party and its policies.

He’s a force of nature, giving his energy to Hackney and the London Federation of Green Parties, determined to see us leap ahead. I’m this particularly delighted to have his endorsement.

Mustafa said: “Recent work in London has given me an opportunity to get to know Natalie and everything that I’ve seen instills confidence to support Natalie’s campaign for Leader.

From society to environment to science, everything Natalie has said has been well articulated, delivered with passion and made sense.

“She’s a great motivator for a positive vision of the way the world should be and isn’t afraid to stand up and say ‘this isn’t right, let’s change this’, and most importantly follow through with promises through her actions.

“I think for me, Natalie has demonstrated the qualities that we need for a leader – someone who can talk with anyone at the same level, someone who is engaging when they articulate our policies and politics, and someone who can stand to the challenges of an outwardly facing role.”

As part of my Plan for Leadership (PDF), I’ve said that I’d introduce “leader’s breakfasts”.

I thought I’d say a little more about those here.

I would organise regular monthly morning meetings, starting this October, structured around specific themes, e.g. welfare or housing, and invite key thinkers from relevant third-sector groups and NGOs, think tanks and authors.

These would have four main aims: to help us to build our relationships with influential and useful organisations; draw on their expertise to inform our political activities and policies; increase our reach into a very targeted electorate that should be voting for us, but might well not be; and help members make useful contacts that can help them in campaigns and their day to day work.

Obviously I would be also attending public meetings, meeting high-profile people and networking around the country as I live up to my pledge of visiting each region at least once a quarter.

These leader’s breakfast would be an additional way of putting us in the centre of political debates on key issues.

If we’re to lead the political debates, we have to be informed by the leading campaigners and thinkers on each issue. Speaking to them face to face, chatting over coffee, helps us to get to know them, and them us, and will improve the profile of the party.

Charles Secrett was head of Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 1993 and 2001, and was special adviser on climate and sustainability to Ken Livingstone,

He’s an inspiring speaker on environmental activism – I most recently heard him set alight a session at the Green Economics Institute conference in Oxford last month. I’m thus particularly delighted that he’s endorsed my campaign.

Charles said: “Natalie has the right experience, commitment, profile and media know-how to be a great leader.

“Of all the candidates, she has the most practical ideas and the strongest plans for building our party into a truly national political force before 2015: by building from the grassroots up and widening our support.

“She is a team-builder, and understands how best to meet our organisational priorities and needs. I’m voting for her, and I hope you will too.”

Today Green Party members are receiving their ballot papers to decide who will be their new leader.

I know that many parts of the party are keen, indeed hungry, for a clear strategic direction, and want to know what the leadership candidates can do to help the party function more effectively – to work smarter not harder.

That’s why I’m publishing “A Plan for Leadership – my first 100 days”, which sets out the work programme that I’d be implementing if I am elected.

It also has a foreword kindly contributed by Jean Lambert MEP, reflecting on the importance of rapid progress of the party, and comes out of my discussions with Green Party members up and down the country – what they want from their leader and what we most need from them.

If I’m elected, I’ll be pinning a list of everything I’ve committed to in this plan for leadership to my fridge door, and will put every effort into implementing it. It’s ambitious but realistic and it’s important for members to know that they will be getting the most out of their new leader.

But the Green Party has more than 13,000 members and I’m just one of them. Please let me know what you think of this programme, and how you can contribute to its goals.

Claire Stephenson is the leader of the 15-strong Norwich City council group, which is the official opposition on the council.

I’ve worked with her as the chair of Green Party Women, and found her to be a deeply thoughtful person, and a very effective leader. I’m particularly delighted to have her endorsement.

Claire said: “I’ll be voting for Natalie because I’ve been impressed by her grasp of strategy and her aims of increasing Green votes and seats in future elections.

“Natalie is energetic, reaches out to Green Party members and offers clear leadership while being approachable.”

(You can find out more about Claire from this interview with Norfolk Green Blogging.)

Question from Green Party member Liam Fretwell: How far would you be willing to push people to take up ecological policy? Where would you draw the line when it comes to obstructing liberty in the name of environmental wellbeing?

My answer: No matter how critical the environmental condition of the planet, democracy remains a non-negotiable essential to tackling it, in my mind, on both philosophical and practical grounds.

Which is not to say that what we have today in Britain, with our cabinet of millionaires and our banker-driven liberalisation and privatisation agenda, could be described as true democracy.

But if we are to deal with the huge environmental and social challenges ahead – not just climate change, but soil degradation, water shortages, destruction of the ocean ecosystems etc – we need to ensure decisions about how to allocate scarce resources are made collectively, for the good of all, and that can only be done by democracy. That’s the philosophical argument.

The practical argument is that we can offer everyone a better life within the framework of lower resource use – far shorter working hours, more time for family, friends and hobbies, less stress and a greater sense of security – and those will be attractive to the many, the mass of voters, but not recessarily to the few who now run our quasi-oligarchy.

(Earlier questions from members are answered here.)

Thanks very much to Liz Wakefield, councillor in Brighton and cabinet member for housing, for her support. And for her bravery – she told me the story behind this photo. She really isn’t a fan of heights, but there was only one way to be photographed with the solar panels, to get on the roof!

Liz said:

“I think Natalie would be a really good leader for our party.

“An excellent public speaker with a clear analytical mind, Natalie is very committed to all areas of the Green manifesto.

“I’ve worked with her on women’s issues, and she’s been a real leader in promoting our policies in that area, and in encouraging the advance of women within the party.”

There’s been quite a few, so I thought it would be useful to bring them together in one place. (Please do let me know if I’ve missed any or if more come online.)

Video

North West Green Party hustings (in Manchester) – with both leader and deputy leader candidates

Oxford Green Party hustings – with leader and deputy leader candidates

Association of Green Councillors hustings, held in Brighton during the AGC annual conference – leadership candidates only

London hustings – leadership candidates only

Written

The official online hustings, conducted by Jon Nott, the electoral returning officer. (The second round of eHustings is now open. If you would like to submit a question for consideration, please email hustings@greenparty.org.uk (including your name and local party) no later than 12noon on Friday 10 August.)

Green Party Elections blog hustings – thanks to Elisabeth Whitebread for running these.

I’m delighted to have received an endorsement from Karl Macnaughton, the leader of the fastest-growing group of Green councillors in the country.

It was only in 2008 that Mike Sheridan defeated the Labour Group Leader in Smith’s Wood to win our first ward in Solihull, and now there are six councillors in the group. They demonstrate what hard but carefully planned and strategically targetted campaigns can achieve.

Karl Machaughton said: “I’ve long been impressed by Natalie’s enthusiasm, knowledge and hard work in a wide variety of areas. Natalie clearly understands the need to improve the way we work at a regional level and the huge importance of this for continuing, and increasing, electoral success.

“I believe Natalie would be an outstanding spokesperson for the Green Party and I can’t wait to see her on Question Time! I’ll definitely be voting for Natalie to be Green Party Leader.”

Thanks Karl!

I’d like to thank Ricky Knight, who was our lead Euro-candidate in the South West in 2009, for his support given in typical gregarious fashion. I think you’ll believe me when I say I definitely did not write this for him!

Ricky was a hair’s breadth away from becoming an MEP last time round with less than 1% in it. We all know that the South West can win the seat in 2014 with plenty of votes to spare, so good luck to them all.

“I hope this is not the equivalent of an endorsement from Jimmy Carr (well-meaning but misfired): but there’s ‘something about Natalie’!

“Is it to do with that antipodean twang, reminding me of an incredible sabbatical down-under? The fact that she edited the Guardian Weekly for so many years, to me the only newspaper worth reading (unless you don’t have a day-job)? Because she’s a woman, warm, engaging, calm, intelligent, measured, cultured?

“Well, all that, true. But no; she has my endorsement and my preference because she is a safe pair of hands and the best possible transition from Caroline, a dream succession. Being London-based (I say this as someone off-the-map down here in deepest SW) is a distinct media advantage; she has a long party-activist pedigree and is an exceptional public speaker who will instil admiration and attention from any listener/viewer and respect and courtesy (within reason!) from any interviewer.”

Up today on the Huffington Post is an article inspired by a London Green Party meeting on the lessons from the Olympics (and by the McDonald’s adverts in Euston station) – Could We Have a Corporate-Free Olympics? Yes We Could!

Just imagine if a consortium of fruit and vegetable growers were the food sponsors…. how different, and closer to the original Olympic ideal, the Games might be.

“Natalie is one of the stand-out real talents in the Green Party. Intelligent, articulate and passionate for what she does, she has long been an impressive advocate for what we represent.

“Her commitment to working for a fairer and more just society is apparent, and they way she presents herself and the Party in public gives us a credibility that the public is often reluctant to give us.

“I’m convinced that Natalie is the best of what is a strong slate of candidates for Green Party leadership – she has the vision and drive to push the Green Party through the challenges we face.”

Cllr Sven Rufus, Brighton Green Party

Thanks Sven – I’m particularly delighted to have the backing of someone who’s so strong in supporting trade unions and co-operatives, both issues close to my heart.

You can check out my Newsletter No 3 for a short report on recent events in and around the campaign.

You can use the form on the top right of this page to sign up if you’d like to receive future newsletters direct.

“I’m very pleased to support Natalie’s bid for the leadership. Natalie and I worked together on the Green Party executive during the 2010 election campaign and I witnessed her vision and enthusiasm for success, both of which played such vital roles in our triumph at the general election. Her commitment to the membership and local parties is evident from her years as Internal Communications Coordinator. And as a key figure in London politics Natalie understands the need for each individual member to feel inspired by the party leadership. I know she’ll make a great successor to Caroline.”

Judy Maciejowska, Devon Green Party

Thanks to Judy for her support. She carried an enormous load as the elections coordinator during our historic 2010 general election campaign – and the fruit from her orchard kept many an executive meeting going!