Voting Green in the UK Should Count

The UK has just one Green Party MP out of 650 MPs, this compares to Germany who have 67 Green representatives out of 709 seats in the Budestag.

When you tell someone in the UK that you are thinking of voting Green, the standard response is ‘it’s a wasted vote’. With just one Green MP in the UK, this represents just 0.15% of the vote in the House of Parliament. The Greens have practically no influence on UK politics.  In Germany the Greens have 9.4% of the vote and they form part of a coalition government and have had real influence and power for many decades.

In Germany, the Green Party are represented in 14 out of the 16 legislatures and are the second largest party in: Hamburg, Bavaria and Hesse.  So clearly a Green vote in Germany is not a wasted vote.

In the European parliament, there are 67 Green MEPs out of 751 MEPs, giving the Green Party a similar voting percentage to Germany of 8.92%.

What is causing the huge difference in representation between Europe and the UK for the Green party? Is it that the UK population are not interested in Green issues? Is the UKs first past the post voting system stacked against the Green Party? What can change so that the UK Green voters have a voice?

Well, 2.7% of the UK population voted for the Green party.  As mentioned earlier they have just 0.15% of the parliamentary vote. This is due to the first past the post voting system and not having proportional representation.  If the UK had proportional representation there would be 17 Green MPs (more than the Liberal Democrats currently have).

If there were 17 Green MPs and proportional representation then a vote for the Green Party would not be seen as a wasted vote. This would encourage more UK voters to vote Green and we should expect a similar percentage voting Green in the UK to Germany. This would be around 10% of the population voting Green and translate to 65 MPs. 

In Germany and Europe the Greens are continuing to gain momentum and success. Once seen as fringe idealists, economically incompetent and impractical, years of acting as part of a coalition government in several countries including Germany have given them credibility in economics and politics and they have had several successes including an agreement to phase out nuclear power in Germany.

Following the nuclear disasters of Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011, Germany shut 8 of its 17 nuclear reactors and pledged to close the rest by 2022. This compares to the UK where 20% of electricity is still generated by nuclear reactors and two new reactors are under construction.

Recently the European Green Party have put together a consolidated manifesto that puts social justice and human rights at the heart of the fight for the planet.  This is encouraging disillusioned voters from mainstream parties to join the Greens.

In the UK the Green Party is supported by the younger generation.  This generation have a much lower voter turnout with just 52% of the 18-24’s voting compared to 81% turnout for the over 75s.  In Germany there is a much higher youth turnout for voting. The 18-20 year old turn out is over 70%, the 21-29 year old turnout is 67.9%.  The over 70s are 75.8%.  This higher turnout by younger voters is definitely something that needs to be encouraged in the UK.

The Green parties recognise that we live on a planet with finite resources and promote a new economic model that is designed to improve life for everyone whilst protecting the natural environment. Measuring success by higher living standards and quality of life and not by company profits and GDP measures.  The Green’s reject the concept of ‘growth’ economics that has encouraged exponential economic growth since the 1960s. Instead the Green party advocate a decarbonised economy of full employment, based on renewables, recycling technologies, biodiversity and regenerative agricultural practices.

The Green Party in Europe is established and has policies ready for the climate crisis we face. Although voting Green in the UK looks to be a wasted vote, higher youth turnout, a move to a voting system of proportional representation and greater faith in the Green Party to deliver a sustainable economic future would push them into UK mainstream politics.