Caroline Lucas calls for progressives' electoral alliance

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/10/liberal-emocrats-clash-over-serious-mistakes-in-election-strategy

Meanwhile, the Green party’s only MP is proposing that progressive parties work together in future to beat Conservative candidates rather than splitting the votes in key seats. Caroline Lucas, who was re-elected for Brighton Pavilion, said she was backing the move after witnessing progressive politicians such as the Lib Dem MP Norman Baker, in neighbouring Lewes, being voted out. Baker lost by just over 1,000 votes to Tory candidate Maria Caulfield. The Green candidate, who stood little chance of victory, picked up 2,784 votes.

Lucas said: “The system is wrong and we should have electoral reform, but that could be some time coming. So we need other ways to work together in a progressive alliance. Where it is appropriate, only one progressive candidate could stand in a seat – a sort of electoral pact. Cooperation during the EU referendum campaign could be the start of it.”

This might make sense. Lib Dems and Greens don't have much money and it might be easier for them to concentrate on fielding a limited number of candidates and not challenging Labour in many seats, in exchange for Labour withdrawing from Lib Dem and Green targets.

It would take a lot of consensus and co-ordination but could have a pretty devastating effect on the Tories if it was done.

I don't expect SNP and Labour will co-ordinate, unless Labour withdraws from Scotland...

Reply 1

jameswhughes

Original post by MagicNMedicine

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/10/liberal-emocrats-clash-over-serious-mistakes-in-election-strategy

This might make sense. Lib Dems and Greens don't have much money and it might be easier for them to concentrate on fielding a limited number of candidates and not challenging Labour in many seats, in exchange for Labour withdrawing from Lib Dem and Green targets.

It would take a lot of consensus and co-ordination but could have a pretty devastating effect on the Tories if it was done.

I don't expect SNP and Labour will co-ordinate, unless Labour withdraws from Scotland...

I think this sounds like it would be a disaster for Labour, and great for the Conservatives. Labour support would fall even further if people knew from the start that the party couldn't win, and the only way it could get into office is if it were propped up by the Greens and/or Lib Dems.

Reply 2

MagicNMedicine

Original post by jameswhughes

It would help Labour far more than Greens or Lib Dems as there are far more seats where Labour are second place than the other two, so the other two would be standing down to lend their votes to Labour.

Reply 3

scrotgrot

It depends if the Lib Dem left is all that's left (I don't know enough about them to know and can't be bothered to look into it). As for the not standing in seats where Labour stand thing, I don't think that will happen at all: the Greens, Plaid, SNP too all consider Labour austerians as bad as, or at least not better enough than, the Tories.

Lib Dem collapse plus this bodes well for electoral reform though as I think Labour will want it now too. STV by the 2025 election hopefully. Potential route to the stymieing of nationalism though nowhere near enough on its own.

Reply 4

Rakas21

Original post by scrotgrot

Labour wanted electoral reform in 97.. when you back in with a stonking majority, you tend to put it on the back burner.

Reply 5

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by Rakas21

Labour wanted electoral reform in 97.. when you back in with a stonking majority, you tend to put it on the back burner.

And I will never forgive them. ******s.

But oh no, they just didn't deliver what they said they would, when they won a majority, because they had to pretend to be right wing to pretend to be left wing to be left wing blah blah blah

Then privatize some hospitals via PFI, even though there was no democratic pressure pressure to do so, no need at all. Privatize air control, de regulate banking even more, ignore tax dodging, privatize prisons, I could go on and on

But honest, they are just pretending to be right wing so they can sneakily nationalize the energy companies under Rupert Murdoch's nose. He will never know.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 6

Swanbow

Can expect the media to have a field day and run away with this if it actually went though. Expect headline of 'Desperate' Labour, 'loony' Greens and 'irrelevant' Lib Dems form 'cowardly' coalition.