Anti-capitalism, progressive alliances, trans rights and more: here's how the debate is shaping up.
The Green Party of England and Wales leadership election is now in full swing. And on Monday, members were given their first proper opportunity to question the candidates at the first leadership hustings.
All five tickets were represented with Tamsin Omond representing team Womack/Omond, Martin Hemingway representing team Hemingway/Rothery and Carla Denyer representing team Denyer/Ramsay. [Former deputy leader Shahrar Ali and 2019 election candidate Ashley Gunstock are standing individually.]
Over the course of two hours, we learnt a lot about the candidates and their campaigns. Here six of the big takeaways.
Progressive alliances used to be all the rage. Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley were big advocates for them when they stood successfully for the leadership in 2016. A number of Greens stood down for Labour or Lib Dem candidates in the 2017 general election. In 2019, the controversial Unite to Remain pact saw Greens enter an alliance with the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru.
But this years crop of leadership contenders are much less enthusiastic.
While less strident in his opposition, Shahrar Ali a well known critic of the strategy implied at the hustings he remained opposed.
Martin Hemingway said that he didnt see how a progressive alliance could realistically get rid of the Tories and deliver PR.
Carla Denyer said she agreed with the idea of a one off progressive alliance to deliver proportional representation in principle. But she also made clear that Labour have to come on board, that shes not holding out hope and that the Greens should make clear that Labour are the stumbling block.
Tamsin Omond was noncommittal, instead choosing to talk about the need to grow the partys membership and strength so as to strengthen its hand in the event of any negotiations with other parties. Nevertheless, Omond described progressive alliances as an interesting preposition. Hardly the ringing endorsement.
Ashley Gunstock was the only contender to explicitly commit to progressive alliances, arguing they were key to getting rid of the Tories. He made this case even in his opening remarks. Later, on the specific question, he said I dont think we can avoid getting into positive progressive alliance.
One of the questions posed to candidates was whether the Green Party is an anti-capitalist party. In what will be music to the ears of the partys left, all candidates more or less agreed.
Tamsin Omond quoted Audre Lordes masters tools proposition before going on to argue that a system built on capitalism and colonialism that has extraction at its heart cant deliver climate justice. They continued by repeating the old Green adage that we cant have infinite growth on a finite planet.
Carla Denyer said yes I think I do agree that the party is anti-capitalist. She went on to say that the party is in the business of moving beyond capitalism but this needs to be better messaged for the public.
Martin Hemingway pitched the Green Party as a party opposed to growth and therefore an anti-capitalist party. He said the party was pursuing different economic ends to those that capitalism pursues.
Shahrar Ali was in agreement and branded capitalism a faulty economic system.
Ashley Gunstock was also in broad agreement that the party is anti-capitalist.
The format of Green Party hustings dont lend themselves well to conflict between panelists. And hustings over Zoom are are never going to bring such conflicts to life in the way they would in person. Even without the format enabling candidates to respond to each others points or to come back in and debate an issue the body language and human connection from a face to face event allows this to bleed through much more readily.
So by all measures the first hustings was incredibly cordial. Despite some pretty significant disagreements (well come to that), for the most part the hustings remained cordial. Candidates calmly responded to the questions in turn.
In 2020s leadership election, some of the hustings became a lot more heated. Given the stakes, and the nature of disagreements in this years contest, this may well happen again as the campaign goes on.
It will be of little surprise to people following the contest even with the most passing of interest that the issue of transphobia was the primary point of disagreement among contenders. Bundled together in a question on how to tackle both antisemitism and transphobia within the party, the responses from candidates on both these issues were illuminating.
Ashley Gunstock had little to give in terms of practical steps of tackling these issues. He did, however, give a flavour saying that tackling them is all about education to stop people being afraid of things they dont understand.
He spoke at greater length about antisemitism, recanting stories of his work with school children organising pro-Palestine protests, and his telling them that they shouldnt conflate the Israeli government with Jewish people.
Carla gave additional context for her response. She argued that the issues with transphobia in the party were part of a bitter so-called culture war over trans rights.
Although saying that neither transphobia or antisemitism in the party would be fixed overnight, she said that we need take a clear and consistent line in support of trans rights, against antisemitism. She went on to say that she and Adrian Ramsay wanted to make the party more welcoming and inclusive and to work with liberation groups to facilitate workshops on oppression where people can ask questions and learn about that oppression.
She also argued that the disciplinary committee needs to be better resourced to tackle complaints around transphobia and antisemitism. Denyer also reiterated her support for the motion to Green Party Conference which is calling for guidance on antisemitism to be embedded into the partys constitution. That guidance would include a range of definitions of antisemitism including that of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
Tamsin Omond came from a similar position on the issues as Denyer. They made the case that reaching out communities experiencing oppression, building trust with them and listening to their experience was crucial.
In addition, Omond said that they and Amelia were committing to build new accountability processes within the party to shut down hate speech. Omond also stated that if elected they would establish a panel made up of liberation groups that would be regularly consulted on issues effecting them.
Martin Hemingway took a notably different approach. He started by saying that he did not believe antisemitism or transphobia were major issues within the party. He clarified this by arguing that disagreement on antisemitism was mostly about whether the party should adopt the IHRA definition. Hemingway went onto say that he supports the Jerusalem Declaration as an alternative to the IHRA definition.
On transphobia, he acknowledged that there was a deep divide within the party, claiming that it was a case of two sides shouting at each other. He said that Tina Rothery and himself would not take one side or the other. His proposed solution on the issue was to create an assembly of members that could come to a balanced position on trans rights.
Shahrar Alis response will be unsurprising to many. His decision to make supporting those who disagree with the partys policies on LGBTIQA+ rights a central plank of his campaign mean his views on this are well known.
At the hustings, he did not give an answer on what he would like to see done to tackle transphobia and antisemitism in the party. However, he did say that he believed womens free speech as being oppressed in discussions around trans rights. He also described a vocal minority of supporters of trans rights as extremely nasty.
On antisemitism, he argued that allegations of antisemitism were in some instances being used to stop people from criticising the state of Israel.
Given the clearly polarised views on these issues it is more than likely well see similar exchanges in future hustings.
Many of the candidates responses to members questions were strong. Often they were thought through, evidenced and passionate.
However, there were moments where it became apparent that candidates werent hugely on top of the detail, and hadnt been well briefed by their teams. To some extent this is understandable. In a hustings, all manner of questions on all manner of questions can get thrown at you.
Nevertheless, at some points candidates lack of knowledge was apparent. This was most clear on a question on the governments Health and Care Bill. Most candidates branded it inadequate before pivoting to talk about their general position on the NHS.
In the context of a leadership hustings, it doesnt matter all that much. Theres no follow up question from a prying interviewer. But if elected, much mustard will remain uncut if they arent able to answer confidently on a wide range of issues.
Members were blessed in the hustings as former leader [and LFF Contributing Editor] Natalie Bennett was in the chair. From admissions of having too many tabs open to keep an eye all the functions of Zoom, to her attempt to explain how random.org works to determine candidates speaking order, Bennett brought a warm, entertaining approach to the whole affair. Candidates seemed at ease. Im sure the audience was for the most part too. If there was a winner from tonight, it was Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle.
Chris Jarvis is editor of Bright Green, and Head of Strategy and Development at Left Foot Forward. This piece was first published by Bright Green.
Image credit: Bristol Green Party Creative Commons
As youre here, we have something to ask you. What we do here to deliver real news is more important than ever. But theres a problem: we need readers like you to chip in to help us survive. We deliver progressive, independent media, that challenges the rights hateful rhetoric. Together we can find the stories that get lost.
Were not bankrolled by billionaire donors, but rely on readers chipping in whatever they can afford to protect our independence. What we do isnt free, and we run on a shoestring. Can you help by chipping in as little as 1 a week to help us survive? Whatever you can donate, were so grateful - and we will ensure your money goes as far as possible to deliver hard-hitting news.
Read this article:
6 things we learnt from the first Green Party leadership hustings - Left Foot Forward
- Government Oppression Of Climate Protesters Is Rampant. Are You Next? - CleanTechnica - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- Invasion Day protests oppose oppression of indigenous Australians, genocide in Gaza - WSWS - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- Florida's 'hostile' laws? Five laws NAACP listed in travel advisory. - St. Augustine Record - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Iran Faces A Huge Budget Deficit It Tries To Conceal - - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Satyendar Jain taken to Safdarjung Hospital after losing 35 kgs - The Statesman - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Opinion: Reassessing the approach to Israel | DW | 22.05.2023 - DW - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Durham Report Is Latest Choose-Your-Own-Reality Adventure - TIME - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- In Conversation with Stan Grant - Honi Soit - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Rep. Bare: Assembly Republicans' local government funding plan is ... - WisPolitics.com - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Never Again Is Right Now in Palestine - Jacobin magazine - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- UF community condemns bill defunding DEI initiatives - The Independent Florida Alligator - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Prices of basic commodities and foods have gone insane in Sierra ... - Sierra Leone Telegraph - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Don't cancel Gladstone. He was a true friend of freedom at home ... - The Telegraph - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- If you want to do things like gender ideology, go to Berkeley: DeSantis bans diversity, equity and inclusion in Florida colleges - The Mercury News - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- TikTok: The new frontier for political info-wars - DAWN.com - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Israeli Apartheid - The Legacy of the Ongoing Nakba at 75 [EN/AR ... - ReliefWeb - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- PPP's CEC condemns attacks on army installations, calls for ... - Pakistan Today - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Tim Scott says Im running for president of the United States in announcement speech live - The Guardian US - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Opinion | America's Poverty Is Built by Design - POLITICO - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- 'Pity these oppressed random attackers': Inside the thoughts of Canada's bail system - National Post - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- How Can We Resist Book Bans? This Banned Author Has Ideas. - Truthout - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Owners of Nigeria and their multiple worlds - Guardian Nigeria - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- When People Decide They Want Change, They Will Bring in Change - The Wire - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- 5 Interesting Facts about Simon Bolivar - The Collector - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- China Built Over A Million Uyghurs "Re-Education Camps" In 6 Years: Report - NDTV - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Queer folk, the hour to save ourselves has come - Daily Maverick - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Preposterous! Book ban adds bureaucracy and removes parents ... - IndyStar - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- End Jew Hatred: Fight for social justice must be above political fray - The Jerusalem Post - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Political strife, not protest anymore - The Korea JoongAng Daily - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- 'A Man Without a Gun Is Not a Citizen' - The Texas Observer - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- State Department Report Says China Oppressed Tibetan Buddhist ... - Central Tibetan Administration - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Facing Reality on South Africa - Council on Foreign Relations - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Federal Charges of Political Activists Show the Racist and ... - Left Voice - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Age of Disorder || Pakistan on the Brink: Down with Capitalist PDM ... - International Socialist - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Tim Stevenson | Living with the Long Emergency: Rising Fascism ... - Brattleboro Reformer - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Members of new City Council weigh in on water bills - CBS Chicago - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- DIIR Statement on 28th Anniversary of Enforced Disappearance of ... - Central Tibetan Administration - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- KAN-WIN shares timeline of gender-based violence toward Asian ... - Daily Northwestern - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Alleged leaker fixated on guns and envisioned 'race war' - The Washington Post - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Employment and Labour pays tribute to Dr Dennis George - South African Government - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Opinion | Trump Cannot Be Unseen - The New York Times - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Toronto to rally against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia ... - NOW Toronto - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Election 2023: Te Pti Mori accuses Prime Minister Chris Hipkins of 'oppression' for telling parties to 'be careful' with demands - Newshub - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- What's the current state of LGBTQ rights in Europe? - Euronews - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Baptist Health Foundation Receives $3 Million Gift from the Jos ... - South Florida Hospital News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- The Politics and Moral Economics of Seun Kutis Police Assault - Tekedia - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Is a temporary coalition of anger against the old regime a basis for ... - Sierra Leone Telegraph - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Mexico: against 'neoliberalism' or capitalism? The final year of ... - In Defence of Marxism - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- White Christian Nationalism and the 2023 Montana Legislature ... - Daily Montanan - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Left-wing lawmakers press for federal reparations for Black Americans: 'We're here to demand it' - Fox News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Underground cyphers are helping young Kashmiris reclaim their ... - Huck Magazine - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Tory MP uses controversial term connected to antisemitic conspiracies - The Jerusalem Post - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Fijis 1987 coup: Why did Prime Minister Rabuka apologise to the Indo-Fijian community? - The Indian Express - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Declaration on the Migrant Crisis: Socialists From the U.S., Mexico ... - Left Voice - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- WNBA star Brittney Griner standing and listening to national anthem - Gainesville Sun - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Imran Khan to unveil next plan of action at a rally on Thursday - ANI News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Delta Youths Threaten Showdown Over Exclusion In Multi-Billion ... - SaharaReporters.com - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Remarks by Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall ... - The White House - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Are some human rights more important than others? Religious ... - Jacksonville Journal-Courier - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Postcolonial Plague: The Legacy of Apartheid South Africa in ... - Brown Political Review - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- UN expert urges Japan to step up pressure on Myanmar junta - OHCHR - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- CSIS confirms to MP that he and family were targeted by China - The Globe and Mail - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Opposition leader says govt sent a bureaucrat to talk with calan - Duvar English - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- The Badger Herald Editorial Board: The bounds of free speech The ... - The Badger Herald - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- AIbom NLC to Set up Monitoring Team on Petroleum Products - THISDAY Newspapers - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Amplifying Iranian Voices: The Call for Freedom and Democracy ... - National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- As inequality deepens, who will rewrite the rules? - Al Jazeera English - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Discover the Brilliance of George Orwell: Books That Will Inspire You - Economic Times - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Nature has way of settling scores, says UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Atiq Ahmad's turf - Times of India - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Tens of thousands hold Labor Day rallies nationwide - The Korea Herald - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Incoming Nigerian Government Must Improve Poverty Wage ... - SaharaReporters.com - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Can the European Union Tackle Afghanistan's Crises? - The Diplomat - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Iran sees nationwide protests, night rallies marking Int'l Labor Day | - The Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- G20: Responsibilities of the people of PoK - ANI News - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- From IWD to May Day: Connecting working women's struggles - Spring Magazine - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- 1 May 2023 || The Working Class is Back! ISA - International Socialist - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Are the Marxists on to something? Catholic World Report - Catholic World Report - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Manoj Kumar Jha and Ghazala Jamil write: Why Pratap Bhanu Mehta is wrong about social justice politics and caste census - The Indian Express - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Generational crimes are being committed thick and fast. No wonder Australian kids dont vote conservative - The Guardian - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- A Proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month, 2023 - U.S. ... - US Embassy and Consulate in Poland - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]