Joining The Green Party

Although it may not seem to have an immediate impact, one of the small changes you might consider is joining the Green Party. You can be a fully paid up member for around £10 per month. Membership means you get access to loads of useful information on the environmental movement (as well as all their other policy areas, such as social justice). You also get the chance to participate locally, vote on policy and people and go to their conference. And psychologically you get to feel like you are part of something that is part of the solution.

I first joined the Green Party in the 1980s when they were more like a pressure group, and were pretty much only known for their ecological views (and perhaps for their affiliation with CND). The Green movement was very vibrant in mainland Europe but here it seemed harder to get political traction – partly because our electoral system makes it harder for minority parties to get represented. I grew disillusioned in the early 90s and left. The disillusionment was partly my issue - I hadn’t really got the right mindset back then for the perseverance needed. It was also partly because of the lack of progress. And finally I guess it was because the problem seemed much further away.

Fast forward 20 years and so much has changed; and at the same time the future outlook has not – it just got much nearer. I re-joined the Green Party in 2013 and found it to be a very different home. Caroline Lucas had become the first Green MP (in 2010), and this seems to be have been one of those threshold moments. The party had earned the right to be more ambitious by becoming more organised, professional and relevant, without losing the values and attributes that I recognised when I first joined.

Currently the aim of the Green Party is:
To create a just, equitable and sustainable society. We focus our efforts primarily, though not exclusively, through the electoral system. The Green Party is a democratic organisation in which our members decide our policy, opening up politics to those outside the Westminster Establishment. Our members come from all walks of life; most of them are not professional politicians, but each of them can have a voice in how our policies are written, updated and amended.

The thing I like most is of a feeling of being able to take part at the level that works for you. For most of my eight-year membership this time around I have been content to read, learn and donate. However I have voted for policy and people, contributed to ideas and in 2015 even stood as a candidate in local elections (not with any expectation of winning but because of the symbolic importance of offering the electorate the chance to vote Green in every ward in the country).

It’s easy to join the Green Party (and yes easy to leave it turns out to be not for you). Just click on the image below.