PRESS RELEASE
Brussels
3 May 2019
The Green Party of England and Wales is today celebrating its biggest election night in its history. As of 10:30 CET, Greens had won 42 new seats in local elections in England and Northern Ireland, a fivefold increase in the final gains in the comparable elections four years ago with the majority of results still to come in.
Commenting on the result, the party co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales Jonathan Bartley said:
““This is the biggest election night in our history. Greens are winning right across the country, and taking seats from a wide range of other parties. The Green message is clearly taking hold and can win anywhere. This is the product of a huge amount of hard work by many brilliant members and supporters around the country, but also many voters are converting themselves to be Greens. Voters see that we need a new kind of politics, one that recognises the huge imperative of acting on climate change, but also the social emergency that is creating misery and suffering in communities across the country.”
The European Green Party leading candidate and Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout said:
“We congratulate Green party councillors in England and Northern Ireland on these incredible results securing seats as well as gaining new ones. This shows that there is a growing sense of trust that Greens can make a real difference in delivering change, such as declaring a climate emergency that was first proposed by a Green councillor in Bristol.
“It is also significant that many wins have also been in areas that voted Brexit in 2016. The Greens in the UK have been clear in standing up for the country’s membership of the European Union and are now the biggest advocate for remain. We hope these results are a foretaste of things to come and that we will be welcoming more Greens into the European Parliament in a Green Wave later this month.”
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E paul.nolan@europeangreens.eu
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European Green Party
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