And finally on leadership…

Having blogged a fair bit about the Green Party leadership election, I have not had time since the results were announced to comment on the decision – I have been away for a few days with my family to celebrate my mother’s 60th birthday.

I am pleased that the party had the opportunity to debate the issue and that the result was so decisive – it does settle the matter once and for all and now we can move forward confidently and with renewed energy.

As I have stated before, I am in favour of co-leadership and do hope that prospective co-leaders will emerge as well as single leaders in the future – co-leadership would continue to differentiate the Greens from the ‘grey’ parties.

But as I have said in response to a message from Jim Killock, whether it is co-leaders or a single leader, I am confident that with the calibre of people we have within the party, the Greens will continue to make strong progress at the ballot box.

The critical thing is that the party focuses on the key issues affecting people and the world we live in and communicates radical solutions and policies effectively to the media and the electorate.

And when the Greens achieve greater success and can smell the scent of political power, the party doesn’t water down its policies, shift to the centre (or should I say right) and become the Liberal Democrats MKII !!