This in from Vix Lowthion, leader of the Isle of Wight Green party. It’s worth noting the reference to the “second highest Green vote in the UK” below relates to percentage vote. The Isle of Wight is by far the largest constituency in the country with over 110,000 people eligible to vote compared to average of 70k elsewhere. Ed
This year’s Green Party Autumn Conference in Harrogate has been an overwhelming success for the Isle of Wight party – both as a team and with notable individual achievements.
On Sunday night, co-leaders Caroline Lucas MP and Jonathan Bartley presented seven ‘Big Thank You’ national awards to campaigners and local groups across England and Wales – with the Isle of Wight picking up ‘Inspiring Election Campaign 2017’ for both the Council and the General Election achievements.
Lucas: “Worked your socks off”
Announcing the result in a busy auditorium, Ms Lucas praised the Isle of Wight Greens for their incredible progress in the last three years, culminating in the second highest Green vote in the United Kingdom in June.
She said,
“We’ve been inspired to see how you came together as a team, put together a strategy and worked your socks off to get a fantastic result to build upon in the future.”
Fringe events
Vix Lowthion, the Island’s Green Parliamentary candidate in both 2015 and 2017, and the national spokesperson for education, led two key fringe events during the conference.
On Saturday there was standing room only for the party’s presentation on ‘Campaigning in Rural Areas – lessons from success on the Isle of Wight’. These discussions continued across the weekend as the national party looks to the future of Green politics – with a focus on both protecting the environment and ensuring the economy works for the planet as a whole.
Vix was also the key speaker at the National Education Union fringe on Sunday based around the government’s £3 billion cuts to the schools budget. She debated the full impact of the cuts with the General Secretary of the NEU Kevin Courtney and concerned parent campaigners from Yorkshire.
Committee position for Charlie
To cap off an amazing weekend for the Island’s Greens, Ryde student Charlie Button was elected to sit on the national Green Party LGBTIQA+ committee as one of the four officers who campaign for equality and understanding across England and Wales.
Vix said,
“It’s been fantastic to represent Island Greens at conference again. There is a real buzz around the Isle of Wight’s year on year growth in votes for both council and Westminster elections, with so many delegates declaring they will come and support us if a snap election were to be called in the next few months.
“The national party continues to recognise the Island as of central importance in future elections, and will fight for the second Green MP at Westminster to represent the Isle of Wight.”
