In 2014 the result in Yorkshire and the Humber was interesting. This is how the votes went:
UKIP got 403,630 votes and 31.1% of the votes
Labour got 380,189 and 29.3% of the votes
The Conservatives got 248,945 and 19.2% of the votes
Greens gained 102,282 votes which was 7.9% of the votes and higher than the Liberal Democrat vote by some 21,000 votes. We didn’t, however, get an MEP in our region.
There are 6 MEPs for Yorkshire and the Humber. The method of allocating the representation is complex but in order to be sure of getting a seat that means that you need to win 16.5% of the vote. Effectively we need to double our vote to gain a Green MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber automatically. That is something that could be achieved. I nearly wrote that it could be easily achieved but that is not true. It can be achieved if we articulate our case clearly, run a good campaign and persuade enough people that it is worth turning out to vote.
There will be a lot of people who will turn out and vote for the Greens who have been impressed by our consistent campaign to stay in the EU but utterly transform it. Many people like our determination to listen and respect those who voted Leave by redirecting resources to neglected regions rather than allowing Mr Rees Mogg to deliver them into the hands of Donald Trump and make their lives even more austere. Those supporters won’t, however, just automatically turn out. We need to mobilise them and motivate them to make sure their voice is heard by actually voting.
There will be a lot more people who are more ambivalent about the Green Party and many voters will be reluctant to turn out in May for a Parliament that we might not have representatives at for very much longer. They simply won’t see the point and don’t understand what an MEP can do for them. To be blunt I can’t say I exactly blame them.
One way of describing the job is that anyone standing to be an MEP is offering to go and sit in Brussels and listen to some very worthy speeches, vote for some very interesting motions and to try and exert some small degree of influence over EU officials who are far more powerful than the elected members. I don’t personally fancy asking people to vote Green in order to do that job better, however valuable that activity may be.
Instead I think Greens should be asking the electorate of Yorkshire and the Humber to put someone into the job who can fight for the region locally, nationally and internationally. An MEP can be a really powerful advocate for a region and that is what I think we should be asking our supporters to work for.
It is wrong that over three times as much money is spent on public transport per head of population in London as is spent in Yorkshire. It is wrong that decisions about public transport investment in the north are being made by Chris Grayling instead of by local leaders. After all Chris Grayling isn’t just feckless with public money he is also seriously ill judged and thinks that slapping motorways across the north will revive our economy. Someone needs to stand up to the ludicrously out of touch policies coming out of his Department and insist on a properly integrated northern rail service providing fast commuter transport across the north.
It is wrong that decisions about the education of our children are being made by remote academy trusts paying obscene salaries to their directors whilst schools can’t afford basic equipment for our children or decent pay for their teachers. A system that the Labour Party began. Someone needs to stand up for our region and bring education back under local democratic control.
It is wrong that northern high streets are sinking into disrepair and communities are being left to spiral further into decline. Someone needs to fight for proper taxation of online companies and low rates for small businesses rooted in their own communities.
It is wrong that the UK government thinks a modern industrial strategy is to bully communities to have fracking for shale gas taking place under their feet. Someone needs to make the case that communities like Hull can be utterly transformed by building and servicing the offshore wind industry. Someone needs to fight for cities like Leeds, Sheffield and York to get the financial investment they need to be at the forefront of modern industries like Health Care, information technology, battery technology or alternative energy. Someone needs to make the case for looking forward as a region instead of backwards. Labour and Liberal Democrat Councillors in Cumbria just voted to establish a new coal mine.
It is wrong that communities across Yorkshire and being forced by remote planning inspectors to plonk estates of huge houses onto green fields whilst inner city housing rots and decays. Someone needs to make the case for renovation of our cities and putting resources into transforming their environment.
It isn’t right that the UK has one over heated financial centre in London and the rest of the country has been left to fend for itself as best it can. It isn’t right that people who work hard for their money have been left in tears by the cruel incompetence of the Universal Credit juggernaut whilst bankers who created the 2008 crash have been treated to over £400,000,000,000 of easy money to dig them out of their hole and get them back to very nice bonuses. It isn’t right that people sit in London and tell local communities that they can do nothing about the market forces that have taken jobs away from places like Barnsley or Keighley. Government should take some responsibility for planning the future and we need to help communities to change, to adapt and to prosper.
It also isn’t remotely right that the UK has spent almost the entire last two years talking about Brexit. There are other things that matter a lot more. Like the air we breathe, the food we eat and the environment we live in. Practical concerns that only the Green Party puts centre stage.
I therefore want to ask voters across Yorkshire and the Humber to vote for the only party that has really acted and spoken with responsibility across the last decade. I want to give them the chance to get themselves represented by a party that is prepared to face up to hard choices and admit the scale of the changes we need to our priorities if we are to let our communities, our economy and our environment to prosper.
I’ve therefore decided to put myself forward to be on the Green ticket for the EU Parliamentary elections. But don’t vote for me if you want someone who will penetrate the chambers of Europe and be good at making changes to EU Parliamentary motions. I think I can do that with the best of them but it is not what I want to do with the election campaign or with the job if I got it.
I want our MEP to fight for our community locally, nationally and internationally for as long as the role lasts. If you are in the Green Party in Yorkshire and the Humber and think I stand the best chance of doing that please vote for me. The hustings are on Saturday in the Caroline Club in Saltaire at 11 and you’ll shortly get a ballot paper. If you are anywhere else in Britain and the UK really does get a chance to vote in the EU elections then please use your vote and your social media contacts to make sure a Green voice stands up for you in your locality.