Why Greens should stop beating themselves up over the lacklustre general election performance

I suppose it's inevitable that any party will engage in some soul searching and point-settling when it loses votes, but we should consider that in the context of a generally greater focus on the two party contest that it is unlikely that ANY Green Party strategy would have avoided a substantial fall in votes.

The focus on the most Presidential campaign that has been framed in Britain for decades (May versus Corbyn), the relative resurgence of Labour and also the special appeal that Labour made to the youth vote all meant that Green candidates were going to be squeezed. Of course the main exception to this was Caroline Lucas herself, and that is because in her constituency she is not only a formidable reputation but also the most credible embodiment of the forces that propel what we could describe as radical Labour today.
I'm sure now that Green Party meetings will be full of debates about 'progressive alliance' and such forth. But I'm also sure that the Green Party's vote losses in the 2017 election were more caused by the single factor of Labour being perceived as matching Greens on the subject of abolishing tuition fees for students than the strategy of 'Progressive Alliance'.

But what to do?

Really Greens ought to put their efforts into building up their local base, fighting for local social and environmental causes. Indeed, at a national level, we should earnestly fight for and certainly hope for that we get a Labour Government as soon as possible, while at the same time pointing out the shortcomings of Labour's programmes. I know in energy, for example, there is much confusion about objectives (see my earlier post). We need, for example, to have a clear, separate ambitious target for renewable energy. We need bottom up campaigns for ownership of the grid, not some top-down version that benefits only the energy establishment. We need much more radical and locally centred initiatives for energy saving and also a commitment to develop a more flexible, smart, energy system that fits in with the future, not the past.

I'm not suggesting Green candidates should automatically stand aside for Labour - heaven forbid! - but the cruel fact of the political logic at the moment is that until we get a Labour Government there is going to be a strong force behind Labour squeezing Greens in many of those constituencies that Greens hope to win.

Of course, when we do have a Labour Government, things will change in the Greens favour. I am certain about that! Maybe Greens should be a bit more patient and put their energy into positive action rather than slagging each other off.