Victory for democracy

Published: 13 May, 2011

• LAST Thursday, 57 per cent of Islington voters said Yes to the Alternative Vote (AV), making us, alongside neighbouring 

Camden, Hackney and Haringey, one of the six London boroughs and ten local areas in Britain voting for progressive change to our outdated electoral system. 

And that despite both Islington’s Labour MPs publicly supporting the No vote.

Islington Green Party, along with our colleagues in the Yes campaign, worked long and hard for a fairer voting system and, despite our disappointment at the nationwide result, would like to thank all Islington residents who voted. 

The borough’s 35 per cent turnout showed considerable public commitment to the democratic process. 

We were heartened, while campaigning, by the warm support that people expressed for electoral reform and the Green Party.

Despite the same outdated, first-past-the-post system being used for the local elections elsewhere across the country on the same day as the referendum, the Green Party continues  to grow. 

For the first time it has become the biggest party on a city council – in Brighton and Hove, where the country’s first Green MP was elected last year. 

Our policies and track record appeal to people, and voters are increasingly trusting us to represent them at all levels. 

Islington Green Party will continue to press for electoral reform, as well as campaigning for our current priorities, which are air quality, road safety, affordable housing and against job losses and deep inequality in the borough. 

We look forward to next year’s London Assembly and mayoral elections, where a fairer voting system is already in place and every vote counts.

CAROLINE RUSSELL
Campaigns coordinator, Islington Green Party