Green leadership converges on Cardiff
For immediate release 27 February 2011
The leadership of the Greens across the UK today held a pre-election planning meeting in Cardiff as the English and Welsh Greens held their conference there. Patrick Harvie MSP for the Scottish Greens met Caroline Lucas MP, Jake Griffiths of the Welsh Greens, and Steven Agnew, recently elected leader of the Green Party of Northern Ireland. Discussions centred on strategic opposition to Tory cuts, and on recent polling suggesting the Scottish Greens could hold the balance of power, and that the Welsh Greens are on course to make their Welsh Assembly breakthrough in South Wales Central.
Patrick Harvie MSP said:
"This May will see crucial elections to Holyrood, to the Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies, and to key English local authorities. Across the UK we see parties that used to claim to be centre-left implementing George Osborne's cuts agenda, and only Greens are ready to set out an alternative based on fair taxes for the better off and big business.
"In Scotland, with Green support just a fraction of a percent behind the LibDems now, before the campaign has even got fully under way, there is every chance that we'll take a historic step forward at this election. We've got a lot of work to do before then, though, talking to the public and getting the message across that Scotland can stand up to the Tory cuts and create a fairer, healthier and greener society at the same time."
Caroline Lucas MP said:
"This weekend's poll is fantastic news for Greens right across Scotland. It shows how powerful every single Green second vote is, and how pivotal the Greens are likely to be after the Holyrood election. Week in, week out, I'm bringing a Green challenge to the harsh right-wing agenda of the Tory-led government in London, and Scottish voters know that only the Scottish Greens will do the same as the cuts hit Scotland.
"Like the public across the rest of the UK, they've been betrayed by the LibDems and underwhelmed by the rest. Now there's a strong chance of the biggest group of Green MSPs ever in May, and a crucial opportunity to change the political landscape in Scotland for good. Greens across the UK will be offering all the help we can through the campaign and beyond."
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,258 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 21st - 22nd February 2011. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all Scottish adults (aged 18+).
Constituency voting intention (comparison with 2007 in brackets):
Labour: 41% (+8.8%)
SNP: 32% (-0.9%)
Conservative: 15% (-1.6%)
Lib Dem: 8% (-8.2%)
Others: 4% (+1.9%)
Regional voting intention (comparison with 2007 in brackets):
Labour: 40% (+10.8%)
SNP: 26% (-5%)
Conservative: 15% (+1.1%)
Lib Dem: 7% (-3.3%)
Green: 6% (+2%)
Others: 5% (-5.6%)
If these vote shares were repeated in a Scottish election, Weber Shandwick's Scotland Votes site predicts the following result.
Lab: 59 (+13)
SNP: 35 (-12)
Con: 19 (+2)
Lib: 9 (-7)
Green: 6 (+4)
Ind: 1 (n/c)
December 2010 poll shows Greens on 9% in South Wales Central, enough to elect an AM for the first time. See:
http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Pol...