This is an election where every voter can indicate a first and second preference. Green Party members in London agreed this week to defer a decision on who, if anyone, they will recommend as their second preference for Mayor – after their first choice, Darren Johnson.
Darren Johnson, the Green Party’s Candidate for London Mayor commented, “I will be campaigning on a radical Green agenda in the Mayoral contest and will be fighting hard for every vote. However, the current Mayor has a lot of persuading to do if he is to attract the second preferences of green-minded voters in London. Greens recently awarded Ken five and a half out of ten for his performance so far. Although we have welcomed his stance on congestion charging and affordable housing we have been utterly dismayed to see him support new roadbuilding and new runways.”
If Darren does not make it through to the run off between the top two candidates, then Green voters could be the deciding factor in who gets to be the next Mayor. Although the Greens recommended a second preference vote for Ken Livingstone last time, members have opted to wait until the new year, when the main policies of the various candidates have become more clear, before taking a vote on whether to recommend Livingstone again.
Green Party members agreed they wouldn’t back Livingstone if he returned to the Labour Party. They also criticised Simon Hughes and the Liberal Democrats over the cuts to vital services imposed by Lib-Dem controlled local authorities, not to mention their inconsistent and opportunistic stance on the environment and the war.
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
1. In the election for Mayor electors can vote for both a first and second preference. If no candidate receives more than 50% of first preference votes, all but the top two candidates are eliminated and the second preference votes for the two remaining candidates are added to their existing totals. The candidate with the highest number of votes, whether first or second preferences, is then elected.
2. Darren Johnson is 37 and was selected as the Green Party’s candidate for Mayor of London in May 2003. He was elected to the London Assembly in May 2000 where he is Leader of the Green Party Group. He was also elected to Lewisham Council in May 2002.
3. The Mayoral election will be held on June 10th next year at the same time as the elections for the London Assembly. At the last Assembly elections the Greens scored one of their best ever results in the Party’s history, securing 11.1% of the vote across London and winning three seats on the 25-member Assembly.