Category: Progressive Alliance #TogetherWeWin

Progressive Alliance #TogetherWeWin

Greens expected to stand aside to support Lib Dems’ by-election fight

From The New European: The Green Party is expected to stand aside for the Brecon & Radnorshire by-election in a bid to show ‘Remain unity’.

The election was called after a recall petition received more than 10% of support from electors in the constituency.

It followed Tory MP Chris Davies’ conviction for faking expenses claims after submitting two false expenses invoices for landscape photographs to decorate his new office.

In 2017, the Tories held a majority of more than 8,000 in the constituency, but this could easily be overturned in the current political climate.

Labour were in a distant third place in 2017 with 7,335 votes.

The Green Party are expected to stand aside for the vote, with Plaid Cymru considering making a similar move.

[Read full article on New European website…]

About the Progressive Alliance

From The Progressive Alliance: The Progressive Alliance is an historic campaign that began at a time when many progressive people had just about given up hope that British politics could change.

Together, we decided that something had to be done. We decided that if we wanted to change things, progressive people would have to start working together – not against each other. And then, on the announcement of a snap election by Theresa May, we launched the biggest tactical voting campaign in British political history.

Volunteers up and down the country began sowing the seeds of a new politics – leafleting, canvassing and even holding Bernie Sanders-inspired ‘Barnstorms’.

We held a huge launch party attended by nearly 1,000 people, with inspiring talks, comedy and performances by progressive leaders, poets, campaigners, comedians and musicians from the UK and progressive movements around the world.

Meanwhile, we managed to secure 41 local alliances between progressive parties. Courageous local heroes volunteered to put aside the old, tribal party politics, in favour of a new way of doing things – standing together, united, in order to defeat the Tories.

Read more

Tactical voting worked, and it got people engaged in politics for the first time

From openDemocracyUK: “Bookmakers regarded the result in Oxford West & Abingdon as a near-certainty. The 10,000 vote Conservative majority from 2015 seemed impregnable. But an almost unequalled 15% swing on the day saw Liberal Democrat Layla Moran beat the incumbent Tory by a few hundred votes. This was one of the most extraordinary results in an extraordinary election.

“What happened here to push out the Conservatives? Simply put, tactical voting on an industrial scale. Large numbers of people were persuaded to ‘lend their vote’ to the Lib Dems, in the language of the many garden placards that dotted the constituency.

“The last two weeks of the campaign saw large numbers of previously non-political people get actively involved in helping the Liberal Democrat candidate on behalf of the Progressive Alliance. Almost one hundred voters participated in some way. They imitated conventional politicians by door-knocking, pushing leaflets through doors across the constituency and standing in the street trying to talk to voters on the way to the shops.”

[Read full article on openDemocracyUK…]

Greens agree to stop campaigning in Bristol North West to help Labour defeat Tory MP Charlotte Leslie

From BristolLive: The Green Party has agreed to give up campaigning in Bristol North West in order to give Labour’s Darren Jones the best chance of unseating pro-Brexit MP Charlotte Leslie.

Mr Jones made a plea, when announcing his “shamelessly pro-European” MP bid, for the Greens and Liberal Democrats to form a progressive alliance that would involve them standing down to help him win the election.

[Read full article on BristolLive…]

Conservative Party ‘clearly worried’ about progressive alliance and tactical voting

From The Independent: The Conservative Party is “clearly worried” the progressive alliance movement could hinder its chances of winning a landslide victory in the general election, leading campaigners have said, after the party issued an official warning that tactical voting could lead to a “coalition of chaos”.

[Read article on Independent website…]

#Tactical2017: garden sign in Richmond Park constituency

#Tactical2017: In #RichmondPark constituency (formerly Zac Goldsmith's seat), this is a sound tactical move to…

Posted by Stop The Tories Channel on Friday, May 12, 2017

In Richmond Park constituency (formerly Zac Goldsmith’s seat), this is a sound tactical move to #StopTheTories.

Which progressive party is best placed to defeat the Tories in #GE17 in your constituency? Find out now at https://www.tactical2017.com/ with just your postcode 

Vote for the Coalition of Chaos

Our potential saviours of the Kingdom… vote wisely to summon them together and rid our world of NHS-killing ToriesFind your vote here: tactical2017.com

Posted by The Progressive Alliance on Sunday, May 7, 2017

Greens pull out of general election contest in Brighton Kemptown

From Brighton & Hove News: The Green Party is standing aside in Brighton Kemptown at the general election on Thursday 8 June.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary general meeting of the Brighton & Hove Green Party at Community Base, in Queen’s Road, Brighton, last night (Wednesday 26 April).

The Green candidate was due to be Davy Jones, who also contested the seat in May 2015. He polled 3,187 votes, 857 votes more than in 2010, finishing fourth.

Conservative MP Simon Kirby held the seat with a majority of 690 votes over Labour candidate Nancy Platts.

Some people felt that the Green campaign had split the left-of-centre vote.

[Read full article on Brighton & Hove News…]

The case for an anti-Tory electoral alliance

#TogetherWeWin, says Caroline Lucas in a letter to the Guardian: “It’s crucial also to remember the context for such alliances. A crumbling NHS, a jilted generation of young people being let down and a hardline government pursuing an extreme Brexit. For us, proportional representation must be central to this project, because our hugely undemocratic electoral system is so stacked in the establishment’s favour that the Tories can win a majority on just 24% of the eligible vote. To crack open our politics we must hack the system – and respect the fact that no single party has a monopoly on wisdom. So rather than talking down the idea of working together, let’s stick to the facts. Unity between those who want to topple the Tories is our best bet of a more progressive politics in Britain, let’s not squander this opportunity.”

[View full letters page on Guardian website…]

Green Party pulls out of crucial general election seat to help Labour beat the Tories

From Daily Mirror: The Green Party has pulled out of standing in a crucial general election seat – to help Labour beat the Tories. The move in Ealing Central and Acton, West London, is the first tactical withdrawal of its kind in the country for the 2017 general election.

[Read article on Mirror website…]