Motion #19
Our current political strategy (Building Power To Transform Society – Green Party Political Strategy to 2030) was adopted at Spring Conference 2021 and was due for review in spring 2023.
In its current form the document is based on an “essentialist” view of what a political party is – the belief that there is a single, one-dimensional characteristic (competing for elected positions) that “defines” the notion of a political party, in contrast with the variety in real-life political parties across the globe.
One consequence of this is that much activity within the party – from the drafting of local party leaflets, through the management of public positioning, to the formulation of policy – comes to be subject to a simple “electoral test” . There is frequently tension between the requirements of this simple electoral test and the demands of multiple concurrent planetary crises.
Another consequence is that making “electoral success (our) top priority for all resource allocation decisions” often leaves little for other key aspects of the life of the party – such as equipping ourselves to be truly accessible and inclusive, and running mass-participation campaigns.
The purpose of this amendment is twofold. Firstly, it attempts to better align our strategy with our established core values (for example, “Electoral politics is not the only way to achieve change in society, and we will use a variety of methods, including lifestyle changes, to help effect progress, providing those methods do not conflict with our other core principles.”) Secondly, it attempts to address the concerns of many members, heard at recent meetings and workshops across the party, who feel that the amount of time required for Greens to win effective political power on the scale required (even based on heroic assumptions) is much greater than the science now tells us we have left to address the multiple crises, in consequence of which we need a broader, multi-pronged strategy.
Social and environmental justice will not be achieved through our own actions or by legislative means alone. We must work on several fronts and use multiple means to accomplish change. Our Political Strategy should emphasise this more clearly.
Conference approves the following changes to the document “Building Power To Transform Society – Green Party Political Strategy to 2030”, first adopted (with an amendment) at Spring Conference 2021.
In the section titled PURPOSE:
Delete the first paragraph and replace with:
“We are a political party. We exist to ensure the implementation of change in line with our core values and philosophical basis. We do this in a variety of ways - through the exercise of power in elected government positions, through building a mass movement for change and through cooperation with sympathetic organisations of all types both here and in other countries.”
In the first sentence of the second paragraph, delete: “We have already grown our numbers of councillors and parliamentarians, but” and “we do more: our planet and our society require nothing less.”. After “We are facing a climate, ecological and social emergency that demands”, insert “urgent and radical economic, social and political changes both nationally and globally. These changes require universal recognition of the crises to pave the way for widespread behavioural change and for acceptance of the legislative agenda that will be required.”
In the second sentence of the second paragraph delete the last two words (“from within”) and insert: “on many fronts. We celebrate our successes in parliament and in local authorities, and we recognise that we shall achieve still greater success through unflinching advocacy of a radical policy agenda. We recognise also that the timescales for dealing with current planetary crises are very short – shorter than the time required for Greens to gain the requisite degree of power – and that in addition to seeking election we must inform public opinion, popularise radical policies, forge alliances with community groups, campaign groups, trades unions and others and change the terms of public discourse. In doing so we aim to generate a climate of opinion that shifts all decision-making - both in the public and private domains – in the right direction. As the crises become more self-evident to all, we shall reap electoral dividends from this approach.”
In the third sentence of the second paragraph, after “political base that”, delete the word “gets” and insert “is committed to campaigning for Green values and policies using the full range of approaches, including door-to-door contact, publicity, media, protest, demonstrations, disobedience, community and workplace alliances. This will also get”. After “the highest”, delete the word “and” and insert “enabling us”.
In the first sentence of the third paragraph, after “by focusing on” insert “(i) ensuring that as a party we are inclusive and accessible at all levels, (ii) developing our capacity for campaigning on environmental and social justice issues, (iii) maintaining mutually supportive links with other sympathetic groups and (iv)”.
In the second sentence of the third paragraph, replace the word “electoral” with “political”.
In the third sentence of the third paragraph, after “support Green” insert “campaigns, policies and”. Delete all after “candidates” and insert “and turns campaigners and supporters into voters and members”.
In the fourth sentence of the third paragraph, after “Through” insert “community engagement, local and national campaign work and”.
In the section titled VISION:
After the first sentence in paragraph 3, insert a new sentence: “As crises deepen and injustices become more acute, our work in highlighting the political choices that create them and the political remedies that are available will recruit more support for Green policies – through networks of community groups, campaign groups and trades unions with whom we work; through party membership; and through the ballot box.”
In the section titled PRIORITIES:
In the first sentence of the first paragraph, delete the word “priority” and replace with “priorities”. Delete the word “is” and replace with “are”. Before “to increase our number” insert the following: “(i) to ensure that the Green Party is wholly inclusive, accessible and representative of the community we serve, (ii) to build a large popular movement around an honest account of the crises in climate, pollution, biodiversity and social justice and a fearless articulation of the measures needed to address these, and (iii) to use the credibility thus gained”.
Replace the current diagram with one that reflects the grouping of Priorities in the amended Strategy. (An example is shown in the .pdf that accompanies this motion.).
After the second paragraph, insert a new paragraph: “Note that our key priorities are interdependent and there is for this reason no hierarchy implied in the ordering that follows.”
In the sub-section titled Priority 1 GET GREENS ELECTED TO BECOME A MAJOR FORCE IN POLITICS:
In the first paragraph, delete the second sentence (“Electoral success will be the top priority for all resource allocation decisions…..”).
In point 1 under “Actions”, after “each General Election” insert “that does not flinch from the measures required to address planetary crises or social justice issues”.
Delete items 3, 4, 6 and 7 under “Actions”. (Explanatory note - these will be made more generic and moved to the section on building our organisation – see later.)
In the sub-section titled Priority 2 BUILD CREDIBILITY:
Before the first paragraph, insert a new paragraph: “Credibility is rooted in others trusting what we say and do – in other words, believing in us. We shall win this trust by being consistent, honest and transparent and by living by the values that we espouse as a party. Individual voters, campaign groups and other political organisations, through repeated contact with us through our issues-based and electoral campaign work, will recognise our readiness to deal honestly with difficult issues.”
Under “Actions”, insert a new point 1 (and re-number accordingly): “Conduct highly visible national and local campaigns on key issues and ally ourselves with suitable campaigns orchestrated by community and campaign groups, trades unions and others.”
Under “Actions”, in re-numbered point 5 (originally point 4), after “Focus our communications on building” insert “broad support for Green policies and political campaigns and on increasing”.
Under “Actions”, in re-numbered point 8 (originally point 7), after “the Party” insert “, our policies, our campaigns”.
In the sub-section titled Priority 3 BUILD OUR ORGANISATION:
In the third sentence of the first paragraph, after “communities by campaigning for”, insert “Green policies and”.
Under “Actions”, insert new point 1 and re-number accordingly:
1. Measure our activities against a high-level political test that identifies how successfully they support our goals.
Under “Actions”, in re-numbered point 2 (originally point 1), before “Train, coach and mentor” insert “Invest in training and developing our activists to help them mount effective political and electoral campaigns, in part through a programme to”.
Under “Actions”, in re-numbered point 4 (originally point 3), after “support target” insert “campaigns and”.
Under “Actions”, in re-numbered point 5 (originally point 4), after “tools and infrastructure” insert “(including cutting-edge digital tools)”.
Under “Actions”, in re-numbered point 6 (originally point 5), before “Develop an income plan” insert “Follow an income-generation strategy and”.
Under “Actions”, in re-numbered point 11 (originally point 10), after “suitably resourced” insert “member-led”.
Under “Measures”, in point g), after “membership surveys”, insert “and high levels of reported satisfaction that party organisation, accessibility and campaigns are receiving fair budget priority”.
In the sub-section titled Priority 4 BUILD A MOVEMENT:
Under “Actions”, insert new points 6 and 7 and re-number accordingly:
6. Forge networks of relationships with local and national campaign groups, community groups, charities, trades unions and others through joint campaign work.
7. Invest in organising and developing materials for political campaigns that these other organisations can participate in and, reciprocally, add the weight of the Green Party to campaigns initiated by others.
In the section titled NOT THE WHOLE STORY:
In the first sentence delete “covering:” and insert: “. GPRC will make arrangements for these to be reviewed by members, with suitable provisions to maintain confidentiality, and will similarly consult with members on updates every two years. These plans will cover the following areas (note that the sequence does not imply a priority order):”.
Add a new bullet point to the list of strategic plans: “Collaboration with other organisations sharing our aims”