Motion #04

Funding our biggest general election campaign ever

Synopsis

The next 18 months will be the most important in our party’s history. We have a unique opportunity to elect our second, third and fourth MPs to parliament. But this requires the resources to match our ambition. This motion therefore proposes increasing the standard membership fee to £5 per month.

Motion

Conference notes:

In the next 18 months, the Green Party has a unique opportunity to elect its second, third, and fourth MPs to parliament, become a permanent fixture in local councils and gear up to break through in the 2026 Senedd elections.

To achieve unprecedented wins in the next two years and support the growth of our local parties and membership at the same time, requires us to maintain and grow our funding base.

The Green Party is not funded by billionaires or giant corporations, but is powered by ordinary people who are ready to build a better world.

Increasing membership fees would generate increased income to regional and local parties through their annual capitations, given a proportion of membership fees are re-distributed to them.

The Constitution of the Green Party of England and Wales states that “Membership subscriptions and capitation rates shall be subject to regular reviews as of Green Party AGM 2001. Such reviews shall be carried out on a 3 yearly basis by GPEx in consultation with GPRC.” The last review of membership fee rates was considered by Conference in Spring 2020 and an increase in line with inflation was implemented that year.

That we have a responsibility to our members, to our employees, to our elected Greens and to those who elected them, to ensure the party is in a strong financial state and position of power by the time of the next membership fee review.

The Green Party’s standard membership fee is currently £3.33 per month and the concessionary rate is £6 per year.

The importance of maintaining an affordable concessionary rate to ensure Party membership is accessible to all.

Conference resolves:

To mandate the Green Party Executive to initiate an increase to the standard membership rate of £3.33 per month to £5 per month as soon as is feasible, with no changes being made to the concessionary rate of £6 per year, or any other membership rates.