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Green shoots show through Labour’s red wall

Green councillor Alys Mumford spotlights the Green vote in July’s General Election.

Westminster’s election should have been the climate election. Happening during the hottest June globally since records began, and punctuated with the summer downpours that will characterise the UK’s new normal, it should have been hard to ignore.

Yet the other parties didn’t seem to care (or, perhaps, simply knew that their environmental policies would be found wanting). Climate hustings were cancelled last-minute as parties except the Scottish Greens refused to attend, and you’d be hard-pressed to find mention of climate change in the election pitches of most candidates.

Thankfully, voters showed in their tens of thousands that climate and social justice were important to them, telling the new Labour Government that they won’t get away with ignoring the greatest challenges facing us. The Scottish Greens took third place behind Labour and the SNP in three seats in Edinburgh, and saw massive increases in votes across Scotland.

Of course, this wasn’t the story of the election – the SNP being punished for their shift to the right, the desperation to finally rid the UK of a Tory Government, and the worrying success of Reform all made more headlines than the slow and steady rise of Greens across the UK. But behind the Labour landslide we can see a shift in how voters are viewing Westminster.

It’s long been received wisdom that Greens can’t win in a first past the post electoral system. We are told that people would love to vote for us if only they could, but that a Green vote at Westminster is a wasted vote. But by giving everyone in Edinburgh the chance to vote for a Green candidate, we have shown that people relish the chance to vote for a party they actually believe in. And that helps send a message to the other parties – ignore climate change at your peril.

With both Holyrood and the council’s own elections coming up over the next few years, we can look forward to more record-breaking elections for Greens in Edinburgh and, more importantly, more people across the city represented by politicians who take caring for people and planet seriously.