General Election 2010: First Green party MP

After a day of disappointment for most of the parties, Caroline Lucas, Britain’s first Green MP, was one of the few politicians with something to smile about.
 
 Caroline Lucas has her picture taken as she celebrates outside the Brighton Centre Photo: PA The leader of the Green Party managed snatched Brighton Pavilion from the Labour Party after a nail-biting eight hour count.
All three parties had a chance, but in the end the bohemian seaside resort voted in favour of the radical fringe party by a majority of just over 1,250 from Labour.
 
It was also vindication for the Green Party, which has been trying to break into mainstream British politics for more than thirty years.

As the other parties looked towards a coalition, Ms Lucas called on the new Government to introduce voting reform.

“People in Brighton Pavilion have voted Green in spite of a system expressly designed to keep out smaller parties,” she said.

“It shows there is a real desire for a more fair system and a different kind of politics.

“It is not just about men in grey suits shouting at each other, it is about improving the places we live and all of us working together.”

The Green Party put forward a record 335 candidates but only Ms Lucas managed to win.

However, the 49-year-old mother of two said the Green Party had broken through the “credibility barrier” and predicted more MPs will follow – especially if there is success in voting reform.

Despite being a lone voice for now, the former MEP said she will have real leverage in a hung Parliament on issues like investment in renewable energy and fighting climate change that many parties also agree on.
During a “street meet” to talk to her new constituents, she promised to shake things up as soon as she gets to Westminster by taking a radical stance on certain issues, highlighting ‘greenwash’ from other parties and making some “symbolic gestures” to raise awareness of fringe issues.

The Green Party has some radical policies in its manifesto including road pricing, taking the rich and decriminalising cannabis.

“I have been walking around the community and people are coming up from every walk of life to say how pleased there is a new voice in Westminster, there is a real sense of hope and excitement,” she added.
Richard Savage, Ms Lucas’s husband, said he was thrilled.

The English teacher said British politics would benefit from a radical new voice.

“We have a different voice in Parliament. We have a voice that will not say yes to everything, that will be different, will be awkward – I know, I am her husband. We need that, we need people who will challenge the status quo and say this is not the way things need to be done.”