Bartley

Jonathan Bartley has responded to Jeremy Corbyn’s apparent rejection of an electoral pact between Labour and the Greens by saying that Corbyn’s words were “dissapointing” but that an electoral pact was still very much possible.

When Corbyn was asked recently for his views on an electoral pact in Brighton, he said: ““At the moment no. What we are doing as a party committed to the Labour cause and position, in opposition in parliament in order to maximise votes against the government, obviously we cooperate with other opposition parties. Does this translate into electoral pacts? No.”

Bartley replied by telling Bright Green:

“A progressive alliance would be about winning in a handful of marginal Tory held seats around the country, not any one specific area. It would happen at the next general election and it would be up to local parties to decide whether to work together to do this. In the last few weeks we’ve seen a real shift in support for one of the fundamental building blocks for any kind of alliance; electoral reform. At this stage Jeremy didn’t commit to exploring the idea, which is disappointing. The combination of a public demanding a different kind of politics and the bleak electoral prospects for Labour mean that this will no doubt be revisited.”

Bartley is running for leader of the Green Party of England and Wales on a joint ticket with Caroline Lucas, who has been the main Green driving force behind the idea of an electoral pact with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru.