So you have decided you’re going to vote for the Green Party on June 8th – now you just need to convince your friends and family to do the same… but your Dad thinks the Greens are a load of tree-hugging vegans, and your aunt is convinced that we want to replace banks with hope and wind turbines. All may not be lost! Here are five ways to convince your loved ones to follow your lead and vote Green.
Make the case for young people
If you decided to vote for the Green Party because of their support for young people, make the same case to your loved ones. Tell them about the Green’s promise to scrap student debt and tuition fees, how they want to reinstate housing benefits for under 21s, and explain why votes for sixteen year olds are important. Older generations might not realise the significance of these policies, so tell them why they matter to you – make them think about young people when they’re putting a cross on their ballot paper.

Members of the Young Greens. Credit: Young Greens
Members of the Young Greens. Credit: Young Greens

Brexit
Maybe your family voted to Leave the EU in last year’s referendum, but that doesn’t have to mean they can’t vote Green. The Green Party want to offer the electorate a chance to vote on EU membership again, once we know what deal is on offer at the end of the Article 50 negotiations. In a second referendum, we will all know what’s really at stake, and there will be no hiding behind nationalist rhetoric or misleading statistics on the side of buses. It’ll be a chance for those who voted Leave in the hopes of protecting their jobs and the NHS to change their minds, having seen how their votes are being exploited by politicians solely seeking self-interest.
“There IS a way to pay for all this!”
No one seems to believe this, but the Green Party manifesto is costed and its radical policies aren’t relying upon a pot of imaginary money. Policies will be paid for by making the economy work for everyone, such as by collecting the estimated £16 billion of evaded tax which is lost every year, as well as introducing a wealth tax for the top 1% of earners, a Robin Hood tax on high value transactions in the financial sector, and getting rid of the costly Trident nuclear weapons system. So when asked the inevitable money question by your sceptical friends, let them know that there is a plan to pay for reforms.
Climate change and the environment
Whilst it’s great to discuss Brexit and the economy, too often climate change is ignored in politics by the conventional parties. Ot’s an issue that will affect us all; from the working class to the aristocracy, from the north or the south, the twenty-somethings and the pensioners. Remind those on the fence to look at environmental issues when choosing a party to vote for, and point out that the Greens are the only party who can be guaranteed to have the climate at the centre of their politics. It’s the Green Party after all – it’s all there in the name!


An answer for political chaos
In 2017, politics seems more chaotic than it has for many years. Across the world, anger at the political establishment has seen the rise of right wing populist parties, who the political establishment have pandered towards in their eagerness to retain power. It’s enough to leave anyone disenchanted or unconvinced that progressive change can be enacted, and perhaps your friends and family have been turned off politics by this. But in parties like the Greens there is an answer; a huge change to the way we do politics. If your friends and family are thinking of voting for the status quo because they see no other option – or because they think we need some of that strong and stable leadership we’ve been hearing so much about – let them know about the Green Party’s vision. Green politics moves beyond the left or right, creating a society where we work together, embrace diversity, and value the planet over profits. It might look different to the politics we’re used to, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Talk to your friends and family and make the case for a better, greener, future.