Oh, No It Isn’t…..

Some of you may have noticed a comment on an earlier post from Gordon outing himself as far left. Now, if he is the Gordon I think he is, and I think he is, he is also an eminently sensible fellow. Calm down I’m not trying to give you all a dose of Cognitive Dissonance merely pointing out the pitfalls of stereotyping, whether they be Greens, Tories, Jews, Muslims or anybody else.

So, to put my previous post into the overall context I have to point out that the vast majority of Green Party members do not indulge in internal bun fights, and of the activists most are focussed on campaigning, winning elections and getting Green Party policies (the vast majority of which I approve) onto the political agenda.

There is the excellent Andrew Cooper up in Kirklees, the Norwich Greens and of course our London Assembly members and MEPs. Unfortunately, here in London we got squeezed last May by the General Election turnout and lost some really good councillors, eg Sue Luxton in Lewisham and Katy Dawson in Islington.

And now I have the onerous task of completing three ballot papers using STV, damn that’s hard. First up is the ballot for the Green London list for next year’s Assembly election and a full slate of Premiership contenders we have too. Jim over at the Daily Maybe has given his recommendations but he is biased. However, he does seem to be playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order.

So, here’s my top four Champions League contenders.

1. Caroline Allen (Jim’s Ref) (Website)
2. Darren Johnson (Website)
3. Sue Luxton (Jim’s Ref) (Website?)
4. Natalie Bennett (Jim’s Ref) (Website)

Did I mention the Norwich Greens? Oh yes. There are two of them on the next ballot paper which is another List but this time for the House of Lords, which we greens want to abolish, or at least reform. This one is much more difficult because it includes candidates from the Scotland and Northern Ireland Green Parties whom I know noting of and candidates with beards. I never vote for anyone with a beard.

So, here’s my top three Cup contenders.

1. Jessica Goldfinch (Derek’s ref) (Website)
2. Stuart Jeffery (Website)
3. Rupert Read (Website)

Yes, I know I’ve not seen eye-to-eye with Rupert on occasions and he does come across as a bit of a Dandy, but I have a soft spot for him.

And that Final ballot paper? Some of you may be wondering why Jenny Jones is not on either of the lists above. That’s because she is going to romp home in this ballot for Green London Mayoral candidate and will be officiating at the 2012 Olympic games. It’s called tactical voting! See, you can still do that with STV.