Eight new Green County Councillors elected; Greens make debut on two more county councils in region
With the county council election results just about all declared, the Green Party in Eastern region is celebrating gains and breakthroughs on to councils.
The Greens gained eight county councillors:
5 In Norfolk [incl. two in Norwich North]
2 in Suffolk
1 in Cambridgeshire
The Greens also held their existing 3 county seats in Hertfordshire (1) and Norfolk (2).
2 district seats were lost in Bedfordshire, but this was largley as a result of the change to unitary councils there, with green councillors having to contest different wards.
A major story of the elections in the East of England was the collapse of the Labour vote. Right across the region, Green candidates were often beating the party of Government.
The Greens also secured second place in a number of areas, including in Essex, pointing to potential further gains at the next set of county elections.
Overall the Greens now have 34 Principal Authority Councillors in Eastern Region, a net gain of 6.
Comments
The Norwegian Greens were mentioned in a national poll for the first time ever yesterday, with 1.5% of Norway's students saying they'd vote Green at the upcoming elections. The students alone would account for as many votes as we got in total last time! Hopefully when the Euro results are published we'll get some attention as well, with Green gains in many countries including Sweden, Finland, and France in addition to the UK of course. It's good to be green these days!