Brighton Pavilion Goes Green

Whatever words you might use about the 2010 General Election, “predictable” is unlikely to feature. The people have spoken - but what have they said? Pretty much, “Labour has lost, the Conservatives haven’t won, and this is what we think of the Lib Dem revival.” But there are some shining points of light – like the trouncing of the BNP; and, in Brighton Pavilion (next door to my constituency), the election of Britain’s first Green MP. Caroline Lucas won with a majority of 1,252 over Labour, and beat the Conservatives into third place. So congratulations to Dr. Lucas, who now steps down from being Green MEP for the South East to concentrate on matters closer to home. After sharing a platform with the Green, Conservative and UKIP Prospective Parliamentary Candidates for Brighton Pavilion a couple of weeks back (see blog for 14 April), it’s great to be able to report that the right candidate won (and not just because of her warm words about my Living Streets presentation of an alternative vision for transport!). Caroline Lucas was the most knowledgeable, articulate and capable of the three participants, and displayed an admirable grasp of both national and local transport concerns. Let’s hope that, when the General Election gets re-run, as it will, Dr Lucas can hang on to the seat.