An attack on democracy: UK Greens excluded from election debates

The author contends that the exclusion of the Green Party from the 2015 UK televised election debates is an "attack on democracy," arguing that the party's electoral performance, membership growth, and policy positions justify its inclusion alongside other parties like UKIP and the Liberal Democrats.

• The Green Party possesses a level of representation comparable to or exceeding other parties slated for inclusion, including one MP (Caroline Lucas), two MSPs in the Scottish Parliament, and three MEPs.
• The party demonstrates significant popular support, having received 7.9% of the vote (1,255,573 people) in the European elections, placing them ahead of the Liberal Democrats who received 6.9%.
• The Green Party has experienced substantial membership growth, with a 56% increase in 2014 alone, bringing the total to over 21,000 members, and moving toward 30,000 when including the Scottish Greens.
• Excluding the Greens results in a debate between four parties that share similar pro-austerity, pro-fracking, and pro-TTIP positions, while the Greens are the only party challenging the neoliberal 'free market' consensus and addressing global warming.
• Public sentiment supports broader representation, evidenced by a petition signed by over 170,000 people and a YouGov poll indicating 60% of voters believe Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett should be included.

APA

Mortimer, J. (2014). An attack on democracy: UK Greens excluded from election debates. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/an-attack-on-democracy-uk-greens-excluded-from-election-debates/

Chicago

Mortimer, Josiah. An attack on democracy: UK Greens excluded from election debates. Green European Journal, 2014. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/an-attack-on-democracy-uk-greens-excluded-from-election-debates/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Mortimer |first1=Josiah |title=An attack on democracy: UK Greens excluded from election debates |publisher=Green European Journal |date=17 October 2014 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/an-attack-on-democracy-uk-greens-excluded-from-election-debates/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{mortimer2014attack, author = {Mortimer, Josiah}, title = {{An attack on democracy: UK Greens excluded from election debates}}, publisher = {Green European Journal}, year = {2014}, month = oct, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/an-attack-on-democracy-uk-greens-excluded-from-election-debates/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }