Green politicians "most trusted to put Britain before self"

28 MAY 2009

Greens look like the main beneficiaries of an anti-sleaze protest vote - as polls indicate Greens are up, UKIP and BNP down

A YouGov poll to be published this week (1) suggests that the British public trusts Green politicians far more than those of other parties.

Over 2,000 people were asked - regardless of the party they normally voted for - which party's politicians they thought were most likely to put their own financial interests before the interests of their country. Allowed to choose three parties, only 5% named the Greens as likely to put self-interest before the country's. 

On the mistrust scale:

• Labour appeared to be the least trusted, with 45% of respondents naming Labour politicians as likely to put financial self-interest before their country.
• The Conservatives were almost as bad, with 40% naming them.
• Next were the BNP, the LibDems and UKIP on 20%, 16% and 15% respectively.

The new poll is out the same week that campaign group Open Europe rated Green Party leader Caroline Lucas as the joint best British MEP on accountability, transparency and reform.

The bottom nine places in the Open Europe survey were occupied by four Conservatives and five UKIP MEPs - with the tenth-worst British MEP slot being held jointly by UKIP leader Nigel Farage and an MEP each from Labour, the Conservatives and the LibDems. 

Voter-intention polls show Greens are up, UKIP and BNP down 

The Greens say that while there's much talk of an anti-sleaze protest vote going to the racist BNP, in fact the opinion polls are showing the Green Party to be a far more likely recipient of any protest vote.

The ComRes poll of 17 May, commissioned by UKIP, put the Greens on 11% and the BNP on just 4%.The ComRes poll put the Greens on 13% across Northern England - easily enough for Green candidate Peter Cranie to defeat BNP leader Nick Griffin in the North West contest.

The ComRes poll showed the Greens in third place in the South East, ready to return party leader Caroline Lucas MEP and scoop up a second seat for Brighton councillor Keith Taylor.

The next day a YouGov poll commissioned by the Green Party suggested 34% would either definitely vote Green or would consider voting Green in the Euro-elections.

22 MAY: the Guardian/ICM poll put the Greens on 9% - just behind UKIP (10%) but way ahead of the BNP (1%). It showed a Green increase up 50% compared to the actual 2004 vote (up from 6% to 9%) while UKIP was down 60% (from 16% to 10%) and the BNP vote was cut by about four-fifths (down from 5% to 1%).

Greens point out that polls ahead of Euro-elections usually underestimate the Green Party. In 1989 the Greens were showing in the polls at about 7-8% but their actual vote turned out to be 15%. 

Greens believe their million-jobs manifesto for tackling the recession and the climate crisis at the same time has probably struck a chord with a lot of people. 

Notes to editors:

1. Poll commissioned by the Green Party and conducted by YouGov. 

Fieldwork 13-15 May 2009. 

Sample size 2,111. 

The exact question was: "Regardless of the party you usually vote for, which party's politicians do you think are most likely to put their own financial interests ahead of the interests of the country? [Please tick up to three.]"

Your Candidates For Parliament

Andy Chase, City of York

Cllr. Jillian Creasy, Sheffield

Cllr. David Blackburn, Leeds West

Martin Hemingway, Leeds

Cllr. Dilys Cluer, Scarborough & Whitby

Shan Oakes, Beverley

Bill Rigby, Beverley & Holderness

Mike Jackson, East Yorkshire

Martin Deane, Hull North

Miriam Hawkins, Wakefield