smoke and mirrors at the green party conference in bournemouth

Ordinary members of the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) may one day remember Bournemouth not so much as a significant “moment of change” in the UK political landscape as a fundamental shift in the balance of power within the Party.

With 1600 registered participants – a record – the new “ old guard ” could not have hoped for a more successful AND compliant Autumn Conference.

Grossly outdated and not fit for purpose, the GPEW’s constitution is one shared by all simple associations such as cycle or photography clubs. In spite of a membership now reaching 100000, the Green Party remains an unincorporated body. In principle therefore, and based on a ‘one member, one vote’, the whole of the membership makes all its decisions.

In reality however, the fact is that only between 1 and 2% of self-appointed conference participants do. Green Party conferences are not ‘delegates’ events, as wrongly claimed by Owen Jones and Megan Kenyon from the New Stateman. Any member can register, turn up and vote.

The Party’s strategy and policies are therefore determined by whoever can afford to travel to the Conference venue and find accommodation for 2 to 3 nights. As a result, an enduring chasm and growing democratic deficit between ordinary members, activists in Local Parties, the 800 strong Association of Green Councillors and the Party’s “Supreme Body” has been allowed to fester for over two decades.

With 50% of confirmed ‘First Timers’ attending the 2025 Autumn Conference in Bournemouth held days after the end of the internal election campaign, this event was also bound to attract large numbers of ” Zacktivists ” from the LGBTIQA+, Feminist Greens, Mulslim Greens and members from other such ‘Liberation’ or Common Interests groups who operate largely within their social media platforms, below the radar and outside of Local Parties.

Greens may find the very idea of “entrism” as something that is not ‘nice’, ‘ungreen’ and morally repugnant. Ordinary members may think this is a practice that can only happen in the Labour Party, Trade Unions or ‘leftist’ organisations, but that is exactly what Polanski and his ‘critical social justice’ digital warriors have done with impunity.

The flip side of a massive influx of new members with voting rights joining a few weeks or days before the leadership ballot deadline ought to have rang a few alarm bells from those tasked with the good conduct of the election and indeed this conference. But even if concerns were raised with the Standing Orders Committee, there was nothing they could do to stop such subversive activities.

Proudly clutching their Conference packs stuffed with ‘inclusion’ cards, card votes and flyers, it is difficult to imagine that 800 ‘First Timers’ in the Hall paid sufficient attention to a 250 pages long Conference Agenda on their phones as proceedings unfolded to make informed decisons. Very few were seen carrying the £13 hard copy of the Agenda which contained 5 long reports, 67 motions and 4 Draft Voting Papers. Unable to engage in much debate, raise pertinent questions and/or propose amendments, 800 participants with less than 2 months membership nevertheless exercised their right to vote and raised their hand on cue.

An indication of how unsound and ‘ungreen’ this Conference turned out to be came into focus when a sensible motion entitled “Eliminating external influence in GPEW democracy” calling precisely for a limited restriction in the eligibility to vote in national elections to members with a minimum of 3 months membership failed to be approved by a necessary 2/3rd majority.

Apart from a motion proposed by Brighton’s Alex Sallon – with support from Bristol MP Carla Denyer – and entitled ” Abolish Landlords” passed quasi unanimously because of the number of new and mostly young recruits in the room , the real winners at this Conference were the hard-line identinarians new “old guard”.

For nearly a decade, this determined identity politics ‘leftists’ faction has sought to bring about constitutional changes which would seal their control of the Party’s strategy and instruments of governance. Such a docile and compliant conference was the moment they had been waiting for the past 5 or more years.

More on Reports and extensive organisational motions will be dealt with in some details on this The Green Light blog at a later stage, as will a couple of important policy motions.

Meanwhile and in brief, clause 6 of the constitution as now amended does away with the existing Green Party Regional Council (GPRC) and its 20 elected regional representatives.

It is to be replaced by a 36 strong Council of ‘Ordinary Members’ elected for 3 years with 12 people elected every year using a single transferable vote and as part of the Annual Ballot.

There is to be a cap on representation from each region. On closer examination of how this would work, we find that 6 Regions out of 10 – including Wales- could be left out with no representation at all on the new national Council.

In addition, members of the 5 strong Leadership Team and the Young Greens co-chairs will now to be part with the Council with voting rights.

Part two of motion D05 deals with the Executive. Again, the Leadership Team and the two Young Greens co chairs are to also be voting members of this body.

So, the 5 strong Leadeship Team and the 2 Young greens co-chairs have now been given a much more significant weight than under the existing constitution.

Of some concern too with regards to the Executive, rather than being made up of 13 separate roles each with specific areas of expertise and responsibilities, the new model Executive will consist of an elected chair and 8 ‘Ordinary Members’ elected by the Annual Ballot of all members.

For practical purposes, it is intended that within one month of the election of the 8 ‘Ordinary Members’, the 9 members will set out what their areas of responsibility will be, using “an appropriate methodology “. Who will decide what type of methodolgy will be used remains unclear, although it seems that Harriet Lamb, the rather excentric new CEO may know a thing or two about the management of human resources…

Finally, motion D28 entitled ” A new pathway forward – constitutional ballot ” proposed by GPRC’s identinarian co-chairs Joe Hudson -Small and Laura Ecott is to replace the existing two thirds majority required for all constitutional or organisational changes by a simple majority.

Tabled in the last minutes of the last Plenary session on Sunday afternoon, the longest serving and most experienced member of the Standing Orders Committee Martin Hemingway, visibly shaken and exhausted, reminded the 400 lost souls left in the Hall that no other political party, not even Reform UK were so stupid as to change the 2/3 majority clause to a simple majority for constitutional matters.

Why the new “old guard” has been determined to push for this fundamental amendment to the constitution at this Conference, on its last day and in its last hour cannot be accidental. ‘Zacktivists’ and his social justice new “old guard” do not care much for debate and bottom up democracy. They are on control and on manoeuvres.

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