Rupert Read (Norwich, The Green Party): A crisis can provoke the best in political leadership. Immediacy and clarity, brought on by the realisation of danger, can make middle-of-the-road administrators step out of their everyday roles, and do great things.But global over-heat is a different sort of crisis. Decisions now may create a better future, but the effects, good or bad, won't be known for a long time. If we're successful, then we'll never know how terrifying it might have got.
So we need a different kind of leadership, that is not brought on by panic. Vision - and urgency - need to be communicated...but immediate threats cannot be employed as a means of frightening people into action. And the scale of the changes needed can feed into an apathetic sense of helplessness. People will frequently reassure themselves that there is nothing to be done. So empowerment is key to the leadership we need, to let people know they can achieve great things themselves.
It's a no-brainer that, in a situation like this, the Green Party is needed more than ever. And in Scotland and in Ireland, the Green Party is in government. But the English and Welsh Green Party is very far away from that point, and needs to add something else to the mix. We need to give people personal confidence that, as we all play our part in preventing climate catastrophe, and as the government regulates to make that possible, our lives will improve in the process: as we live more local, more secure, healthier, more sociable, less stressful existences. We need visibly to show and embody the true, steady and moral leadership that is missing from other political parties.
The Green Party needs to be much more visible itself to articulate this type of leadership. The Irish Green Party has a Leader; the Scots Green Party has Co-Leaders. We need in England and Wales - in what should be the main Green Party in these Isles - to establish figureheads in the minds of the public, as embodiments of our ideas. In the next few months, the Lib Dems will be getting lots of airtime as they look among their own ranks for a Leader to succeed Ming Campbell. Campbell claimed that the Lib Dems are the "only Party" campaigning for a "fairer and greener Britain". The Green Party needs to vigorously and publicly contest that claim, and to make a serious case for why it is the Green Party that deserves public trust in leading the fight for a fairer and greener Britain.
For all these reasons and more, the Green Party will be ballotting its members to create a formal leadership team, of a Leader and Deputy, or Co-Leaders, this November. Among those who will be voting Yes (apart from myself): Jonathon Porritt, Mark Lynas, Darren Johnson A.M., outgoing Green Party 'Female Principal Speaker' Sian Berry, former 'Male Principal Speaker' Keith Taylor, Jean Lambert MEP (who outlines her support below), and Caroline Lucas MEP. They hope that our Party can step up and offer the public the example of inspiring, empowering leadership that we need, in order to deal with the very profound climate change crisis that we face.
Comments
The arguments in favour of their being a clearly-defined leadership structure for the E+W Green party seem to me to be overwhelming.
However, there does seem to be a significant genre of objection along the lines that the power given to leader(s) would diminish the rest of the Party in some way or other - e.g. by allowing the leadership to become autocratic, or by reducing the levels of responsibility for creative thought and practical action felt by individual members, or by causing the Public (through the Press) to see us as being just another bunch of self-seeking power-mongers.
These kinds of objections are clearly valid issues to raise.
In response to them, I would argue that we must, as a party, demonstrate exceptional democratic vigilance in creating and implementing any new structures.
This will show the Public, the Press and (not least!) the Membership, that the Green Party are now the best custodians, of relevant 21st-Century democracy.
As the time for action rushes by, winning the arguments on policy objectives, i.e. "ends" will surely become less and less of a problem. Winning the hearts and minds of people, in order to enable the scale of changes needed will require sufficient "means".
We have the most important story that ever needed telling on this planet. To get our message with urgency, we need effective, relevant politics, including leaders, to tell it best .
If you need to do something very big very fast, be sure you're best organised to do it - with a Leader.
I was quite intrigued by the first couple of paragraphs and your discussion of two different types of leadership – the reactionary and the proactive. The reactionary leader being the one who leads as the change is happening and the crisis is ongoing. The proactive leader is the one who leads the change before the crisis occurs. The proactive leader is the only true leader. The reactive leader is merely a manager. What your Green Party needs is leadership, not management.
Regards,
Jonathan Frye
Blog: Leadership
Post new comment