Enfield Green Party

It is with deep regret that we have to record the death on Jan 26th of Harry Mister, a lifelong activist for peace and the environment, and a member of Enfield Green Party. He remained active to the end of his life, though age and infirmity restricted him to letter-writing, and would have stood as our candidate for Highlands ward in May at the age of 92 had he lived.

Why the Green Party?

For the past twenty years, local authorities have been starved of resources and power by central government, until they can seem little more than a joke. But it doesn't have to be like this.

The Green Party's vision is for an inclusive, sustainable community which cares for both the environment and all its members. We stand for cheap, reliable, publicly owned public transport, universal, good quality state education, a significant expansion in locally run recycling schemes and an end to waste disposal methods which make big profits for big business while threatening our health.

To achieve these things, we need real local democracy. That's why our Green councillors stand above all for regaining the power and autonomy of local councils: making those in power accountable to the people who elect them. If you want your vote to count, there IS something you can do:

Join the Green Party

Big gains for Enfield Greens in local elections!

Enfield Green Party put itself on the political map in the May council elections, getting within 100 votes of unseating Labour leader Jeff Rodin in Bowes ward. The Bowes candidates, (Laura Davenport, Peter Krakowiak and Bill Linton) campaigned hard on truly local issues including the North Circular Road, local traffic calming, flytipping, rats and the general state of the place. Laura Davenport beat all 3 Tory candidates and was only 100 votes behind an elected councillor. Many Bowes electorate voted Green Party because they saw something different, new policies, fresh ideas and a trio of candidates who were (and still are!) committed to improving the area.

Enfield Green Party stood candidates in 11 other wards and saw the number and percentage of votes rise across the borough. The Green agenda is firmly in people’s minds and is swaying votes away from the more traditional parties and towards the Green Party.

A big 'Thank you!' to all who helped with the campaign, and to all who voted for us.

Detailed results can be found on the Results page

Turkey Street by-election gives Greens a chance to introduce themselves

A by-election has been called in the Turkey Street ward, just two months after the main council elections in May. The vacancy has been caused by the surprise resignation of new Tory councillor Margaret Holt. There is a suspicion that she has been talked into it by the Tory high command in order to create a vacancy for former Cabinet member Matthew Laban to return to the fray after losing his Chase ward seat to Save Chase Farm.

The by-election gives Enfield Green Party a chance to introduce ourselves to the voters of Turkey Street, where we have not stood before. Our candidate will be Bill Linton, one of the trio who pressed Labour so hard in Bowes in May.

Bill Linton is 59 and a retired computer consultant. He has lived in Enfield for the last 27 years and been an active member of Enfield Green Party for the past 4 years. He is currently Treasurer and webmaster.

A vocal defender of asylum-seekers, he wants to see the council working together with residents to reduce inequalities and friction, and to make Enfield a pleasanter place to live.

The council could do much more to encourage recycling, for instance by providing facilities for blocks of flats, and to discourage unnecessary packaging and so cut down the amount that each of us throws away.

The council could and should also do much more to combat the serious threat of climate change, by encouraging the use of solar panels and wind turbines, using them itself on council buildings, tightening building regulations etc.

Even in Turkey Street, some people want to vote Green

Turkey Street ward is not natural Green Party territory, as was shown by the result of the by-election on August 10th. Even here, though, we found a few hardy souls who greeted us on the doorstep with glad cries, and then went out and voted for us. Not enough to lift us out of last place, however. See the results page for the outcome, which saw the Tories scrape home by just 3 votes.

Enfield Green Party respond to the council's initiative on "The Greening of Enfield"

The council recently published a consultation document indicating that they had 'got' the threat that global warming poses and want to do their bit in tackling it. We welcome their initiative, and have responded with constructive criticism and suggestions.

Enfield Greens march against Trident, and for Chase Farm

Members of Enfield Green Party joined up to 100,000 others on the Stop the War, Stop Trident march from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square on Saturday February 24th, and a week later were again out in force protesting against the proposed cuts to Chase Farm Hospital accident and emergency services and maternity services. That one was smaller, but not much! Pre-march estimates of 10,000 looked about right. Our distinctive green banner was carried at both marches.

Thanks to all those who entered the Russell Road event competition. The question was, 'If we took all of Enfield's domestic carbon dioxide emissions (2003) and filled party balloons with it how many party balloons would we fill?'

The answer is 577,100. Caroline Simpson won with an answer of 850,500

A party balloon contains about 10g of CO2 and Enfield households produce 5,771kg of CO2 a year.

So 5,771 kg x 1000 gives 5,771,000 g per year which divided by 10 gives 577,100 balloons.

See you all at next years event.