According to many commentators, last month’s London election sounded the death knell for environmentalism in the Labour party. Ken Livingstone stood on a green platform, with some of the most radical environmental policies anywhere in the world, and the voters said ‘no’. Instead they chose a man who supported George Bush’s position on Kyoto.
But looking more closely, the results actually tell a very different story. Although Ken Livingstone came second, more people voted for him this year than in 2004; far from putting off Labour voters, if the environment was a significant factor in determining voting intentions, the results suggest that Ken’s bright-green policies appear to have motivated supporters to turn out.
Unfortunately, the opportunity to vote against these same policies appears to have been highly motivating for Tory voters too. While Labour needs to learn a lesson about the type of environmental policies we put forward, these results present a much bigger problem for David Cameron. If anything, they lay the environmental challenge firmly at the Conservative leader’s doorstep. The green agenda has been fundamental to his rehabilitation of the Tory party, but to date we haven’t seen any concrete policies. Talking about the environment in abstract terms and evoking images of lovely bike rides to work appears, for many, to have lifted the guilt of putting their cross in the box marked ‘Conservative’.
But as a general election grows closer, the Tories are going to have to produce some policies to legitimize this warm green glow. And what policies to tackle climate change will Cameron be able to put forward when his biggest victory to date has been delivered by voters actively wanting to get rid of the most sustainable mayor in the world? Cameron’s slogan ‘Vote blue, go green’ might be very clever while they have no policies, but it’s unlikely that Tory voters will be so keen when the rhetoric becomes reality.
And the actions of Conservatives where they are in power – in local government – backs this up quite starkly. On renewable energy, for instance, a recent SERA study found that Conservative-run councils are twice as likely as Labour councils to refuse planning permission for wind farms. The natural response of grassroots Tories appears to be to adopt a NIMBY approach at the expense of real leadership on this key environmental issue. Whatever he says, Cameron clearly hasn’t won over the hearts and minds of his party or supporters when it comes to the environment.
For Labour, the London election results demonstrate that strong and innovative polices around the environment can play a vital role in making a positive case for a fourth term. But rather than being associated with restrictions, limitations, higher costs and feelings of guilt, we need to work on our progressive vision for the environment. Tackling climate change needs to be a positive driving force at the heart of policymaking, helping us deliver opportunities and a fairer and more cohesive society. We should be using it to spur the nation to create a better energy and transport infrastructure, build new and improved housing stock and generate ‘green collar’ jobs where they are most needed. In this way, as well as offering voters new opportunities, the party can demonstrate fresh thinking, vision and strong leadership, providing a compelling reason to vote Labour.