The 1980s

The year after the 1979 General Election was a period of dramatic growth for Green politics in the UK. National membership shot up from 500 to over 5,000 and many new branches were formed. Lewisham was one of these, the local party being formed in September 1980, originally as the Greenwich and Lewisham Ecology Party. The local party’s first electoral outing was the 1981 GLC elections where Elaine Gibson stood in Lewisham Deptford, gaining 406 votes (1.6%) and Sue Kennedy stood in Lewisham West, gaining 242 votes (0.9%). At the 1983 General Election, Lewisham Greens entered their first parliamentary contest when Alan Hassard stood as the Ecology Party candidate for Lewisham East. His leaflet to every elector pledged an end to nuclear weapons, the introduction of proportional representation and the creation of jobs through local energy schemes but on election night he secured only 270 votes (0.6%).

Of course, the Ecology Party was to change its name to the Green Party. At the 1984 national conference it was the Greenwich and Lewisham Ecology Party that put forward a motion proposing the name change. That was defeated by 220 votes to 102 but the proposal was eventually adopted the following year.

The Greens fared better in the 1986 local elections, standing seven candidates and gaining over 10% in their best ward. Having fared poorly at the previous General Election the Greens switched their efforts to Lewisham Deptford in the 1987 General Election and secured 1.5% of the vote against the newly elected Labour MP, Joan Ruddock. Towards the end of the 1980s party membership increased dramatically and members began meeting at a local vegan restaurant, owned by two local members.

Lewisham Greens continued to stand in elections throughout the 1990s. The party fielded thirteen candidates in the 1990 borough elections campaigning on a platform to scrap the hated poll tax, introduce traffic-calming measures and set up neighbourhood committees. Green candidates came second to Labour in two wards.

However, the late 80s boom in membership was short-lived. Only four candidates would contest the 1994 borough elections, but results were still very encouraging. The then Co-ordinator, Alexandra Murrel, gained an impressive 17.6% standing in Drake Ward (Brockley). A decision was therefore taken at that year’s AGM to develop a proper local targeting strategy aimed at getting a Green councillor elected in the Brockley area. That strategy was followed through and saw the Green vote in Brockley leap up to 32% at the next local elections in 1998. Darren Johnson, in his first electoral contest in the borough, campaigning on a platform of reducing traffic, introducing doorstep recycling collections and providing affordable housing, secured 731 votes. Sadly this was not enough to beat Labour with 1,000 votes and it would be another four years before Darren was elected to serve Brockley. However, Lewisham Greens ended the 1990s on a high-note, playing a key role in the campaign to get Jean Lambert successfully elected as London’s first Green Member of the European Parliament. Membership again began to rise.

2000 saw local party member, Darren Johnson elected to the London Assembly alongside Jenny Jones and Victor Anderson, campaigning for the introduction of a central London Congestion Charge, the rapid expansion of bus services and the creation of 80,000 "green collar" jobs . Darren also stood for Lewisham Deptford in the following year’s General Election, gaining 6.5% and being one of the first Greens to ever save their deposit in a General Election. In 2002 twenty-four candidates stood for Lewisham Council, the highest number ever. A former Labour councillor was also selected to run as the Green candidate for the newly created post of directly elected Mayor. That election saw Lewisham Greens make their long-awaited breakthrough on the Council when Darren Johnson was elected in Brockley Ward.

Darren was again selected to run for Lewisham Deptford in the 2005 General Election securing 11.1%, the second highest result in the whole country. Darren was joined by Nick Long standing in Lewisham West and Anna Baker standing in Lewisham East. Local Greens campaigned vigorously to save the local swimming pool from closure and this was a key feature in their local election campaign in 2006 when forty-two candidates stood and Green representation shot up from one council seat to six. In a dramatic night in Lewisham politics, Labour lost overall control of the Council for the first time in 35 years and Darren was joined by five new Green colleagues – Mike Keogh, Sue Luxton, Ute Michel, Romayne Phoenix and Dean Walton. The past few years has seen Lewisham Greens become one of the most successful local Green parties in the whole country because they continue to believe in the creation of "a society in which people are empowered and involved in making the decisions which affect them"*.