With a fraction of the resources and none of the free publicity given to the big political parties we achieved a record result for the Green Party across the Borough.
In Rotherham we received 2632 votes – almost three times as much as our previous best result, and built on our unprecedented success in the May local elections, where we were the main opponents to Labour in the town centre wards.
In the new seat of Rawmarsh and Conisburgh, we went from nothing to a fantastic 5% of votes cast, and in Rother Valley, despite it being a tight Labour/Tory contest where our vote was squeezed, we still managed to increase our vote and our vote share from last time.
People were clearly fed up with the Conservative Government and wanted to get rid of them, but, despite our unfair electoral system pronouncing this a ‘Labour landslide’, there was little enthusiasm for Keir Starmer’s alternative. They only received just over a third of the votes nationwide, and they received fewer votes in Rotherham this time than in their humiliating 2019 General Election defeat.
For the last few months we’ve been speaking to people on their doorsteps a d around town, and many of them have said that they want a change from the broken politics of the past, and that they like the solutions the Green Party offers.
We are all extremely humbled at the trust thousands of local people put in us – we all live and work locally too, and are proud to call Rotherham home. We are not just politicians who fly in for a soundbite and fly out again five minutes later. We promise to stay here and fight for our vision of a fairer, better Britain.
The new Government promises change. We will be watching to ensure that they give us real change.
Yours in hope,
Tony, Paul and Tom
Green Party candidates for Rotherham, Rother Valley and Rawmarsh & Conisbrough.