The B&NES Green Party are in a positive mood following the General and Local elections last Thursday, which helped the two first ever Green councillors become elected.
In total 28,749 green votes were cast over the region.
The Party enjoyed a ‘Green Surge’ on Polling day and there are now over 600 members in B&NES.
The MP candidate for Bath (Dominic Tristram), achieved 12% of the vote, the second highest Green result in the South West, after Bristol West.
In NE Somerset, Katy Boyce’s results achieved 5.5% of the vote, within the top 100 Green votes in the country. Both deposits were returned to the Green Party.
The two newly elected councillors in Bath are Lin Patterson in Lambridge ward, and Jonathan Carr in Abbey ward.
The Greens also doubled their vote share to 14% of the total in B&NES.
In some of the rural NE Somerset wards, the Greens gained up to 20% of the vote share. In many places this was the first time the Green Party was represented and in a number of locations the results showed a high level of support for them.
At the count, there were a few nail-biting moments where the Greens did not win by a handful of votes.
Party members showed great unity on the day with loud support for their colleagues at each result announcement.
Lin Patterson, one of the successful Green councillors, said: “This unprecedented result, where we came so close to winning in several wards and won in two, serves notice that politics here has changed. And this is only the start.
“More people are seeing that Greens address the serious challenges we face. We will work hard for our wards and the region in the best long term interest of us all.”
The Green Party in B&NES have taken the opportunity to say thanks to all the people that have given support and votes.
