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 Sian Berry tickets anm 'urban tank' or gas guzzling 4x4 |
Sian shoots to the top of the Green tree
Activist is voted leader of the national Green Party
TONY or Gordon, David or Ming: it doesn’t matter who leads the country, they are all the same.
This, according to Sian Berry, who on Saturday was elected as one of two principal speakers of the Green Party at their annual conference, is just one of the reasons the party she is now the figurehead of deserves your vote.
The activist, who lives in Fortess Road, Kentish Town, has made a name for herself locally: she narrowly missed out twice in Town Hall elections and polled respectable figures in the 2005 general election in Hampstead and Highgate.
Now she has a year at the helm of the national Green Party, and she plans to get her party’s message across.
She believes the advent of the Tories trying to clothe themselves in green is helpful in terms of bringing issues that have been traditionally seen as slightly cranky to the fore – but the idea of the Conservatives as caring about the environment is laughable, she says.
“The three main parties are now talking about things that have been on our agenda for 30 years, but none of them stand up to scrutiny,” she said.
“The Tories are the worst: they parade their green credentials, but the party’s natural bedfellows such as big business, mean they cannot be.
“The Lib Dems have a reputation for being green, but when you break down their policies, they are terrible. They support airport expansion, and PFI-backed road building schemes.”
She highlights what she terms the wafer-thin difference between New Labour and the Tories as another reason to vote Green. The Iraq war, Foundation schools, privatising tranches of the NHS – all could be Tory policies, but are being implemented by a Labour government.
She said: “There is no such thing as tactical voting. You vote Labour to keep the Tories out – you get a party pursuing policies that are the same.”
Ms Berry says one of her aims is to make voters realise the Green Party is not a single issue pressure group.
She said: “Of course, our policies are about sustainability – a terrible word, but it is important.
“But they are simply part of a wider picture. Our policies across the board consider the impact on our daily lives. I believe the issue of climate change is becoming to be recognised as the most important challenge facing us today, and other policies, such as education, health, and the way we manage the economy can have an effect on this.”
She also wants to break the traditional image of Green supporters. She said: “I do not wear sandals, I don’t have a beard, and I am not a vegetarian.”
Ms Berry had always been interested in the relationship between green activism and the Left – her beliefs are best described as green socialism. She grew up in Cheltenham – her parents, both teachers, came from Huddersfield – and she grew up in a politically aware household. She adds: “We used to hiss when Keith Joseph (Margaret Thatcher’s muse and education secretary in the 1980’s) came on the TV.”
She took a science degree at Oxford and became involved in student politics before deciding to help the Green Party with their 2001 election campaign.
The watershed for her personal career was the success of a campaign she managed to raise awareness of the damage done by Four by Four cars. The 4x4 Alliance – first featured in the New Journal – plastered fake parking tickets on cars across Camden and suddenly she found herself catapulted into the media spotlight as national papers wanted to find out who was behind them.
And now the aim for Ms Berry’s party is to make headway in forthcoming local elections. Brighton is a key council for them – they currently have six councillors – and Ms Berry believes in next years elections, when every seat in the 21-ward council is up for grabs, the Greens could hold the balance of power and therefore make a real difference in policy making.
She said: “Green politics work locally. Councils can do more to make their towns a nicer place to live. This includes reducing emissions by helping people with such things as installing solar panels, and making a difference on planning committees.” |
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