My message to Jeremy Corbyn: I can help you build a progressive majority

Through potential electoral pacts, we have a chance of beating the Tories in 2020

Caroline Lucas speaks to thousands of demonstrators gathered in Parliament Square to protest against austerity and spending cuts on June 20, 2015 in London, England. (Mary Turner/Getty Images)

Dear Jeremy,

These are exciting times for progressive politics. In the space of just a few weeks you’ve brought something into your party that’s been missing for far too long: hope. I’ve never felt so optimistic about a potential leader of the Labour Party. For the first time in my memory, the party of Keir Hardie and Clement Attlee looks likely to be led again by someone who dares to stand up for the radical changes demanded by the challenges we face.

I’ve shared many platforms with you, from opposing Britain’s disastrous and bloody war in Iraq to supporting investment in the economy in place of relentless and cruel austerity. Your inspiring campaign has put so many of our shared values into the centre of the debate in British politics.

The beauty of this moment, and what scares the political establishment most, is that the power of your campaign is coming from thousands of grassroots voices – not a diktat from above. It hardly seems a coincidence that the first truly democratic leadership election in your party’s recent history is producing such a powerful resurgence in optimism. People do indeed vote differently when they know their vote counts.

And it has been particularly exciting to see so many of the policies that have long been championed by the Greens resonating with such a substantial portion of the electorate. Like the Green surge of earlier this year, and like many of the social movements and new progressive parties that have sprung up across the world, an anti-establishment mood is manifesting itself into a real political force.

Jeremy Corbyn addresses over a thousand supporters at Middlesbrough Town Hall on August 18, 2015 (Getty Images)

However, to fully embrace this moment – and if Labour is to truly become part of a movement rather than remain just a machine – it’s crucial to recognise the multi-party nature of modern British politics. No one party has a monopoly on wisdom, or is capable of making the transformation alone: a diversity of progressive voices is essential for our democracy.

Greens, for example, bring vital and distinctive issues to the table – most crucially, and at the heart of our politics, is the fundamental belief that a new social contract will only ever be possible if it’s built upon the foundations of “one planet living”. Without a safe climate at the heart of our policymaking, progressive politics won’t ever take root. Indeed, there is no better argument for abandoning tribalism than the looming climate crisis we face. If we’re going to stabilise our environment and build a secure economy that serves our children and grandchildren, we have to work together.

For that reason, one of my few disappointments about your campaign is that it hasn’t focused more on reforming our ailing democracy. A truly progressive politics fit for the 21st century requires a voting system which trusts people to cast a ballot for the party they believe in. If you do win this contest I believe you should take this opportunity – and the huge amount of momentum behind you – to call a constitutional convention to allow people across the country to have a say in remodelling Britain for the future. A convention has the potential to energise even more people than your leadership campaign, or the Green surge, and to inspire the kind of feeling across the UK that swept Scotland in 2014.

In the short term, for the next general election – which will still be contested under First Past the Post – my personal view is that there is potential in considering local grassroots electoral pacts where progressive candidates are standing, so as to give us the best chance of beating the Tories in 2020. It’s only by winning that we have the chance to implement positive change.

By working together in the coming weeks and months we can continue to build upon the movement you’ve played such a huge role in creating. Not only can we provide real economic alternatives to austerity, defend the trade unions and make the argument for urgent climate action, but we can also start to imagine an entirely different future – of a new social settlement, an economy that provides decent pay and allows people to flourish outside of work too. Crucially, a new politics will provide a constitutional framework which hands power from Westminster back into the hands of voters.

The old politics is crumbling, not just in Britain but across our continent. We now have the chance to embrace a movement based not on greed or fear, but on resilient local communities, people working together and a stable economy that works for generations to come. I truly hope you win the contest on 12 September – and I look forward to continuing to work with you to bring about the progressive politics that has inspired us both for so many years.

In solidarity,

Caroline Lucas
Green MP for Brighton Pavilion