'Invite the Greens' petition handed in to the BBC

13 November 2014

THE hugely popular ‘Invite The Greens’ Change.org petition (1)  was handed in to the BBC this morning by Young Green activist and student Robyn Meadwell, who started the petition, and Amelia Womack, Green Party Deputy Leader. 

Over 260,000 people have signed the petition calling for the broadcasters to include the Green Party in the TV Leaders' Debates ahead of the 2015 General Election. The petition is one of the top ten most signed petitions of all-time on Change.org UK.  

The huge popularity of the petition chimes with polling released by YouGov (2), which reveals that if the debates do go ahead as proposed, the debate that includes Ukip Leader Nigel Farage should also include Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett.  

Meadwell and Womack were joined by Green activists and supporters of the petition from across the political spectrum. The ‘Green surge’ has seen the Green Party of England and Wales climb steadily in the polls in 2014 (3) and membership pass 25,000 for the first time.  

The Green Party welcomes the BBC Trust’s recent decision to consult on its draft election guidelines. Earlier this week, Green Party parliamentarians Caroline Lucas MP and Baroness Jenny Jones, signed a cross-bench letter (4) to the BBC Trust which said “we believe that the (British Broadcasting) Corporation’s public service remit makes a clear case for wider representation (in the Leaders’ Debates) than is currently envisaged.

1 https://www.change.org/p/bbc-itv-channel-4-sky-include-the-green-party-in-the-tv-leaders-debates-ahead-of-the-2015-general-election

2 https://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/10/15/voters-include-ukip-tv-debates-include-green-party/

3 http://greenparty.org.uk/news/2014/10/30/green-surge-yougov-puts-greens-in-fourth-and-ahead-of-lib-dems-for-first-time/

4 http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/10/bbc-tv-election-debates-greens-snp-plaid-cymru-ukip

Back to main news page