Although it has been documented that there is a large environmental movement and high levels of popular concern about the environment in Britain, it is a fact that the British Green Party is recognised as being one of the weakest in Europe.

It is the contention of this essay that the hostile electoral system favoured in Westminster Parliamentary elections has stifled the growth of the British Greens and prohibited them from gaining any seats, with the consequential political legitimacy and increased media exposure that necessarily accompanies such positions. The majority of this study revolves around electoral systems and why Britain needs reform if the Greens are to have a future as a politically influential figure. A comparative study with the German Greens will be used, alongside empirical evidence from a multitude of sources to back up these opinions.

Yet the evidence will show that the Greens are likely to remain on the margin of British politics for the foreseeable future, although the forecast appears somewhat brighter for the Scottish Greens.

Factors which will complement a 'fairer' electoral system to the benefit of the Greens are suggested later but

Briefly, other factors which could affect the Green vote include:

Further studies by Rudig et al seem to show the existence of strong factions within the British Green Party. They claim that it is essential that the differing views on party strategy within the Green Party "could have an adverse effect on the maintenance of the membership and activism base." Studies show that the left-anarchist position is most strongly associated with activism and membership retention. However, this same position of commitment to "grass roots democracy and alternative life-styles" is a most electorally unpopular position. Basically, the strongest activist and most faithful members tend to have Green opinions which are less than likely to win the party votes. Rudig et al conclude that to alienate these left-anarchists would be to place the future of the Green Party in jeopardy. Yet for the Green Party to "survive as an entity on a left-anarchist, biocentric footing" would be extremely unlikely to lead to a promising electoral future. Therefore, a compromise of positions is necessary to enhance the chances of the Greens arriving at the next level of political legitimacy.

For the first time in Britain in 1999, elections to a national parliament were held under a system of PR in Scotland. Also in the same year, a system of PR was introduced for European Parliamentary Elections over the whole of Britain. It is the European Parliamentary elections which we shall look at first. As we have already established, the Greens obtained 14.9 percent of the vote in the 1989 European Elections. The turnout in that year was 36.2 percent and the result for the Greens was no seats won. When we compare this with the 1999 European election results we can see a more favourable picture emerging for the Greens. Although the Greens only managed a 5.8 percent share of the vote, with a 24.0 percent turnout, they managed to secure two European Parliamentary seats under the new PR rules. This means that with a vastly reduced number of voters, the Greens managed to gain a degree of electoral success under PR.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Green Party, European Elections, British Greens, Tony Blair, According Rudig, European Election, Lowe Goyder's, Scottish Parliament, Advocates PR, Die Grunen, green party, electoral system, british greens, european elections, british green party, british green, electoral reform, scottish parliament, salience environmental, scottish greens, national elections, salience environmental issues, scottish parliament elections, rudig et al, edinburgh university press,
Approximate Word count = 5182
Approximate Pages = 21 (250 words per page double spaced)