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The party enjoyed a brief spell of success in the late 1980s. At the 1989 European Elections the Green Party won 2 million votes, and received 15% of the overall vote. Mainstream political parties, alarmed by this success, adopted some "Green policies" in an attempt to counter the threat.
However due to internal divisions over the direction of the party in the early 1990s, the Green Party fell out of the limelight and failed to maintain its electoral momentum. Due to this the party has not been able to repeat the successes it achieved in the 1980s, nor has it been able to match the success of Green parties in some other parts of Western Europe. Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system has often been blamed for this.
The Scottish wing of the party split to form the Scottish Green Party in 1996, which has members in the Scottish Parliament. The England and Wales wing of the party then adopted the current name. The has achieved some localised success, as is outlined below.
The Green Party has not as of 2004 succeeded in returning Members of Parliament – which must win under first-past-the-post – but it has 63 local councillors elected – gaining 10 during the 2004 local elections. The recent introduction of proportional representation for European elections means that it has two elected Members of the European Parliament ( MEPs), Dr Caroline LucasCaroline Patricia Lucas MEP (born December 9, 1960) is an English politician, and member of the European Parliament for the South East of England, since 1999. She is a member of the Green Party. She had previously been a councillor on Oxfordshire County C (South East England; [1]) and Jean LambertLambert, Jean Jean Lambert MEP is an English politician, and member of the European Parliament for London. She is a member of the Green Party of England and Wales, and has been an MEP since 1999. She is one of two Green MEPs from the UK — the other is Car (London; [2]). They retained their seats in the 2004 European electionsThe European Parliament election, 2004 was the UK part of the European Parliament election, 2004. It was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom using postal-only voting in four areas. It coincided with local and regional elections., despite a reduction in number of seats available.
Also elected by proportional representation is the London AssemblyThe London Assembly is an elected body that supervises the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London. It has power to scrutinise the Mayor and authority, conduct investigations, to amend the budget and to initiate proposals. London Assembly constit; it has two Green Party members, out of 25. These are Darren JohnsonFor the New York politician, see Darren Johnson (New York). Darren Johnson (born 1966) is a Green Party politician in England and a member of the London Assembly. He is the leader of the Green Party group. He is one of the Principal Speakers of the Green and Jenny JonesJenny Jones is a politician in the United Kingdom. She is a member of the London Assembly, and was deputy Mayor of London from May 2003 to June 2004. She is a member of the Green Party. She joined the Green Party in 1988. She was chair of the Green Party. The Green Party of England and Wales has one member of the (unelected) House of LordsThis article is about the British House of Lords. See also the historical Irish House of Lords. The House of Lords is a component of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also includes the Sovereign and the British House of Commons. The House of Lor, the Upper Chamber of Parliament, Lord Beaumont of Whitley.
The Green Party has been careful not to have a "leader"; its organization provides for two Principal Speakers, a man and a woman. The current Principal Speakers are Caroline Lucas and Keith Taylor. Taylor, a councillor in Brighton and Hove, was elected in 2004 after the death of Mike Woodin.