VoteClimate: voters urged to grasp once-in-a-generation opportunity

VoteClimate is a project that aims to inform voters about the climate policies of political parties and encourage votes for the most climate-friendly candidates. At the upcoming local elections, it’s predicting huge gains for the Greens and Liberal Democrats, winning in around 1,200 constituencies.

VoteClimate claims its research shows an historic opportunity to elect record numbers of climate-friendly representatives and administrations on 7 May. The Green Party is on the rise and Labour and the Tories are in the polling doldrums. Also, proportional representation can strengthen the climate vote in the Scottish and Welsh elections.

VoteClimate is forecasting huge gains for the Greens and Liberal Democrats, which it rates as the most pro-climate parties. It says tactical votes based on the VoteClimate website’s recommendations will lead to further pro-climate gains.

And this, the organisation believes, will send the strongest possible signal to the main parties that voters want urgent action on climate and nature.

VoteClimate crunches the numbers

The non-profit organisation has reviewed the parties’ climate policies and combined this with opinion polls to provide a pro-climate tactical voting recommendation in every individual election on 7 May.

Based on this analysis, VoteClimate is backing the Greens, the party with the strongest position on climate and nature, in 1,800 seats where they have the best chance of winning.

In a further 800 contests, VoteClimate recommends the Lib Dems, the next-best party for climate, in the seats where they have a better chance of winning than the Greens.

In the proportional representation elections in Scotland and Wales, where every vote counts, VoteClimate urges the largest possible vote for the respective Green parties.

Even more critically, in 240 ‘climate supermarginals’, the Greens or Lib Dems are forecast to win or lose by a majority of fewer than 50 votes. On Hounslow Council, there are nine such supermarginal elections where, in some cases, a handful of votes could make the difference. Similar opportunities exist nationwide, with six supermarginals on the Isle of Wight, five in Suffolk and five in Manchester.

VoteClimate director Ben Horton said:

The climate emergency is accelerating and it’s time our politicians acted like it. At VoteClimate, we offer voters the tools to take action by electing representatives who will make climate a top priority – and to tell the government that climate change is a major election issue for many voters.

We urge anyone who is concerned about climate and nature to use the VoteClimate.uk website to cast the strongest vote in the upcoming election – and to inform their friends and family too.

Voters can type in their postcode to VoteClimate’s local elections hub to see the strongest pro-climate choice for the May elections. And they can hit ‘Join now’ to receive pro-climate voting recommendations by email for future local, devolved and general elections.

Featured image via the Canary