There has been a strong green voice at City Hall since 2000. That presence has helped to deliver policies as diverse as the London low emission zone to deal with air pollution, a unit to promote the London Living Wage and the civil partnership register which was adopted by national government.
When Ken Livingstone was mayor between 2004 and 2008, he needed the votes of the Green Party Assembly Members, myself and Darren Johnson, to pass his budget and we used that leverage to dramatically improve safety on London's roads and to initiate the energy conservation projects which have saved a lot of Londoners' money.
We also successfully opposed Ken's plans to build a six lane, highly polluting road across the Thames in East London by working with the local community to stop the plans at public inquiry. As a result of having Green Assembly Members elected, a whole range of issues from cycling to social equality and civil liberties have been pushed on to the agenda at City Hall.
A Green Mayor, along with Greens elected on the London wide list vote (orange ballot paper) could make a huge difference to London and the UK. We will cut fares, invest in public transport and reduce traffic. We will improve green spaces and reduce pollution. We will make housing affordable and hold down rents. We will reduce the gap between rich and poor. We will rebuild trust in policing and get police officers out from behind their desks by reversing the cuts to civilian staff.
It has been really encouraging that in this election those organisations and NGOs who have taken a detailed look at the policies of the main parties, have said that the Green Party have the best ideas. Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace said we had the best ideas on the environment, with Ken second and Boris last. The London Cycling Campaign gave us the highest score and Votebike are advocating a Jen then Ken vote for Mayor and Green for the London wide list vote. The Campaign for Clean air rated us top on policies to deal with air pollution and the charity 4children said we had the most family friendly policies. We feel we have the best policies to taken London forward and if you agree, then together we can make the difference.