Modest gains by the Greens overshadowed by surge in UKIP vote and moves us from 4th to 5th position electorally.

The BBC analysis of our performance in the 34 councils that voted yesterday is fair enough:

“In the battle for attention amongst the minor parties, there is no doubt Nigel Farage of UKIP easily outgunned the new leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, Natalie Bennett. But consider their relative starting points in local government.
Before these elections, the Green Party held 134 council seats across England and Wales. In other words, far, far more than UKIP. In Natalie Bennett’s first big electoral test as leader, the Greens haven’t made a huge leap forward, with a net gain of just five seats. One striking result came in Warwickshire, where the Conservative leader of the county council lost his seat to the Greens.

The Green Party acknowledge that UKIP has “touched a nerve” with voters, but some in the party are irritated that an outfit like UKIP, with what they see as simple but implausible ideas, is attracting so much attention and support.

While they have lost their place as the fourth biggest party in local government in England, the Greens can take comfort in some encouraging results of their own.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22396433

Amongst those encouraging results is a resounding win for former Wales Green Party Elections Co-ordinator in Oxford. Well done Sam Coates!

http://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=113

More analysis here:

http://greenparty.org.uk/news/2013/05/03/greens-celebrate-steady-success-across-county-despite-ukip-protest-vote/