Hear from one of our wonderful 30 under 30 participants, Kushal, about his experience of the programme and how it has supported him on his political journey.
My allegiance to the Green Party stems from my disillusionment with the Labour Party, which began quickly after the inception of Keir Starmer at the helm. For me, the straw that broke the camel’s back was Keir Starmer’s Labour going back on the party’s long held commitment to abolishing tuition fees. I feel that this policy is integral for a party that commits itself to representing people equitably.
The Green Party’s commitment to free higher education is just one reason that drew me in. Ultimately, Labour’s recent aim to entice would-be Conservative voters has seen them drift too far away from the social justice principles that led me to becoming a Labour member as a hopeful sixth former in 2015. Given the recent flight of many on the left in Labour, most notably political commentator Owen Jones, I know I am not alone in thinking this. With social justice values aiming to create a fairer and more equal society through policies such as reducing energy bills by insulating homes, decarbonizing the energy systems, Universal Basic Income, Free Education at all levels, workplace democracy, strengthening the role of Trade Unions and Racial and Gender Equality, I believe that the Green Party is best able to actualize social justice.
These are policies that ought to be actioned and so since leaving the Labour Party last May and joining the Greens back in August, I have been eager to secede from the comfort of the pub stool (although still maintaining positive diplomatic relations with it) and become more actively involved in pushing for a society that is more socially justice. The 30 under 30 program has offered me a fantastic avenue to take initial steps towards fulfilling this aim.
The 30 under 30 program equips young greens with the necessary political tools to effectively engage in political activism. The benefit of learning these tools is that young greens can become politically active in a plethora of ways. Through our sessions on community-based action and public speaking I have assumed stronger electorate-facing skills, but I feel equally more capable of adopting a more administrative role through our sessions on policy enactment and debating.
The sessions were engaging and insightful, a quality I attribute to the fantastic planning by the coordinators who incorporated a variety of teaching techniques into their sessions. For instance, in the policy enactment and debating sessions we were lectured on how debates are conducted and how motions are democratically decided upon by the Green Party before being given an opportunity to role play the process.
Given the nature of the program, it is fair to assume that all 30 under 30 attendees are extremely knowledgeable about politics. Nonetheless, some of us (including myself) were certainly less knowledgeable about the inner workings of party politics i.e., how political decisions like determining policies that the green party should enact are conducted. The role play enabled me to participate in this process and receive constructive feedback on my contributions to the debate. Consequently, I feel both confident and motivated to participate in actual decision-making processes in the future!
Following a thorough and engaging session presented by Councilor Jack Lennox on how to win local elections by incorporating the Green Party’s Target to Win strategy (learn more about this by here), the coordinators held an interactive session based on increasing community-engagement and strengthening support for the Green Party. Here, we were put into groups and given realistic scenarios that Green Party candidates may face during local elections. This was a conducive method for us to use the content we learnt during Lennox’s presentation to strategise for real-life scenarios. I found this session helpful because I usually read about local election results during my downtime (for example, whilst waiting for or being on an inevitably delayed Southwestern railway service – sorry, couldn’t help myself!) However, now I was being asked how I would engage a community that was predominantly composed of a Conservative demographic! Being able to pose strategies and listening to my comrades’ ideas (some of whom drew on their previous experiences of campaigning) has certainly led me to feel more capable of playing a prudent and effective role when being involved in electoral campaigning.
The session on public speaking conducted by Deputy Leader Zack Polanski was fun and useful. Zack (no doubt drawing on his background in Drama) got us into pairs with people we were less familiar with to make silly noises that cultivated a jovial and crucially comfortable environment. Zack imparted useful tips to improve our public speaking abilities. Personally, I found his tip of not filling gaps in our speech with sounds like “umm” or “err” and instead just pausing for thought very helpful as it highlighted a challenge I (as most people do) have when public speaking. For anxious beings like myself, replacing conversational fillers with pauses for thought can alter our perception of time (in my experience one second becomes one hour). Nonetheless, now that I have identified this, I am aiming to improve. Although admittedly for me, this is easier said than done!
Meeting a senior member of the Green Party like Zack also gave us a chance to get more of an understanding of Green Party initiatives and opportunities for us to get involved with the Green Party. For instance, he informed me of the role I could play within my London constituency by working with councillor Natalie Bienfait to proliferate support for the Green Party in Tower Hamlets. Since meeting with Zack, I have taken his advice on board by becoming more of an active participant for the Tower Hamlets Green Party. In early April I made my leafleting debut for the Green Party in the Bow and Bethnal Green area. Everyone was very accommodating, and I found this to be an ideal combination of socialising with like-minded people whilst exercising my political consciousness.
Incidentally, we also had lunch with Zack! As we approach election season, I intend to become increasingly politically active for the Green Party – an activity that has certainly been encouraged by my experience of liaising with more experienced and active Greens during the 30 under 30 program.
Young councillors were also provided with a platform to share their experiences and answer questions from us. I found this session invaluable as it demonstrated to me that if young like-minded people are playing a leading role in initiating change in their local areas, there are similar
opportunities for me to actualize my political consciousness. Certainly, this session ignited a spark in me to try and initiate positive changes in my local area.
Another aspect of the program that I found uplifting was the diversity and inclusion of the program. This program seeks to represent young people from all classes, gender and ethnic backgrounds and my experience of the program certainly reflected this. The Green Party is often cast as a magnet for
middle-class idealogues (like me), but I saw a broader section of society being represented in the program. That is not to say that the Green Party has completely fulfilled the goal of engaging people from a wide range of minority groups. Far from it, more needs to be done to dispel myths that perhaps alienate people from the Green Party whilst demonstrating to a broader section of society that their aspirations for social justice are best represented by the Green Party.
As I become increasingly active in the Green Party, I have identified widening support for the Green Party as a key personal objective that I would like to contribute towards. Undoubtedly, especially through the community engagement and public speaking sessions, the 30 under 30 program has facilitated the development of my skillset to help me to realise this ambition. My leafleting debut has already allowed me to put these skills into practice. In the midst of the Spring electoral season and the General Election, I was able exercise these skills more frequently.
The Young Greens 30 Under 30 programme has a proven track record of training leaders and activists including MP and current party Co-Leader Carla Denyer, along with several members of the current Young Greens Executive Committee. It will be worth watching to see what amazing things 2024’s cohort go on to achieve.
To get involved with the Young Greens on your campus or meet other Young Greens in your local area, visit our Groups page to find out more.