Elections. Elections. Elections: Red & Green for the win
Some lessons halfway through the biggest election year in history
The expected and massive election victory of Keir Starmer’s Labour in the UK and the surprise but tight victory of the French left in elections held earlier this month have a commonality: the narrative is generally about who people voted against, not what they voted for. And for climate action, that matters. There is a narrative in some political circles that climate action is too controversial and a vote loser—both the French and the British elections demonstrate yet again that this is not true.
Climate action is widely popular. Recent global polling by the University of Oxford and UNDP shows that about 80% of people in the countries polled want their governments to do more on climate change. While that support doesn’t always translate into specific climate actions or policies, we know from Sadiq Khan’s recent re-election as London Mayor for an historic third term, that a properly advocated climate policy, particularly one that has tangible benefits—like better health outcomes—is not only not a political problem but is an asset.
It is of course true that there was a significant vote against the incompetent and corrupt Conservative government—as well as a real effort in France to stop the extreme right. But people don’t just vote against—they vote for something. For example, in the UK, people could have voted (and many did) for the Liberal Democrats, Greens or Reform to vote against the Conservatives, and there were similar choices in France.
People voted FOR climate action
Polling found that the Conservative U-turn on their climate policies—for example, by granting permits to drill for oil in the North Sea or postponing the sale ban for internal-combustion engine vehicles—was unpopular and cost them votes to Labour and Liberal Democrats. The Green Party also made gains—especially in constituencies where climate change and Gaza were vote-determining issues for many. Effectively, there was broad support across the centre and left of the political spectrum for climate action, in the context of the economic commitments made by Labour in particular.
According to another poll by More in Common, a British non-profit, what made climate action popular with voters was not just its environmental implications, but its capacity to tackle the cost of living crisis, British people’s main stated concern ahead of the election.
It’s important to bear in mind that Labour’s number of seats was to a large extent a result of the UK’s first-past-the-post electoral system, rather than of a surge in votes. In fact, despite the resounding victory, Labour got both a lower number of votes and a lower share of the total vote than it did under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn in 2017, where there were stronger economic justice and climate policies in the Labour platform.
There was a similar dynamic in France. The New Popular Front (i.e., the left coalition) was a coalition among parties seeking economic justice (the Socialists and others) and others seeking environmental action—the Greens. Set up to provide a united front against the rise of the far right, this left coalition stood on a platform explicitly seeking economic and environmental justice.
The results of the second round of the French legislative elections seemed to surprise the world, but support for the need for economic change and environmental preservation had been building over time (a similar coalition came second in the French legislative elections in 2022 and the left leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, very nearly made the presidential runoff of the top two candidates, narrowly missing second by about 1% of the vote).
There are lessons for others to take too. The European Union’s 2020 European Green Deal didn’t include enough economic justice measures, and in many ways it promoted a technocratic / neo-liberal approach, not paying enough attention to the need for lowering costs for working class people and to the need to create good well-paying jobs for those who need it the most. The results of the 2024 EU Parliamentary elections—in which the foretold rise of the far right failed to fully materialise—demonstrate that, politically, there is room to fix the European Green Deal to promote social justice, rather than bow to the far right demands to end climate action.
As for the USA, there are important lessons here about being bold about environmental and economic justice. Its Inflation Reduction Act is a singular achievement of President Biden, providing economic and social justice, and was totally opposed by Republicans—despite evidence that Republican States have benefited the most from the IRA’s green jobs. And while the US media is obsessed with his debate performance, it’s my perspective that the mistake was holding one in the first place. President Biden’s campaign should have cancelled it a few weeks ago, simply saying “the President doesn’t debate criminals.” But I digress.
Despite the main public narrative, the UK and French elections show that climate action can be a reason for voters to vote FOR a party. Having an opponent people want to vote against isn’t always enough to win. Providing a strong reason to vote for matters, and the UK and French elections show the way. Climate action is widely popular and it is a clear reason for voters to vote FOR a party—particularly when its economic benefits are made clear and accessible to all.
USA, it's over to you.