The Plot Between The Greens And Labour

The Greens are making a very tactically astute grab for left-leaning Lib Dem voters with the aid of a lot of free advice, PR support and foot-soldiers provided by the Labour Party. But don't let that fool you into thinking that it's red and green against blue and yellow. Oh no. We're not that stupid, or at least Ken isn't. In an election campaign like the London Mayoral race, with transferable voting, you work out who the serious opposition is and try to isolate them in subsequent rounds by enticing everyone else to trade second votes with you. The more stupid members of the minor parties get quite excited by this, hoping that you will be eliminated and transfer your votes to them thus making them look much more credible in future contests. The really stupid ones actually think you may tip the balance for them and push them into first place. Dumbos!

So when we encouraged the Greens to parade outside Lib Dem headquarters in Cowley Street with anti-Paddick placards, it certainly wasn't in order to attack the LibDems. Rather it was to drive a wedge between the right-leaning former police chief and the bicycle and prawn cocktail brigade in his party. By undermining the LibDem leadership, individual supporters can be encouraged to give some of their transfer votes to Labour and the rest to the Greens, with the result that they all end up with Ken as a result of the deal with Siân Berry. Smart, eh?

Dave Hill, my mate and Clapton's most famous pond life, writing in the Guardian yesterday explained it better than I possibly could, describing the strategy as "trying to build a big green and yellow tent that all fellow 'progressives' would be wise to share". Regular readers will know that I've always had a lot of respect for Dave's views - to the point of having lunch with him in Cantina Augusto, Clerkenwell back in January. So believe Dave, but don't believe everything you read in the media. When it comes to environmental viagra, mine's a stiff one!