Isra-Mart srl : Green election update: Good night for SNP and Greens; AV defeat predicted

www.isra-mart.com

Isra-Mart srl news:



Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond looks set to continue with his strategy of establishing Scotland as the "Saudi Arabia of renewable energy", after the Scottish National Party (SNP) emerged as one of the main winners of yesterday's national assembly and local elections.

The Green Party was also expecting "a really positive set of results" after making gains in a number of key English councils.

However, hopes that the Alternative Vote referendum would usher in electoral reforms that would lead to increased votes for green parties and push environmental issues up the political agenda appear to have been dashed.

The full result of the referendum is not expected until later this afternoon, but exit polls suggest a clear victory for the No campaign on a desultory turnout.

Meanwhile, the SNP delivered a better than expected performance in Scotland, some commentators predicting that the party could be on the verge of securing a clear majority in the Scottish Parliament for the first time.

The SNP won a number of key seats from the Lib Dems and Labour, which was accused of running a lacklustre campaign north of the border.

Any clear victory is likely to provide further momentum to the SNP's environmental agenda, which has seen the government provide significant funding and incentives to renewable energy projects such as offshore wind and marine energy installations and set out plans to become the world's first "zero waste" society.

A spokesman for the Green Party said that, with results from a number of target councils such as Brighton still to come in, early indications suggested a "really positive set of results" for the party.

The Greens gained one seat in another key target council of Norwich, taking their number of councillors in the city to 15, while also picking up a number of other seats around the country. The Party confirmed that, as of 11:30 this morning, 114 Green councillors had been elected with a number of target councils still to announce their results.

In addition, Scottish Green Party leader Patrick Harvie retained his seat in the Scottish parliament, although the party narrowly missed out on seeing Jake Griffiths elected as the first Green Welsh Assembly member.

The wider picture saw Labour make significant gains in the North of England and Wales, where it looks set to secure control of the Welsh Assembly.

The Conservatives fared largely in line with expectations, but the Lib Dems endured a terrible night, losing control of flagship councils such as Sheffield, Hull and Telford.

Coalition ministers were quick this morning to insist that the government will continue, despite clear tensions between the Conservatives and Lib Dems over the tenor of the No to AV campaign.

However, a number of senior Lib Dems said the nature of the coalition would become more "transactional" with the party demanding further concessions from the Conservatives and insisting on closer adherence to the coalition agreement.

The poor results for the Lib Dems could indirectly result in a boon for the coalition's green policies. Speaking on BBC News this morning, Lib Dem Treasury Minister Danny Alexander said that the party would now push harder to promote the policies it has brought to the coalition, including much of its green agenda.