The green party in England and Wales: Structure and development: The early years

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Abstract
The Ecology Party, the forerunner to the English and Welsh, and Scottish Green Parties in Britain, was the first such party in Europe. However, despite this primacy, academic study of green parties has concentrated on continental parties. This is because of their greater success in placing representatives in public office. Drawing heavily upon research conducted at the time, this article discusses both the development of the Ecology Party in the years to 1981 and also the national and regional structure of the party in that year. The discussion is placed within the context of the debate over ‘new parties’ and also that over the compatibility between democracy and oligarchy within political parties.