Richard Rout

Nearly a year ago, I wrote about the rise of the Greens in rural constituencies. Now, after standing as the Conservative candidate in Waveney Valley and losing to the Green party’s co-leader – while being savaged by the rural Greens – it is time to revisit the subject. I did not expect to come across so many Green-Reform waverers The last piece I wrote drew both delight and outrage in Green circles. I at once found it quoted on their leaflets in the constituency and was told I would rue the day I penned it. The reason? I acknowledged their hard work while highlighting their rank hypocrisy and, frankly, bananas policies. The Greens are now a slick and deeply political operation. In hindsight, perhaps even I, and certainly my party, underestimated that.

In the shire counties of England, a dark force is rising. No, this isn’t a dreadful attempt at Tolkien fanfiction, but rather the challenging electoral predicament we Conservatives find ourselves in as we confront a new kind of opposition. And this time, the little furry-footed gardening folk are not on the side of the angels. I’m talking, of course, about the rise of the rural Green.  In Suffolk, they are now the protest vote of choice, having taken control of three local councils – one outright and two in coalition. They’re springing up from Surrey to Staffordshire. And this is, I’m afraid, just the beginning.