Lumley throws her weight behind the Greens
Joanna Lumley
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Thursday, 28, May 2009 04:57
By Ian Dunt
Actress Joanna Lumley has thrown her weight behind the Green party candidate in the upcoming European elections.
Political analysts have been watching the former Ab Fab star closely since her expertly conducted Gurkha campaign, with some observers half-expecting her to run for parliament.
Instead, Ms Lumley threw her support behind Caroline Lucas, the Green party leader looking to keep her seat in the European elections.
"Caroline Lucas is a tireless campaigner in the European parliament, staunchly defending human rights, and strongly promoting greater protection for animals," she said.
Ms Lucas said she was honoured to have Ms Lumley support her campaign.
"People recognise Joanna Lumley as someone with great integrity and admire her passion and commitment to the campaigns that she supports," she said.
In a separate development, the Greens are becoming increasingly optimistic about the level of support they receive on June 4th in the aftermath of the expenses scandal.
Analysts are expecting smaller parties to do well as a result of many disillusioned voters staying at home and others turning to the far-right.
But party officials stress the Greens are picking up many votes as well.
A YouGov poll conducted for the Greens found voters thought the party was the least likely to put its own finances above those of the public.
Only five per cent of respondents thought the greens were likely to put their self-interest before the country's.
Labour were least trusted, with 45 per cent saying they were likely to put financial self-interest before the country.
The Tories were just behind with 40 per cent.