Green party

The Green party is enjoying a new era, with its first MP making a real impact in parliament.

Leader Caroline Lucas was elected as the MP for Brighton Pavilion in the 2010 general election. She has made an impressive start to her parliamentary career, winning respect from other MPs who usually listen courteously to her contributions in debates.

Adrian Ramsay in Norwich South, Darren Johnson in Lewisham Deptford and Tony Juniper in Cambridge were also viewed with real optimism and, although they made progress, did not make any further breakthroughs in 2010. But the Green party now have a foot in the door for next time.

Its leadership attributes progress in the last decade down to the obvious emergence of environmental issues at the forefront of the political debate. This has surely helped the Greens make the shift from being viewed as purely a single-issue party to a "new and radical kind of politics" where sustainability and social concerns are uppermost.

But success has also been hard-won. Presenting credible candidates has been an increasing priority, while the nucleus of a core vote has been carefully cultivated. The reward was an increase in vote share at 2009's European parliament elections from 6.1% to 8.7%. Lucas and Jean Lambert were re-elected.

The wider picture is, perhaps, a little more frustrating. England and Wales' Green party is one of the oldest environmental parties in the world, yet its representation in Europe is below par. France and Germany contribute the bulk of the Green grouping in the European parliament's 50-plus seats.

Since forming in 1973 as People, changing its name to the Ecology party before switching to the current tag in 1985, Green party politics has felt more like that of an adolescent band than that of a serious grown-up. Now, after all these years, Lucas and co have the chance to take a step towards the big league.