I want to believe that, underneath, something different is happening here in Norwich South. Regardless of your politics the phenomenal success of the Norwich Green Party has to be admired and respected. For me if it were any other constituencey I wouldn’t neccessarily be supporting a Green Party candidate. In fact at the European elections last year at the last minute I voted for Animals Count ! (sorry Rupert). It’s the sort of off-the-wall thing that I sometimes do and if it weren’t for Adrian Ramsay I might probably do that again.

And that’s why I will be voting Green in the forthcoming general election (for the first time in about 20 years) – because it’s Adrian Ramsay. Because of what Adrian and the Greens have achieved here in Norwich. There is enough support generally for the Green Party that for the first time ever the Greens have a real and substantive chance of getting their first MP.

My fear is that the people of Norwich South will do exactly what I said at the beginning of my last post – vote Labour because that’s what it’s done in the last 30 years or they are so fed up with Gordon Brown that they will vote Tory.

But what about Simon Wright I hear my former Lib Dem collegues shout. Well, at the last general election in 2005 the Lib Dems were still a strong force and still in control of the City Council (albeit as a minority party) and the prospective candidate was Andrew Aalders-Dunthorne who, to my knowledge, had fought in 3 general elections. In 2005 Andrew came close to unseating Charles Clarke. Rumour has it that there was some skulduggery and that the local party was manouvering to get little known Simon Wright in place. For me that was a big mistake.

Since 2005 the Greens have become the main opposition at City Hall and the Lib Dems have become a rump party with less councillors than when I became one and Simon Wright has had waste time re-treading ground just to establish a profile. Also a significant number of former Lib Dem and Labour councillors have come out in support of Adrian. My feeling is that the Lib Dems could be forth behind Labour, Tories and the Greens.

Norwich’s motto is Do different. At this next general election the people of Norwich South should Do different, make history and elect Adrian Ramsay as the first Green MP for the UK.