Council elections 2022: Green Party predicts double figure result in Wales

Anthony Slaughter says his party is the "critical green voice in the room"

The Green Party has said it expects its number of councillors in Wales to be in "double figures" after local elections on 5 May.

The party won just one seat at the 2017 local elections in Wales.

It says it is fielding "more candidates than ever before across every region of Wales" this year, 138 in total.

There are 24 Green candidates standing in Cardiff as part of the "Common Ground" alliance, where Plaid Cymru and the Green Party are working together.

• A simple guide to the Welsh council elections

Green Party leader in Wales Anthony Slaughter said its councillors would focus on "tackling the climate crisis and tackling social injustice".

The party says its aims will be to ensure warmer and safer housing, action on climate change, preventing the extraction of fossil fuels and measures to tackle the cost of living crisis.

Mr Slaughter described the party as the "critical green voice in the room".

"We've seen councils across Wales declare climate emergencies," he said. "The right noises get made, but the actions aren't being delivered.

"We need Greens in those council chambers, holding them to account, making sure the things that need to be done urgently in our communities are done - on tackling the climate crisis and social injustice crisis.

"We're standing more council candidates than we ever have before, we're standing in every council across Wales."

England and Wales Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay joined Mr Slaughter in Cardiff

The Green Party won just 1.2% of the vote - 12,441 votes - in the last council elections in 2017, but enough to gain one council seat in Powys.

At last year's Senedd election the party gained its highest ever vote share in a Cardiff Bay election, but it was not enough to win a seat.

Despite losing 0.7% of its vote at constituency level, it increased its regional vote share by 1.4%, with 48,714 votes.

"Our ambition is building on our best ever Senedd result last year to get that breakthrough and get Greens elected on councils across Wales," said Mr Slaughter.

"I'm confident it will be double figures and I'm also confident it'll be quite evenly spread across Wales."

This year the party has come to an agreement with Plaid Cymru in Cardiff to field candidates representing both parties - standing as "Common Ground Alliance" candidates.

Mr Slaughter said the arrangement is "very specific" to the capital.

"We're standing together as one party in Cardiff to deliver that change that Cardiff really needs. But I must stress it is just in Cardiff."

"People appreciate parties working together and I'm hopeful that it's the start of more cooperation at different levels, not necessarily at this extreme level, but at different levels across Wales."

Councillors will be elected in each of the 22 local authorities in Wales next month.

There are also elections in parts of England, in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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