Greens launch London bid

The London Greens have officially launched their election campaign, saying it is "ridiculous" that there are no MPs from their party.

The party is fielding candidates in 54 of the 74 London seats, campaigning on a platform of "people, planet, peace".

Under its '10 point plan for a green London' the party wants to ensure all vital public services are within walking distance for everyone, the railways and Tube are publicly run, and solar panels are compulsory on all new developments.

The Greens' best hope of winning a seat is with Keith Taylor, one of the party's principal speakers, who is candidate for Brighton Pavilion.

But Darren Johnson, a London assembly member since 2000 and candidate for Lewisham Deptford, is also hoping for a good return this time - despite the fact he is fighting against a huge Labour majority in a seat held comfortably by Joan Ruddock.

Johnson said: "It is realistic to think about having Green MPs, we've got Greens elected to all other levels of government now and it's ridiculous that we haven't got a Green voice in the Commons.

"So many people are now looking for an alternative particularly to Labour and I think we are proving we can get elected."

And on the party's hope for Brighton, Johnson said: "I'm getting more and more confident about Keith Taylor as the campaign goes on, the media reception and the reception of the streets has been really positive."

Labour disaffection

Chairman of the party Hugo Charlton said the party had a realistic chance of mopping up disaffected Labour voters, particularly on the issue of the Iraq war.

"We are doing better than the Liberal Democrats at the moment on talking about the Iraq issue, the anti-war stuff has been around for a long time but we are emphasising it now," he said.

"If you a Labour person that wants to punish them by not voting for them and you can't bring yourself to vote for Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats are having to pitch for the Conservative vote because they are mainly challenging in Conservative seats so the only real alternative is to vote Green."

And on the party's chances of getting into Westminster, he declared: "We have a better chance of getting into Westminster than the Tories do of getting into government."

Jenny Jones, the party's other representative on the London assembly, said even if a seat isn't won this time round the party has proved through its representation on the London assembly it is able to make things happen in London and make it a "happier and cleaner city".

She said: "There's now less of a credibility gap and we've demonstrated that as London assembly members, so people understand if they vote for us, we do get things done can we can actually deliver for London."

Best chances

The candidate for Islington South and Finsbury, James Humphreys, is a former spin doctor for Tony Blair and is rated as one of the Greens' best chances.

The party points to the returns from the 2004 European elections – when London MEP Jean Lambert increased her vote – to show they have a substantial presence in both the Islington seats.

In Dulwich and West Norwood, former London deputy mayor Jenny Jones is flying the Green flag.

And in Kensington and Chelsea the party is represented by Julia Stephenson, a freelance journalist who has redesigned her house to run entirely off solar power.