Anti-fracking activist Tina Rothery is running for Green Party co-leader – she may be just what politics needs

When I read that Tina Rothery, an inspirational leader of the successful anti-fracking movement, was standing to be co-leader of the Green Party, I wanted to hear what lessons from that campaign, which led to a halt on fracking across Britain, she would bring to the party. So I contacted her for an interview

During our conversation, Rothery was clear that whilst activists had differing views on a range of issues, the one thing they all agreed on was to stop fracking. So, they stood together and won. She elaborated on how they strategically tackled the four pillars of power that supported the fracking industry: media, government, finance and the fracking companies themselves.

When a local paper gave blanket positive coverage to Cuadrilla’s proposed fracking site outside Blackpool, the fractivists met the editor personally to say why the anti-fracking cause needed fair coverage. They then went to shareholders of the fracking corporations to show that the business case was flawed and every time another blockade happened, the share prices dipped. They also went to the ancillary service companies and got them to abandon the industry, persuading them that it was not worth the hassle. By mobilising people across the country to target the three pillars of media, finance and the fracking corporations themselves, they toppled the fourth and final governmental pillar.

Rothery’s passion for how social justice is threatened by climate injustice is clear when she speaks about the devastating impacts already imposed on the poor in the global south by the climate and ecological crises. As she explains, as someone from the rich West, “my needs and my rights currently take second place to my responsibilities as a citizen of this planet”.

About PR and electoral pacts, she argued that the 300 Green Party councillors are having a powerful impact on their local councils but the lack of proportional representation makes a breakthrough nationally more challenging, with the urgency for the party to prioritise tackling the crisis in the short-term.

She was scathing about Keir Starmer’s dismissal of co-operation with opposition parties, accusing him of colluding to keep the Tories in power. She argued that the failure of the Tories and Labour to tackle the crisis was the fundamental reason for why Britain desperately needed the Greens. For her, the lack of MPs would not stop her from fashioning the Green Party into a united campaigning force that, like David, could take on the Goliath of the fossil-fuelled economy, just as the anti-fracking movement took on the corporations and won.

She said that the media plays a crucial role in supporting the fossil-fuelled economy and the party needs to tackle it. It should personally engage with the media’s leadership to argue for prioritising the crisis but also work with independent non-corporate media.

“Sometimes the only way forward is to have direct contact with those you think are not going to cooperate and find out why – or at least understand them – if you can’t convince them and get their measure.”

She added “I’m running because life on earth matters. We’re having the wrong conversations about the wrong subjects and we need to pull it round.”

“Before I talk at a meeting, I think, why am I here? And instantly my granddaughter’s face is in front of me, with all of the other generations and the animals. That’s why I do it. That engages my heart to speak.”

About the party’s intersectional disputes she said: “We can’t hear the climate scream”. She proposed that the various factions should meet away from the conference, listen respectfully, find a way to unite and become one faction energetically tackling the crisis. “This is emotional. Our lives are at risk,” she added. “The future of every species on this planet is at risk. That is about as emotional as it gets and it needs to be. How dare we not engage our hearts as well as our minds.”

As a priority for Cop26, she supported Extinction Rebellion’s immediate demand for the climate summit, calling for a halt to all new fossil fuel investments. This would support the campaign against the disastrous proposed Woodhouse colliery.

She emphasised the positive aspects of the transition to the green economy. She mentioned a wind industry worker telling her: “I’m saving the planet”. This was a man who felt pride and honour at the benefits his work brought to our children’s lives.

She spoke about the joy of rediscovering cycling recently. “It’s like dancing with the wind. Nothing has ever felt so good.”

She would ensure the Green Party had an annual eco-audit to ensure it practiced what it preached and wanted an end to local parties using non-recycled paper in campaigns.

She was enthusiastic about the party’s sole MP, Caroline Lucas, and said: “It really matters that we support her hugely.” Observing that the “the IPCC report has made it clear we actually are all on a dying planet”, she said the Green Party is the only political opposition party which provides an alternative to the business-as-usual approach driving us off the cliff-edge.

She finished by saying that the fracking movement showed with leadership you could take people who had nothing else in common, bring them together and ask them to go beyond what they ever thought they were capable of.

This is what Rothery is offering to do as co-leader of the party if elected with her co-candidate Martin Hemingway. Goodness knows in the face of the depth of the emergency, we need all parties to go way beyond what they ever thought possible.