Refusing the Greens ‘major party’ status is bad for voters (but good for the Greens)

Who benefits from Ofcom’s daft draft ruling that the Greens not be listed as a ‘major party’ for the General Election? Well, though the Greens are cross and have warned about the ‘damage it risks doing to British democracy’, they must know that this will help cement their credentials as an anti-establishment party. Nothing quite like a ruling shutting you out from having the same number of party political broadcasts as the major parties to make your supporters feel as though the Establishment is out to get you. And that sort of feeling is good for attracting supporters. It certainly worked after the broadcasters decided they would exclude the Greens from the television debates: the party’s membership shot up.

Though they are annoyed, they must also know that with greater coverage comes great scrutiny, and the Greens don’t much like being asked about how things are going for them in Brighton (Tim Stanley gave us an idea in the magazine recently).