Listening to Green Party Voters
As part of our party conference tour in partnership with the Centre for Justice Innovation — listening to voters of all stripes across the country — we also hosted a discussion at the Green Party Conference in Bournemouth, exploring whether common ground can be found on crime and justice.
Our fringe event, “Breaking Through the Noise: Finding Common Ground on Crime and Punishment,” was chaired by Alice Dawnay and featured Zoë Garbett AM, Amanda Onwuemene, Jane Slater (CEO of Transform Drug Policy Foundation), and Jason Kew, former senior police leader and drug strategy lead in Thames Valley Police.
The conversation explored why trust in the justice system has fallen so low, what causes crime, and how we can move beyond a polarised debate to build reforms that actually cut crime and rebuild public confidence.
During the discussion, Jane Slater, CEO of Transform Drug Policy Foundation, reflected on the importance of engaging across political divides:
“I do believe in the need for cross-party engagement. We have to find common ground and meet people in that place… actually I think some of these divides aren’t as great as we think they are.”
She pointed to drug policy as an example where people across different political traditions may share the same core goals — keeping loved ones safe and building safer communities — even if they start from different perspectives.
That spirit of curious, respectful conversation is exactly what our listening work aims to encourage.
Across party conferences and communities around the country, we are speaking with voters, victims and practitioners to better understand what people really want from a justice system that keeps communities safe and commands public confidence. Our party conference tour continues soon.