- author, Paul Seddon
- role, Political reporter
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The Green Party co-leader told the BBC that finding alternative ways of measuring economic success could help build a fairer society.
The party has long argued that economic growth leads to resource overuse and should not be the government’s default goal.
Adrian Ramsay said relying on gross domestic product (GDP) to judge the state of the economy was a “blunt instrument”.
He added that decisions about what policies to pursue should reflect the “broader economic measures.”
This contrasts with other parties, which often tout plans to promote economic growth during election campaigns.
Speaking on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Ramsay defended his party’s approach, adding that they had a “strong message about the kind of economy we want”.
“A Green Party principle is that using GDP as a measure of economic success is not enough,” he added.
He added that the statistics “don’t tell us how unequal our society is”, whether public services are working or measure the impact on the environment.
“We need a broader economic package of health and wellbeing, prosperity, jobs and public services,” he added.
He added that policies such as the proposed tax on the richest 1% would help fund improvements to the NHS.
“Consumerism”
The UK’s main GDP indicator is produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and aims to measure the size of the economy as a whole.
GDP forecasts play a key role in determining tax and spending decisions, as governments rely on official GDP forecasts to determine which policies are feasible.
It is also expected to play a key role in the UK general election campaign.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak cited the economic growth figure in his speech announcing the poll, and Labour has made achieving the “highest sustained growth” among the G7 countries one of its five missions for winning power.
In recent years, a number of alternative indicators have been developed that attempt to capture other aspects of the economy.
Since 2010, the ONS has also measured external well-being alongside economic growth, which assesses health, relationships, education, skills and a person’s financial situation and environment.
In its principle document, the Greens promote a focus on “consumerism”, saying other indicators can better capture the extent to which economic policies protect nature and improve welfare.
The Green Party in England and Wales is a separate organisation to the Scottish Green Party, which fields candidates in Scotland.
The party is aiming to stand in every seat in England and Wales for the first time, which means it will need to field 103 more candidates than in the last election in 2019.
However, the party is expected to focus on a small number of target constituencies, including the new constituency of Waveney Valley, where Mr Ramsay is candidate.
Other targets include the new seat of Bristol Central, North Herefordshire and Brighton Pavilion, where current Green Party MP Caroline Lucas is retiring.
The full list of candidates will be published on the BBC website after nominations close on Friday 7 June.
