Insert table 1 about here The Campaign The European Greens enthusiastically embraced the idea of Spitzenkandidaten (lead candidates) for the campaign and organised an online open 'green primary' in which not just green party members but all EU citizens could take part. A total of 22,676 people expressed a preference, electing Ska Keller from Germany and José Bové from France as the Greens' 'lead' candidates. The press response to this was rather muted, however. The level of participation was considered a bit of a fiasco, at least by the German press, which calculated that about 0.005% of the targeted EU population had bothered to participate in the primary (Gathmann 2014). The Greens again presented a common election manifesto (European Green Party 2014). The 'Green New Deal' theme that had dominated the 2009 campaign (Carter 2010) was present, but less prominent. New manifesto themes that attracted media attention in some national campaigns included opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)-a free trade agreement under discussion between the EU and the USA-and to 'fracking'. Most national contests were, however, dominated by immigration and the rise of populist right-wing and Eurosceptic parties, thus the Greens found it difficult to get noticed in the campaign. The 'lead candidate' option proved, however, to be a bonus for the Greens as it allowed the EGP to take part in high-level televised debates, with Ska Keller in particular receiving positive media coverage. However, national media attention to these debates varied dramatically between countries, attracting top billing in Germany and none in the UK.
This article outlines the Conservative Party’s approach to climate change from 2015 to 2022; focusing on its governing policy record and the wider political considerations that shaped it. During this time, the Conservatives’ mixed performance reflected competing political incentives for its leaders and internal party division on the issue. A detailed exploration of Conservative climate policies allows for two broader contributions. European centre-right parties often face common strategic challenges, such as competition from the radical right, but the UK Conservative Party case study shows that responding to these challenges does not necessarily demand the abandonment of climate commitments. We also find evidence that in this period climate change embodied characteristics of both a positional and a valence issues.
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