• Natural Law Party congratulates Ken Livingstone and offers to help him improve quality of life in London

• Natural Law Party candidates in local elections significantly increase their share of the votes

London, 5 May, 2000:

Commenting on the result of the election for Mayor of London, Dr Geoffrey Clements, the Natural Law Party’s mayoral candidate, has applauded Ken Livingstone for the genuine way in which he said in his victory speech that he wants to establish a broad coalition for the benefit of all Londoners.

"We are very pleased that the policy of establishing an all-party government, which we have promoted throughout this campaign and since 1992, is now coming to fruition," Dr Clements said. "We will certainly take up Mr Livingstone’s offer that he will listen to anyone who wants to do good for London. We have developed a deep rapport with Ken during the campaign and have already presented to him today, following his election, a collection of 600 published scientific research papers that demonstrate the benefits that Natural Law programmes could bring to London, to create a pollution-free, crime-free, and stress-free city that is truly healthy, happy and prosperous, at peace with itself and the world."

Dr Clements added that he hopes to have further meetings with Ken Livingstone and his new team in the near future to follow through on this.

In the election for mayor the Natural Law Party received 0.3% of first preference votes and 1.25% of second preference. "We are very pleased that the Natural Law Party’s policies have been received warmly throughout the campaign by a wide variety of audiences, and that the spirit of co-operation expressed by Mr Livingstone has been taken up by all of the main candidates. Our canvassing of the electorate clearly indicates that they are open to practical new ideas and solutions and are tired of endless media reports of the political bickering of the old parties," Dr Clements said.

Natural Law candidates achieve up to 23.9% in West Lancs

Elsewhere in the country, Natural Law Party candidates in local council elections have all increased their share of the vote. In West Lancashire, the party’s 18 candidates received an average of 6.1% of the votes in the district council elections. Two candidates received over 10% and a third, John Collins, regional party leader, received 23.9% in the ward of Birch Green, well ahead of the Conservative candidate and second only to Labour.

"We are very pleased to have achieved an overall increase of 79% in our share of the votes since last year’s local elections," Mr Collins said. "It won’t be long until the Natural Law Party has district councillors in Britain." He added that the result was particularly significant in the light of the fact that their campaign was given no coverage whatsoever in the national and local press.

Mr Collins said that people appreciated the significance of Natural Law policies more and more, particularly in areas such as protecting the environment and reducing crime. He quoted an example of cross-party collaboration initiated by the Natural Law Party to oppose the development of a new waste landfill site not far from schools and homes in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. After various hearings in the last few years the group finally won the case last Wednesday, 3 May. The Natural Law Party places a strong emphasis on recycling waste rather than the use of landfill sites or incinerators, which pollute land, air, and water.

Other results for the Natural Law Party across the country include David Cooke (Hitchin) at 7%, Patricia Saunders (St Albans) at 2%, and Loretta Basker (Colchester) at 2.5%.