View source for Real progress

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'''''Real Progress''''' was a strapline, brand and theme of the [[Green Party of England and Wales]] in the [[2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2004 European Parliament election]] and the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 UK general election]]. It was the subject of a [[The Guardian|Guardian]] editorial simply entitled "Real progress". 

==Origins==
It was conceived by the Publications Co-ordinator on the [[Green Party of England and Wales#Executive]] 25-year-old Matt Wootton in late Summer 2003. It was first used in a leaflet at the Green Party's Autumn Conference in Lancaster in 2003. The Real Progress phrase was based on a theme initiated by External Communications Co-ordinator 2000–2004 Dr Spencer Fitz-Gibbon. By the end of the year Wootton had employed graphic designer [[Jim Killock]] to unify the words Green Party and Real Progress in a single "badge" and the "lozenge" was born, inspired as a homage to the European Green Party's "rhomb" which Wootton and Killock considered clunky (see [http://www.matthewwootton.com/Green%20Party%20rebrand%20photos.html Wootton's homepage]).

==Stylistic changes==
The Real Progress rebrand was also a house style change, using a new set of colours, according to Wootton's website, inspired by the colours used on the website of the [[Swedish Green Party]].

The rebrand utilised a designer typeface - the first time the Green Party had used one - which was chosen to be the modern-looking [http://www.fontshop.com/fonts/downloads/fontfont/ff_profile FF Profile] which was chosen for its progressive, clean and slightly quirky qualities.

==Impact and significance==
The rebrand was first launched to the media at the Spring Conference 2004 and made was covered by the BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3501428.stm] and [[The Times]]. The Times article<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110523143339/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1041016.ece Greens to drop sandals for suits and soundbites]</ref> demonstrates the importance of the rebrand to the Green Party at that time, with the party apparently eschewing "beards, sandals and nut cutlets" for "sharp suits, a new colour scheme, a corporate logo and an “upbeat” range of “commonsense” policies."

Although not an essentially research-based rebrand created using qualitative feedback, Wootton and Killock (Killock joined the Executive the next year) went on to become the party's two leading advocates of research and demographics.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

A series of Guardian articles are below, demonstrating the impact of the rebranding.

==References==
<references />
*[https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,,1167246,00.html Greens push towards June elections]
*[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,,1168182,00.html Green Day]
*[https://www.theguardian.com/eu/story/0,,1165290,00.html Guardian editorial Leader]
*[https://www.theguardian.com/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1163291,00.html Greens rebranding to attract June votes]

{{GPEW|Organisation}}

[[Category:British political phrases (2000–present)]]
[[Category:Green Party of England and Wales]]
[[Category:2004 quotations]]
[[Category:Slogans]]