It's not much fun leading one of the smaller political parties in the UK. In a first-past-the-post parliamentary system, the London media are only really interested in what the Conservatives, Labour and (since May 2010) the Lib Dems are up to.
And if they do interview you, they often start by asking why you don't join one of the big parties. But the three main parties don't have a monopoly on wisdom. There are important, distinctive voices outside the mainstream and one of them belongs to Caroline Lucas, the leader of the Green party. I'm interviewing her tomorrow. What do you want me to ask?
I'm particularly interested in her experience in the House of Commons. She became the Green party's first MP when she won Brighton Pavilion last year and now sits as a one-MP party in parliament. Is that worthwhile, or is it a waste of time?
But there are plenty of policy issues to discuss, too, such as drugs (she wants decriminalisation to be piloted in Brighton), the riots (she has strongly criticised the harsh sentencing) and corporate tax avoidance (the subject of a bill she has tabled), as well as the environment, which she writes about regularly on the Guardian's environment blog.
We'll probably also discuss the Green party conference, which starts on Friday in Sheffield, where Nick Clegg is the local MP.
"There's a new party in town, Nick," the Greens say on their website. The threat implied in that statement is also worth exploring.
