Green party

Spencer Fitz-Gibbon

Dr Spencer Fitz-Gibbon, 43, was born in Moston, Manchester and grew up there and in Blackpool. Before becoming the Green Party's spokesperson on defence in 1998 he had spent nine years in the Territorial Army, including 5 years as an officer in The Parachute Regiment, and took a PhD in Military Studies at Manchester University, after which his controversial work on the Falklands war led to an acclaimed book - Not Mentioned in Despatches - and a Channel 4 Secret Histories documentary about the battle of Goose Green. Spencer went on to teach International Politics part-time while undertaking full-time childcare of his son Owain, born in 1994.

Spencer settled in Longsight, Manchester after university, where he still lives with his son. His Green Party career saw him heavily involved in the Runway 2 protests at Manchester airport in 1997, when he was the party's national spokesperson on air transport, before moving on to the peace & defence portfolio.

After running the North West Green Party's media campaign for the Euro-elections in 1999, Spencer was elected to the party's national executive as its media coordinator. Since then he has run some of the party's most successful national media campaigns and has written many of the party's publications on issues ranging from air transport and Green economics to water fluoridation. He was a major figure in the party's re-brand on the Real Progress theme as part of the build-up to 2004 elections.