*New party leader to be announced at the 2-4 September event
The University of Birmingham will host the Green Party’s 2016 autumn conference on 2 to 4 September where the party’s new leader will be announced.
It will also offer the party’s members a final opportunity to say goodbye to outgoing leader Natalie Bennett who will make her last leader’s speech [1]. The result of the deputy leadership contest will also be announced, as will the result of the other positions being contested in the leadership and executive elections [2].
Nick Martin, the Green Party’s chief executive, said:
“We welcomed many of our new members to our spring conference in February and we are extending a warm welcome again to those who haven’t made it along yet. This is an exciting time for the party and the only way our members can vote in the leadership contest or attend conference is by making sure they are paid up.”
Martin added:
“While there has been plenty of speculation about who will stand in these elections it is ultimately the membership who will decide. Nobody can stand for the leader or deputy leader positions without the backing of members and it is members who will vote for whom they believe in.”
The elections are informed by the Green Party’s constitution which requires that a candidate for (Co-) Leader or Deputy Leader shall have been a member of the Party for the three complete years preceding the date of close of nominations, and such nomination must be supported by the signatures of a minimum of twenty party members.
The method of election for the Leadership positions shall be the Single Transferable Vote. Nominations officially open at 10.00 on Wednesday 1 June 2016 and close at 12.00 on Thursday 30 June 2016.
About her decision not to re-stand [3], Natalie Bennett said:
“It's been a privilege and an honour to have the title ‘leader of the Green Party’, but every member of the Green Party is a leader, helping to lead the way towards a society in which we live within our environmental limits while ensuring no one fears hunger or want.”
ENDS
Notes:
Journalists wishing to attend or to register an interest in attending conference should contact:
Directions
http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/contact/directions/edgbaston-directions.aspx