Caroline Lucas, the current Green Party co-leader, has announced that she will not seek nominations to re-run for the position. Lucas, who has co-led the party for the last two years, says she is showing the ‘power of letting go’. The Green Party currently has a record number of councillors – and has clearly overtaken UKIP to become the fourth party of England and Wales. [1]
Lucas’ time as leader included the General Election – seeing her take part in the televised leaders’ debates, which a number of commentator’s said she won [2]. Along with her co-leader Jonathan Bartley, she then went on to spearhead the Greens’ local election campaign this year – seeing the party win seats across the country and breaking through onto an additional 6 councils.
Under the current co-leadership the Green Party has pioneered a number of bold policies, and continued to offer an alternative to the establishment parties. Lucas and Bartley have championed a shorter working week [3], trials of a Basic Income [4] and reform of Britain’s outdated and ineffective drugs laws [5]. She’s also cemented her position as a leading constructive critic of the Government’s environmental programme – which she says is little more than a ‘green veneer’ [6].
Nominations for the Green Party leadership open on Friday – and the election will run over the summer. The new leadership team will be announced in September.
Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, said:
"I'm really proud of the party's progress under our co-leadership. We have more councillors in more communities than ever before, we've put forward our boldest ever policies and we've challenged and weakened this callous Tory government. We've also started an internal party review that is already paying dividends - and will make the party more inclusive in its makeup and an even more successful electoral force.
"I won’t be seeking nominations to be a candidate in this year’s leadership election when the process starts on Friday - but instead will be focusing even more on work in Parliament and in Brighton. I believe that Jonathan and I have shown the power of working together, and that it’s now time for me to show the power of letting go."
Note: Matthew Butcher will be leaving Caroline's Office on 26th June.
[1] https://www.greenparty.org.uk/local-elections-2018/election-results.html