Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, has announced that she will not stand for re-election in the Leadership elections, which take place this summer and culminate at the Green Party’s Autumn Conference.
Liverpool Green Party would like to thank Natalie for her hard work and commitment during her hugely successful two-term, four-year stint as leader which included several visits to Liverpool and the Merseyside region. Her visit during the run-up to the 2015 General Election was a particularly exciting time for the local party when we provided our own electric car chaperone to whisk Natalie around the city and was capped with a fantastic speech to a packed Sefton Park Hotel. She also attended and spoke to the crowd at very soggy Liverpool Pride march in August last year. More recently she visited the anti-fracking camp in Upton and spoke with members of Sefton Green Party at the threatened Rimrose Valley site. One defining characteristic of Natalie’s tenure was her ability to always give straight answers to questions rather than deploy ready-made sound bites, a trait sadly lacking in most politicians. She was also often seen on picket lines and demonstrations underlining her courage and integrity as a true grassroots politician.
Natalie has guided the Party through a period of extraordinary growth and increasing impact. Under Natalie’s leadership, the Party has increased its number of MEPs by 50% in the 2014 European Elections and recorded its best-ever result in a General Election in 2015 (amassing over one million votes for the first time and saving 123 deposits compared to 4 in 2010). In Liverpool Riverside, a target constituency for the Green Party, we jumped from 4th in 2010 to 2nd place in 2015 and increased our vote share by 8.6% and became the official opposition party to Labour with 4 councillors. Membership of the Green Party of England and Wales has increased five-fold under Natalie’s watch, supported enormously by her efforts to engage with and inspire local and regional parties, not least here in Liverpool and Merseyside.
We are certain Natalie’s experience and knowledge will continue to prove invaluable for the Green Party. Again, we thank Natalie for all her efforts as leader and wish her good luck in her future roles within the party.