Who are the Green Party’s new leaders? Jonathan Bartley and Siân Berry are elected
The Green Party has elected Jonathan Bartley and Sian Berry as the joint leaders
THE Green Party has elected joint leaders for England and Wales after MP Caroline Lucas decided not to stand again.
Bartley had previously been co-leader with Lucas before the new election took place.
What happened in the election?
Shahrar Ali, a former deputy leader, and Leslie Rowe, a former parliamentary candidate, were also in the running.
Ali picked up 1,466 votes while Rowe gained 495 but Berry and Bartley won 6,239 of the 8,379 votes cast.
Amelia Womack was also re-elected deputy leader with 3,981 votes.
Womack had been opposed by Aimee Challenor, who had hoped to be the first trans person to hold the position but she quit the race.
What are their policies?
In a statement they said they wanted a new approach and be “the opposite of vapid, old school centrist politics”.
They also wanted to have a “fiercer Green resistance” to both fracking and the HS2 rail link.
Bartley said: "When faced with the environmental destruction of fracking or the spiralling costs of HS2, or the inhumanity of indefinite detention and forced removals of refugees and migrants, we are not afraid to join protestors putting their bodies on the line for what is right.”
He added: “In council chambers across the country, Greens are leading a political revolt against the status quo. We are more determined than ever to take the party to the next level.
“We want to take the Green party on a course to become the third political party in Britain, building on this year’s local election success to get a Green on every council in England and Wales.”
Bartley was elected a Streatham councillor in May 2018 and his lead the opposition on Lambeth council since then.
Berry was elected a Green London Assembly member in 2016 and also came third in the London mayoral race.
She has been a Camden councillor since 2014.
She said: “We will be championing a people’s vote on Brexit, tackling climate breakdown, ensuring everyone has the right to a safe warm home and fulfilling work that translates to more time off with our families, not more unemployment as automation grows.
“We are the only party who can be trusted to stand up for citizens in our nations of England and Wales, instead of the interests of big business or millionaires.”
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How are the Greens doing in the polls?
Since the 2015 general election the party has seen a decline in support when it picked up 3.8 percent of the vote to just 1.6 percent in 2017.
But since then it has regained some of its lost ground and polls now put the party on between 2-3 percent.
The party has been squeezed lately though by the continued dominance of the two-party system which has been emphasised by the issue of Brexit.
The Greens have also lost some ground to Labour’s more left-wing stance since Jeremy Corbyn has been leader.