Carla Denyer has decided to stand down as co-leader of the Green Party.
The following message has been posted on the Green Party Website:
It’s been an enormous privilege to lead the Green Party alongside my excellent co-leader Adrian, wonderfully supported by our deputy leaders – first Amelia and then Zack. We’ve achieved so much, taking the party from one MP to four, from 450 councillors to over 850, and winning nearly two million votes at the last General Election. But this is just the start for me and the party.
For me, my guiding light has always been ‘How can I make the biggest positive impact?’. And I’ve decided that for the next few years, the best way I can serve the party and the country is to pour all of my skills, passion and energy into being the best MP I can be, in Parliament and in Bristol Central.
We’re at a critical juncture in British politics. People are feeling deeply let down and are looking for real alternatives. And with the hard-right on the rise in the UK and across the world, it’s never been more important for Greens to offer a genuinely hopeful vision for our future – and crucially to put forward real solutions to make people’s lives better.
That’s what I’ll be focussing on over the next four years as an MP: fighting for rent controls so that everyone can afford a decent roof over their heads, tackling the climate emergency including by futureproofing British industry to secure good green jobs for this generation and the next, and to replace the racism and xenophobia at the heart of our migration system with common sense and compassion.
These are all issues that my constituents in Bristol Central feel passionate about. This city which I am so proud to live in and represent will continue to be at the heart of everything I do as an MP.
Looking back at what Adrian and I set out to do when we stood for election to be the party’s co-leaders in 2021, we pledged to build the party into a real electoral force, planning what success looks like for the next decade, getting more Greens elected, and growing and diversifying our movement. So I am delighted to celebrate our recent electoral successes and also to look forward to the future – including welcoming our first Green member of the Senedd Cymru next year, and seeing how many of those 40 second place results in the 2024 General Election we can turn into first places next time!
I am also proud to see the party growing – we recently passed 60,000 members and gained another thousand over the local election week alone. We are welcoming members and electing councillors with a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds, as exemplified by the new ‘Muslim Greens’ membership group which was set up last year with a bit of help from me, and is now going from strength to strength.
And why are we doing all this? Because we want to transform society for the better. Because we see from the other parties a yawning gap between promises and action on the climate emergency and on building a fair economy and a fair country, and we know that the Green Party are needed now more than ever, to make the case for the big ideas – not tinkering around the edges – to build a brighter future together.
I’d like to thank Adrian for being such a great co-leader over the last four years, especially the drive and experience he brought to the project of growing and professionalising the party, and his cool head and steady hand even in the most challenging political moments.
And I’d like to say thank you to our membership for trusting me and Adrian to lead this party through challenges and successes. It has been a pleasure to work alongside him and with fellow members, staff and elected representatives at all levels of the party, especially my wonderful fellow Green MPs.
For the next four months I will continue to serve alongside my brilliant leadership colleagues, Adrian and Zack. Then I will hand over the baton to the new leadership team in the Autumn when the results of the internal election are announced.
In this new five-party political system it’s all to play for. The future of the Green Party is bright, and I’m so excited to play my part in this next chapter as a committed and passionate Green MP.
https://twitter.com/carla_denyer/status/1920405086108275149
