The 2008 Green Party of England and Wales leadership election took place in September 2008 to select the first leader of the

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...

. It was won by

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-elected ...

who received 92.4% of the vote. At the same time,

Adrian Ramsay Adrian Philip Ramsay (born 1981) is a British politician and co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales alongside Carla Denyer. He was previously the deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2008 to 2012. He served as ...

was elected unopposed as the party's first deputy leader. Prior to the leadership election, the Green Party had two spokespeople called principal speakers instead of leaders. Lucas had been the female principal speaker of the party from 2003–2006 and from 2007–2008.

Background

From the formation of the Green Party of England and Wales in 1990 until 2008, the party had elected spokespeople called principal speakers instead of leaders. From 1990 to 1992, the party had six principal speakers and from 1992 to 2008, the party had two principal speakers: one male and one female. In November 2007, the party held an internal referendum on whether they should replace the system of principal speakers with a single leader. The party's female speaker,

, supported introducing a single leader, as did the party activists

Tony Juniper Anthony Juniper (born 24 September 1960) is a British campaigner, writer, sustainability advisor and environmentalist who served as Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. He was Vice Chair of Friends ...

and

Jonathon Porritt Sir Jonathon Espie Porritt, 2nd Baronet, CBE (born 6 July 1950) is a British environmentalist and writer. He is known for his advocacy of the Green Party of England and Wales. Porritt frequently contributes to magazines, newspapers and books ...

. The party's male principal speaker,

Derek Wall Derek Norman Wall (born 26 May 1965) is a British politician and former member of the Green Party of England and Wales. He was the joint International Coordinator for the Green Party and stood against Prime Minister Theresa May as the Maidenhea ...

, opposed the change, as did Jenny Jones, one of the party's two members of the

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

. The other Assembly Member, Darren Johnson, ran the campaign in favour of moving to a leadership model. The referendum required two-thirds of members to vote in favour in order to be effective. 73% of party members voted in favour of the change. The new system would involve leaders serving for two year terms, for a maximum of five terms.

Campaign

Caroline Lucas, one of the party's principal speakers and a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

, launched a campaign for the leadership on 14 July 2008.Caroline Lucas in race to be elected as first Green Party leader
, www.carolinelucas.org.uk, 14 July 2008 The other candidate for the leadership was the actor

Ashley Gunstock Ashley Gunstock (born ) is a British Green Party politician and actor. He unsuccessfully ran against Caroline Lucas to become the first leader of the Green Party in 2008 and was a candidate in the 2021 Green Party of England and Wales leaders ...

.Henry Deedes,
Pandora: Leadership election takes a nasty turn for the Green Party
", ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 1 August 2008 Only one candidate stood for the deputy leadership.

was the leader of the Green group on

Norwich City Council Norwich City Council is the city council for the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. It consists of 39 councillors, elected to represent 13 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under Labour control and led by Alan Waters. It form ...

. He was supported Lucas, and under party gender balance rules, he could only be elected to the post if a woman was elected to the leadership.Sam Williams,
Green leader eyes national role
, ''

Norwich Evening News The ''Norwich Evening News'' is a daily local newspaper published in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It covers the city and the surrounding suburbs, and is published by Archant. It is the best-selling newspaper in Norwich. As of 28 February 2011 the ...

'', 1 August 2008 Nominations for both the leadership and deputy leadership closed on 31 July 2008, after which ballot papers were distributed. In order to assist candidates with canvassing, the party's Standing Orders Committee decided to release the contact details of 7,000 members to the candidates. More than 100 party members signed a protest letter which questioned whether this publication was legal under the Data Protection Act. The issue became moot when all three candidates declined to request contact details.Statement from Returning Officer
, www.greenparty.org.uk, 1 August 2008

Hustings A husting originally referred to a native Germanic governing assembly, the thing. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event (such as debates or speeches) during an election campaign where one or more of the candidates are present. Devel ...

took place at the party's conference, and the results were announced on 5 September.

Results

The turnout was 37.9% of a membership of 7,565. This was an increase from the 20% turnout for the 2007 election of principal speakers.

Leader

Deputy leader

was elected unopposed as deputy leader.

References

{{GPEW, Leadership 2008 elections in the United Kingdom Green Party of England and Wales leadership elections Articles containing video clips Green Party of England and Wales leadership election