Will Duckworth (born 20 January 1954) is a former British politician who served as Deputy 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 ...

from 2012 to 2014. He was the first Green Party councillor in the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

after serving on the Dudley Borough Council in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

from 2012 to 2015. He was elected as the party's second ever deputy leader on 3 September 2012 taking over from

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 ...

. In September 2014, he lost the deputy leadership election with

Amelia Womack Amelia Helen Womack (born 12 January 1985) is a British Green Party of England and Wales politician. She served as the party's Deputy Leader from 2014 to 2022. She is a co-chair of the People's Assembly Against Austerity and co-founded Another ...

and Shahrar Ali both becoming his successors. He was also the

regional Green Party first choice candidate on the list for the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...

Political career

Described by

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 ...

as "a true working class Black Country lad", Duckworth joined the Green Party shortly before becoming a founder of the Dudley Greens in 2009. He became regional treasurer for the party, and stood unsuccessfully in

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

at the 2010 general election. Duckworth first stood for the Greens in the Netherton, Woodside & St. Andrew's ward in Dudley in 2010, coming last (5th) receiving 168 votes (2.8%). He stood again the following year after campaigning in the ward and received a much improved result coming second with 1,068 votes (28.0%). In 2012 he was elected with 1,525 votes (44.9%) taking the seat from the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Duckworth claims he had completed over a thousand pieces of casework helping out local residents in the two years running up to the 2012 election. Duckworth stood for Deputy Leader in the

2012 Green Party of England and Wales leadership election The 2012 Green Party of England and Wales leadership election took place in September 2012 to select a leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. The party's incumbent leader, Caroline Lucas, chose not to seek re-election. The position was ...

, on a joint platform with Romayne Phoenix, who contested the party leadership. Although Phoenix was not elected, Duckworth beat Richard Mallender to become Deputy Leader.New Leader and Deputy Leader announcement
, GPEW, 3 September 2012 In early August 2012 Duckworth was selected as the lead candidate in the Green Party list for the

in the

region, where his party finished in fifth place out of ten, with 5.3% of the vote. In September 2014, Duckworth stood for election to the position of Deputy Leader again, but was unsuccessful. Due to a change in the Green Party's constitution the previous year, two new Deputy Leaders,

and Shahrar Ali, were elected. Will Duckworth stood down as councillor when his seat came up again for election on 7 May 2015.

Personal life

Duckworth lived in Dudley with his wife Vicky.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duckworth, Will 1954 births Living people Councillors in the West Midlands (county) Green Party of England and Wales parliamentary candidates People from Dudley