Highgate councillor Sian Berry elected new co-leader of the Green Party
Green Party co-leaders Jonathan Bartley and Sian Berry. Picture: Kelly Hill/the Green Party - Credit: Archant
Highgate councillor Sian Berry has been elected co-leader of the Green Party - winning 74 per cent of the vote.
Councillor Sian Berry has been elected the new co-leader of the Green Party. Picture: Green Party - Credit: Green Party
Cllr Berry, who is also a member of the London Assembly, won alongside her running-mate Jonathan Bartley.
The 44-year-old was previously leader of the party, in the principle speaker role, between 2006 and 2007. She won her place on Camden Council in 2014, and topped the ballot to win a second term earlier this year.
Former leader Caroline Lucas, who made a campaign visit to Highgate during the local elections, announced she wasn’t standing for re-election in May.
Cllr Berry and Bartley’s win does not come as a shock, with the joint ticket a favourite to win throughout the election.
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After having their victory announced, she said the party was the “opposite of vapid, old-school centrist politics”.
“With Brexit on the horizon and our planet burning, the last thing people need is the stale centrism of the past, which brought us austerity and privatisation - and totally failed to tackle climate breakdown or give people real security and quality of life.
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“The Green Party is the opposite of vapid, old school centrist politics, and we are ready to shout louder than ever before about the bright Green ideas needed to face the huge challenges in the world today.”
She said her and Jonathan would be campaigning for a People’s Vote on Brexit, tackling climate change, and focussing on housing and workers rights.
“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,” she said.In an interview with the Ham&High after announcing her candidacy, Cllr Berry said she wouldn’t stand down if she won.
She said: “We want elected people to be leaders,” she said, “so that’s not something I’d be looking to do, if we both win.
“Both the jobs as councillor and as assembly member are very similar and fit together very well.”
She was the face of the party’s local election campaign, and unsuccessfully ran for the mayoralty in 2016.
