Green Party of England and Wales leadership election, 2008

The first Green Party of England and Wales leadership election ended on the 5th September 2008 at 8pm.

The election follows the party's decision to replace its current system of two Principal Speakers with a single leader. The change was supported by one Principal Speaker, Caroline Lucas, but opposed by the other, Derek Wall. It gained the support of 73% of party members who cast a vote. [Haroon Siddique, " [http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/nov/30/greenpolitics.uk Green party decides it should have a leader] ", "The Guardian", 30 November 2007]

Caroline Lucas launched a campaign for the Leadership on 14 July." [http://www.carolinelucas.org.uk/news.php 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 Ashley Gunstock, an actor best known for his role in "The Bill".Henry Deedes, " [http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/pandora/pandora-leadership-election-takes-a-nasty-turn-for-the-green-party-882620.html Pandora: Leadership election takes a nasty turn for the Green Party] ", "The Independent", 1 August 2008]

Only one candidate stood for the Deputy Leadership, Adrian Ramsay, leader of the Green group on Norwich City Council. He is a supporter of Lucas and under party gender balance rules, can only be elected to the post if a woman is elected to the leadership. [Sam Williams, " [http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=News&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED01%20Aug%202008%2012%3A43%3A31%3A550 Green leader eyes national role] ", "Norwich Evening News", 1 August 2008]

Nominations for both the Leadership and Deputy Leadership closed on 31 July 2008, following 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 " [http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3499 Statement from Returning Officer] ", www.greenparty.org.uk, 1 August 2008] .

Hustings took place at the Green Party of England and Wales' conference, and the results were announced on 5 September at approximately 8pm.

Results

The turnout was 37.9% (of a membership of 7,565). This was an increase from the 20% turnout for the election of the Principal Speakers in 2007.

The results were as follows:

For leader

For deputy leadership

References