BRISTOL Central MP Carla Denyer has decided not to run for re-election as co-leader of the Green Party.
Ms Denyer and co-leader Adrian Ramsey led the party to success at last year’s general election, where they and two others were elected to Parliament.
But now Ms Denyer wants to concentrate on her MP role. Mr Ramsey plans to run for co-leader again alongside Ellie Chowns, another of the four Green MPs. They will be up against the current deputy leader Zack Polanski. Nominations open on June 2 and voting takes place in August.
Ms Denyer, who has been co-leader since 2021, when she was a Bristol city councillor, said: “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 (Womack) 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 election. But this is just the start for me and the party.
“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 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, to secure good green jobs for this generation and the next, and to replace the racism at the heart of our migration system.”