Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay became co-leaders of the Green Party in 2021 under the campaign slogan “Build, win, transform”.
The rules of the party’s leadership mean there can be two co-leaders of different genders, plus a deputy leader, or one leader plus two deputies of different genders.
The co-leaders, who are set to officially launch the party’s election campaign later today, aim to quadruple their number of MPs at the coming general election to four.
The Green Party‘s sole MP – Brighton’s Caroline Lucas – is standing down at this election, with Sian Berry hoping to retain the seat for the party.
Both co-leaders hope to pick up seats, against Labour in Bristol Central where Ms Denyer is standing, and against the Conservatives in Waveney Valley where Mr Ramsay is standing.
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Who is Carla Denyer?
Ms Denyer served as a Bristol City Councillor from 2015 to 2024, stepping down this year to focus on her campaign to become MP.
She is an engineer, and before moving into politics worked in the renewable energy industry with a specialism in wind energy.
She spearheaded Bristol’s climate emergency declaration in 2018 – the first in Europe – alongside a commitment for the city to be carbon-neutral by 2030.
Ms Denyer was named by the Women’s Engineering Society as one of the UK’s top 50 women in engineering due to her work on the climate emergency motion and also featured in Bristol Live’s Pink List of the most influential LGBT+ people in Bristol.
Who is Adrian Ramsay?
Mr Ramsey was the deputy leader of the Green Party from 2008 to 2012 and was part of the team that saw Caroline Lucas elected as the first Green MP in 2010.
He joined the Green Party in 1998 at the age of 16 and went on to be a councillor in Norwich from 2003 to 2011.
He currently leads the MCS Charitable Foundation, which advocates for renewable energy and green homes.
Mr Ramsey has also served as the chief executive of the Centre for Alternative Technology, another national environmental charity, and has worked as a senior lecturer in environmental politics and economics.
Read more:
A guide to the Green Party
Live poll tracker: Which party is on course to win?
Be in the audience for our election leaders event
What have the co-leaders said about their priorities?
The co-leaders laid out their priorities at the party’s campaign launch: the NHS, housing, the climate, public services and, the quality of water.
Housing – The Greens have pledged to create 150,000 new council homes, end the Right to Buy scheme, introduce rent controls and end no-fault evictions.
“We will push for the right homes to be built, at the right price and in the right place,” Ms Denyer said at the party’s campaign launch event.
Climate – The Greens have proposed a “Nature Act” that would “protect and restore the natural world”.
Having more Greens in parliament would stop “cosying up to the fossil fuel lobby and abandoning commitments on climate targets”, the party said.
NHS – The party has said it will “reverse the creeping privatisation” of the health service and pledged to make sure everyone can see an NHS dentist or doctor with funding through a “fair tax system”.
“Getting the absolute richest to pay a bit more would raise £50bn,” Mr Ramsay said in a video laying out some of the party’s aims.
Water quality – The Greens have said they want to make sure people can enjoy beaches and rivers without the fear of getting sick, and protect marine life from being “damaged beyond repair”.
Source Agencies
