Green Party’s only-ever MP Caroline Lucas to step down at next election

Caroline Lucas rips up green papers in Parliament

Caroline Lucas, the former leader of the Green Party, has announced she will stand down as an MP at the next General Election.

Ms Lucas, who has been an MP for 13 years, described her time representing Brighton Pavilion as the “privilege of my life to serve this extraordinary constituency and community”.

In a letter to The Argus newspaper in Brighton, Ms Lucas said that the “threats to our precious planet” had become “ever more urgent” and her role in Parliament meant she had “struggled to spend the time I want on these accelerating crises”.

She added: “I have therefore decided not to stand again as your MP at the next election.”

The 62-year-old became the Green Party’s first, and so far only, MP when she beat Labour candidate Nancy Platts by just over 1,000 votes in the 2010 election.

In the three elections since then, the Worcestershire-born politician had seen her majority hit nearly 20,000 in 2019.

Known for her ardent campaigning, particularly surrounding the environment, Ms Lucas’ decision comes amid concerns she had “not been able to focus as much as I would like” on issues regarding climate.

She continued: “I’ve done everything possible to help wherever I can and always worked to ensure that people feel heard, that their concerns matter, and that they are not alone.

“But the intensity of these constituency commitments, together with the particular responsibilities of being my party’s sole MP, mean that, ironically, I’ve not been able to focus as much as I would like on the existential challenges that drive me – the nature and climate emergencies.”

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The politician added: “I have always been a different kind of politician – as those who witnessed my arrest, court case and acquittal over a peaceful protest at the fracking site in Balcombe nearly 10 years ago will recall.

“And the truth is, as these threats to our precious planet become ever more urgent, I have struggled to spend the time I want on these accelerating crises.

“I have therefore decided not to stand again as your MP at the next election.”

Ms Lucas was the Green Party leader between 2008 and 2012, and would return to the post alongside Jonathan Bartley to co-lead for two years from September 2016.

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Carla Denyer, one of the current Green Party co-leaders, described Ms Lucas as a “force of nature”.

She concluded: “Caroline’s impact on politics in this country cannot be overstated.”

Her fellow joint leader, Adrian Ramsay, said without the impact of Ms Lucas, the party’s stunning results in last month’s local elections in England may not have been possible.

He concluded: “Having MPs who are genuinely dedicated to standing up for the climate and nature could not be more important than it is right now and that’s why we are striving to get more Green MPs elected at the next general election so that we can build on Caroline’s achievements.”

It means that at least 50 current MPs have now announced they will be standing down when the next election comes around, with the likes of former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, the Conservative Party’s Dominic Raab and former deputy Labour Party leader Margaret Beckett among them.

The next election is expected to take place next year

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