First national Green Party leader is from Malvern (From Malvern Gazette)

First national Green Party leader is from Malvern

9:00am Friday 12th September 2008

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CAROLINE Lucas MEP, from Great Malvern, was elected as the first ever leader of the Green Party at their national conference last weekend.

The married mum-of-two was born and raised in the town, attending Malvern Girls College as a day boarder, and returns regularly to visit her parents, brother and in-laws.

The majority of her time is spent between Brussels, where she serves as a Member of the European Parliament for South-East England, and Brighton where she is the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Brighton Pavilion constituency.

She spoke to the Gazette about how Malvern held a strong influence on the formation of her political views.

She said: “I think the hills in Malvern are such an amazing example of what we’re trying to protect and safeguard.

“Malvern was always a small town with a huge variety of locally owned shops and a great sense of community spirit.

“Now there are slightly more chain shops but I think it has maintained a certain amount of that spirit.”

The Green Party recently took the decision to discard the system of two principal speakers in favour of an overall leader in order to present a more public-friendly face.

Mrs Lucas will now be responsible for shaping the future successes of the party in upcoming elections; a task she fully embraces.

“We need a Green revolution. We need a party that’s prepared to say that people who earn a lot of money need to be taxed more.”

“In one sense it’s very useful that David Cameron is talking about Green Issues, but there is a gap between the rhetoric and the reality.

“I think the big opportunity for us is at the next general election.”

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