Election 2015 Profiles – Green Party

Election 2015 Profiles – Green Party

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The Green Party were originally known as the PEOPLE Party when founded by husband and wife Lesley and Tony Whittaker in 1972.

Party History
The Green Party were originally known as the PEOPLE Party when founded by husband and wife Lesley and Tony Whittaker in 1972. In 1975 they changed their name to The Ecology Party, and changed again in 1985 to the Green Party.

Until 2008, the party did not hold elections to decide who would be the leader, favouring principal speakers. The first elected leader in 2008 was Caroline Lucas, who managed to gain the party’s first ever seat in the House of Commons, as MP for Brighton Pavilion

In 2012, she decided not to stand for leader in the next election.
The current leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett, was elected in September 2012.

Leader – Natalie Bennett

Natalie Bennett has been the Leader of the Green Party since 2012, when she replaced the first elected leader of the party. She was born in Sydney, Australia, and attended the University of Sydney to gain a degree in Agricultural Science, and the University of New England to read Asian Studies. She then came over to England to complete a Masters in Mass Communication from the University of Leicester. Before becoming involved in politics, Ms. Bennett worked as a journalist for various newspapers both in Australia and England, and worked as the editor of The Guardian Weekly.

Quick Facts about Natalie Bennett:

She was the founder of the blog ‘Carnival of Feminists’
She spent two years in Bangkok working with the National Commission on Women’s Affairs
She describes her political awakening when she was five years old and she was told that she wasn’t allowed a bicycle as it wasn’t “ladylike”.

Party Colour – Green

Current Seats
1 seat in Commons. 1 seat in Lords.

Main manifesto policies as set out by the Green Party:

“Vote for what you believe in”

Public NHS – Taking back our health service
Fair economy – An economy that works for all
Decent Homes – Secure, affordable housing
Safe Climate – Fossil free, affordable energy
Free Education – Quality education, no tuition fees
Better Transport – Making public transport public

Main Policies:
– Renationalise the railways
– Reverse any privatisation of the NHS and maintain it has a National Health Service
– Introduce a 60p rate of income tax for the highest earners
– Increase the minimum wage in line with the national living wage to at least £10
– Decommission the Trident Nuclear programme
– Introduce a national home insulation programme that would tackle cold homes and reduce fuel poverty.

Nick Cooper
Nick is NCC's resident blog author and covers a range of subjects, including teaching and health & social care. NCC is an international learning provider with over 20 years’ experience offering learning solutions. To date, NCC has engaged with over 20,000 employers, and delivered quality training to over half a million learners.
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