Carla Denyer has announced she will not stand again as the Greens’ co-leader, breaking up the party’s most electorally successful leadership duo, which delivered four MPs at last year’s general election.
Denyer, who won the Bristol Central seat from Labour, said in a statement to the Guardian that she wanted to put all her efforts into her parliamentary role.
She has served since 2021 as co-leader alongside Adrian Ramsay, who was also elected as an MP last July, for Waveney Valley. He must now decide whether to stand as a solo candidate or with someone else at the next leadership election. The party’s deputy leader, Zack Polanski, announced on Monday that he would stand.
However, Ramsay would not be able to stand jointly with Polanski, as under party rules if there is a co-leadership, the duo cannot be the same gender.
The Greens in England and Wales normally hold leadership elections every two years, but there has not been a vote since 2021. Denyer and Ramsay were initially elected for three years, as the election was out of sequence, and the next one was delayed for a year because of the general election.
Denyer 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 2m votes at the last general election. But this is just the start for me and the party.
“For me, my guiding light has always been: ‘How can I make the biggest positive impact?’ And I’ve decided that for the next few years, the best way I can serve the party and the country is to pour all of my skills, passion and energy into being the best MP I can be, in parliament and in Bristol Central.
“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 people’s lives better.
“In this new five-party political system it’s all to play for. The future of the Green party is bright, and I’m so excited to play my part in this next chapter as a committed and passionate Green MP.”
Announcing his decision to stand, Polanski said the party needed to be less timid and transform itself into a radical, mass-membership “eco-populism” movement.
In an implicit criticism of the more careful, election-based approach of Denyer and Ramsay, Polanski argued that the Greens needed to meet the challenge of Reform UK, which has a membership about four times bigger than his party and gained a mass of victories in Thursday’s local elections.
As well as Denyer and Ramsay, in the last election Sian Berry re-took the Brighton Pavilion seat held previously by Caroline Lucas, who had been the Greens’ sole MP, and Ellie Chowns was elected in North Herefordshire.
The Green have pioneered the use of co-leaders, with Lucas, Jonathan Bartley and Berry all sharing the role in various combinations.
Under the leadership system, nominations open on 2 June, and members will vote throughout August.
