The Green Party of England and Wales launched their 2024 election manifesto last week.
From tax risees for those who earn more than £50,270, a pledge to scrap university tuition fees, and a target to reach net zero by 2040 – these are just some of the policies they say they would implement if they won the General Election.
“This manifesto isn’t more of the same,” co-leader Adrian Ramsay told a crowd of activists in Brighton and Hove as the party set out their plans. “It’s a look at what things could be like – and soon, if we’re willing to invest at the rate necessary, and to be bold and ambitious.”
He added: “We reject the pessimism of the other parties who don’t believe we can safeguard our publicly funded health system, [who think] that we can’t provide warm and secure homes for everyone, that tackling the climate crisis is too challenging for us.”
While Carla Denyer said the UK should not accept “an economy when most people are working harder and yet getting poorer”.
But who are Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer? Here's what you need to know about the co-leaders of the Green Party.
Who are the leaders of the Green Party in the UK?
Carla Denyer
Carla Denyer discovered political campaigning while at sixth form, getting involved in campaigns to promote fair trade and stop the war in Iraq.
She then went on to graduate from Durham University with a degree in mechanical engineering, before working in the wind energy sector, at a Bristol-based renewable energy consultancy, GL Garrad Hassan, from 2009.
Denyer joined the Green Party in 2011. First elected to Bristol City Council in 2015, she fought for renters’ rights and access to public transport and key services.
In 2018, Denyer proposed to bring about Bristol City Council's declaration of a climate emergency. She pushed for the city to become carbon neutral by 2030 – a measure later adopted by hundreds of councils across the UK and Parliament.
She also welcomed Bristol's declaration of an ecological emergency due to loss of wildlife in 2020.
In 2021, Denyer was appointed as the Green Party's housing and communities spokesperson.
This will be her second time running to become an MP in Bristol, after nearly doubling the Green Party vote share standing in Bristol West in 2019 and being elected as co-leader in 2021.
Denyer is a non-theist Quaker and a vegan.
Adrian Ramsay
Born in Norwich and educated at the local comprehensive school, Ramsay joined the Green Party when he turned 16 as he believed the other parties were overlooking climate issues, poverty and animal cruelty.
In 2003, after graduating from the University of East Anglia (UEA) with a degree in politics, he became one of the youngest councillors in the UK when he was first elected to Norwich City Council.
He also helped Caroline Lucas become the first Green MP, at Brighton Pavilion in 2010.
Ramsay served as chief executive of two environmental charities (the Centre for Alternative Technology and the MCS Charitable Foundation). He has also worked as a senior lecturer in environmental politics and economics.
Who started the Green Party UK?
The Green Party was the first national Green Party in Europe. It was set up in 1973 by four professional friends (Michael Benfield, Freda Sanders, Tony Whittaker and Lesley Whittaker).
By the following year, the party had published a manifesto and was fielding candidates in the general election
How many MPs did the Green Party have before Parliament was dissolved for this election?
The Green Party currently has just two representatives in the House of Lords and three London Assembly Members.
However, there are also more than 800 seats in over 170 different councils
Members of the House of Lords (Natalie Bennett and Jenny Jones)
London Assembly Members (Zoë Garbett, Zack Polanski, and Caroline Russell)
