1 August 2012 (2012-08-01) - 3 September 2012 (2012-09-03) 2014 → 42.17% 29.26% 59.34% 40.66% | 1,300 902 1,757 1,204 Romayne Phoenix Pippa Bartolotti | |
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The Green Party of England and Wales leadership election, 2012 took place in August and September 2012. The party has elections every two years for Leader and Deputy Leader roles and this was the third election since the party decided to switch from having principal speakers to having a leader and a deputy leader, or co-leaders. In May 2012, Caroline Lucas announced that she would not seek re-election.
Contents
Subsequently, four candidates announced that they would seek to take over from Lucas. These were:
The incumbent Deputy Leader, Adrian Ramsay, who was widely expected to contest the election for Leader of the party announced that he would not stand in that election, nor for re-election as Deputy Leader.
Four candidates were successfully nominated for the election for Deputy Leader, these being Caroline Allen, a vet from Islington, London; Will Duckworth, a Dudley local councilor; Richard Mallender, a Nottingham local councilor; and Alexandra Phillips, a Brighton and Hove local Councilor.
All members of the party were sent ballot papers in the post with their copy of the party's magazine, 'Green World' at the beginning of August 2012 and had to be returned before 31 August 2012.
The result was declared at 11 a.m., Monday 3 September 2012. Natalie Bennett was elected Leader. Will Duckworth was elected Deputy Leader.
Result
The results were as follows:
Deputy Leadership Result
Under the election rules operating at the time, the Deputy Leader could not be of the same gender as the Leader. Caroline Allen and Alexandra Phillips were thus eliminated and first preference votes cast for them were redistributed to the highest expressed preference for an eligible candidate. No candidate achieved the necessary quota, but the election rules required that 're-open nominations' not be eliminated, so the candidate with the highest vote was elected.