Leader Grenville Ham Welsh Green Pride Spokesperson Ash Jones Ideology Green politics | Deputy Leader Pippa Bartolotti Headquarters Cardiff, Wales | |
Wales Young Greens Co-chairs Andrew Creak, Ramona Sharples | ||
The Wales Green Party (WGP; Welsh: Plaid Werdd Cymru) is a semi-autonomous political party within the Green Party of England and Wales. It covers Wales, and is the only regional party with semi-autonomous status within the GPEW. The WGP contests elections for the National Assembly for Wales (as well as at the local, UK and European level) and has its own newsletters, membership list, AGMs and manifesto.
Contents
The WGP leader is Grenville Ham, and the Deputy Leader is Pippa Bartolotti. Wales is represented internally within the GPEW by Chris Simpson and Chris Carmichael on the Green Party Regional Council, and the WGP Leader on the GPEW executive. Both sets of positions are directly elected by postal ballot. Wales-wide decisions are taken by the Wales Green Party Council made up of the spokespeople, senior officers, and a representative from each local party.
Leadership
The current Leader of the party is Grenville Ham and the current Deputy Leader is Pippa Bartolotti. Wales is represented internally within the GPEW by Chris Simpson and Jim Scott. on the Green Party Regional Council (GPRC).
History
The Green Parties in the United Kingdom have their roots in the PEOPLE Party which was founded in 1973. This became the Ecology Party three years later, and then the Green Party in 1985. In 1990, the Scottish and Northern Irish branches left the UK Greens to form separate parties. The English and Welsh parties became the Green Party of England and Wales, with the Welsh branch being semi-autonomous.
At the 1992 general election, local Greens entered an electoral alliance with Plaid Cymru in the constituency of Ceredigion and Pembroke North. The alliance was successful with Cynog Dafis being returned in a surprise result as the MP, defeating the Liberal Democrat incumbent by over 3,000 votes. The agreement broke down by 1995 following disagreement within the Welsh Green Party over endorsing another party's candidate, though Dafis would go on to serve in parliament as a Plaid Cymru member until 2000, and in the National Assembly of Wales from 1999 until 2003. Dafis later stated that he did not consider himself to be the "first Green MP".
The Wales Green Party has always had its own spokesperson (now referred to as leader). Jake Griffiths became leader in 2009, succeeding Leila Kiersch. Pippa Bartolotti was elected to succeed Griffiths in 2011. Anthony Slaughter became deputy leader in 2014. Alice Hooker-Stroud and Hannah Pudner were elected as the leader and deputy leader in late 2015.
Wales Young Greens
Wales Young Greens is the youth and student branch of the Wales Green Party. Its current Co-chairs are Andrew Creak and Ramona Sharples.
Welsh Green Pride
Welsh Green Pride is the LGBTIQA+ Liberation group within the Wales Green Party which runs alongside but separate to the GPEW group LGBTIQA+ Greens. Its current Spokesperson is Ash Jones, and it has two deputy spokespeople Mike Whittall and Michael Cope. The group started a UK wide review of the discriminatory blood ban against men who have sex with men.
Welsh Assembly elections
In September 2015, Amelia Womack, Deputy Leader of GPEW, announced her intention to stand in the National Assembly elections for Wales Green Party. An ITV article titled "Green deputy leader wants to switch to Welsh politics" wrote of Newport-born Womack's intention to stand in the Welsh elections saying; "She's seeking the nomination for the Cardiff Central constituency and – more significantly – hoping to be top of the Wales Green Party's regional list for South Wales Central." Notably the article went on to say "Opinion polls have occasionally suggested that the Greens could gain a list seat in the Senedd".
10 February 2016 Welsh Greens abandoned progressive alliance negotiations a few months before the Senedd elections
Wales Green Party who create their own set of devolved policies around devolved issues in Wales were hopeful of gaining three Assembly seats from the proportional representation lists in the 2016 elections despite being deemed the 3rd Greenest Party in Wales by Friends of the Earth.
No Welsh Greens were elected to the Senedd.