Alexandra Phillips

Alexandra Phillips has become the first candidate to emerge for Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. The councillor for Goldsmid ward on Brighton and Hove City Council is seen as a favourite of the left of the party and the Young Greens, and is close to Caroline Lucas having served as campaign co-ordinator in her successful 2010 election bid.

She has launched a campaign website, Twitter account and Facebook page for supporters.

Green Party members nationwide will be voting in elections for both Leader and Deputy Leader this summer, with results announced at the Party’s conference in Bristol in September.

Caroline Lucas MP has announced she will not seek a third two-year term when her current one ends this year. Adrian Ramsay, the present Deputy Leader, has not yet declared his intentions.

Cllr Phillips said:

“The Greens have the opportunity now to displace the Lib Dems and become the third party in British politics, putting up a fight against the Conservative-led Government austerity agenda. I’m running for Deputy Leader to give members the tools and resources to make that ambition a reality.

“I’m a lifelong socialist, and like many people I joined the Green Party after being betrayed by Labour. The Greens are the only party rejecting cuts, privatisation, authoritarianism and war. I want Greens to feel more confident about saying this to the media and to the public at large.

“My focus over the next two years will be to make sure we continue to reach ever greater audiences, to grow our membership, to improve our capability and to inspire more and more people to become active in our Party. This will enable us to get our message out and to stand and win in an ever-increasing number of elections.

“I’m immeasurably grateful to the people of Goldsmid ward for inspiring me to run. Green politics is about the community, not corporate donors or newspaper bosses. My politics are shaped every day by the experiences of the community I serve, and should I become Deputy Leader I will remain as committed as ever to serving as as one of Goldsmid’s Green councillors.”

Cllr Phillips was born and grew up in Liverpool, where she was a Labour activist alongside her mother. She joined the Greens after the Labour government’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.

She worked for Caroline Lucas, then MEP for the South-East, at her office in Brussels from 2007 to 2008 before moving to Brighton. She was elected to the council of her adopted home town in the 2009 Goldsmid by-election, the first Green councilor in Hove and the first seat the Greens had won from the Conservatives in the city.

She was campaign co-ordinator for Caroline Lucas’ historic 2010 victory, and elections co-ordinator for the Brighton & Hove Greens as they increased their council group by 10 to form the country’s first Green council administration in 2011. As well as continuing to serve as councillor for Goldsmid, she works as a secondary school teacher of foreign languages.