BREAKING: Results announced for GPEx elections 2015

This morning, the Green Party of England and Wales announced the results of this years’ election for members of the Green Party Executive (GPEx).

With 5239 valid votes submitted by post and electronically (a turn-out of 7.8%), the following people have been elected for a two year term. For reference and accountability purposes, we have included the statements they submitted to Bright Green at the start of the campaign.

GPEx meets around 10 times a year, and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Green Party of England and Wales.

You can find a full breakdown of the results here (for GPEW members only): https://my.greenparty.org.uk/news/results-gpex-elections-2015

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Equality and Diversity Co-ordinator

Charlene Concepcion and Manishta Sunnia (job share)

We are dedicated Green Party activists with a commitment to equality and diversity. We must ensure everyone has fair and equal access to engagement and that we support members to take a lead. Equality and diversity should run through everything the Green Party does.

Manishta is a member of the Equalities & Diversity Committee. She has worked on improving party policy, delivered training and founded Greens of Colour.

Charlene is a member of Conferences Committee working to make Conference more inclusive and accessible. On Young Greens National Committee she oversaw huge growth whilst organising activist training days, 30 under 30 weekends and handling complaints.

We want to:

1. Develop and implement an Equality & Diversity strategy: We will listen to members and work with relevant committees to identify gaps and understand how to improve. Our plan focuses on diverse areas & supporting local parties to retain and engage members.

2. Support self-organised groups e.g. Disability Group & Green Party Women: We will promote these groups and ensure they are well-resourced & trained. We also want to see class represented along with other self-organised groups.

3. Ensure local and regional support: We will create practical guidance on making local parties more inclusive and accessible, including facilitating peer support opportunities for exchanging ideas.

4. Diversify our national and international voice: We will ensure the party is outspoken on its progressive policies and empower self-organised groups to be vocal.

Please elect Charlene and Manishta as your 1st choice for Equality & Diversity Coordinator.

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Policy Development Co-ordinator

Samantha Pancheri and Sam Riches (job share)

We’ve both had a lot of experience in the arena of Green Party policy, with Sam R working as Policy Development Coordinator for the past 18 months, and Sam P as a party spokesperson since January. We each had input into the 2015 General Election manifesto, which was acclaimed by many, both within and outside the party, as the strongest ever. Sam R previously served on Lancashire County Council, and was involved in the successful campaign against fracking in the county. Sam P is a newer party member, but very quickly got involved with her local party in Milton Keynes, and is now a Parish councillor.

Our experiences and discussions with other members have given us a sense of the potential for improving the methods for forming and managing our policies, and we are very excited about combining our experience and enthusiasm to rejuvenate our policy process.

The Green Surge was an exhilarating time for the party, and now that we have almost 70,000 members it’s vital that we reassess our procedures to make sure that our policies are soundly based and well written whilst the democratic ethos we value so highly is still central to our process. Our policy process needs to be truly accessible to all our members and also produce positions that are defensible in the media. We will use the outputs of the recent online consultation to inform these changes, and we aim to see many more members engaging with creating policies of which we can be proud.

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Finance Co-ordinator

Philip Igoe

I’ve been a member of the Party since 2010 and Treasurer of the Yorkshire and Humber Region for the last couple of years. I was co-opted onto GPEx as Finance Co-ordinator last year.

I have spent much of my working life in the third sector, working for various charities and community organisations. I set up Co-wheels CIC, a social enterprise car club provider, in 2008 and steered this environmentally focused organisation to a strong position before stepping down in 2014. I volunteer at my local Citizens Advice Bureau one day a week. This helps keeps me aware of the difficulties faced by people at individual and community levels.

I currently work as Business and Finance Manager with a charity which aims to enhance the life chances of BAME people by tackling discrimination and developing potential through vocational training, education and career opportunities.

If elected as Finance Co-ordinator my priorities will include:

• Safeguarding the long term financial stability of the party
• Supporting effective governance of the party and accountability to members.
• Ensuring donations to the party are in line with our ethos, ethics and rules.
• Working with others to explore and promote ways to make the party more representative of society.

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Internal Communications Co-ordinator

Clifford Fleming

I’m standing for Internal Communications Coordinator because I passionately believe the Green Party is at a break-through moment. So many people desperately need a voice to stand up for them, and we have the opportunity to truly change politics forever. I want to give everyone in the Party the tools to get involved, and a voice in what we do.

As the Co-Chair of the Young Greens for nearly 2 years, I’ve supported our growth from 1,300 members to 23,000+. With so many new members across the Party it’s going to be vital to make sure everybody can get involved.

I want to look at all existing internal communications and see how we can be more engaging. I want to work alongside Greens of Colour, Green Women, Green Disability Group, Young Greens, Green Seniors, the Trade Union Group and others to make sure our communications are accessible and representative.

To have good internal communications means we need good tools – I want to re-look at the usability of the members’ website, the accessibility of Green Activist, and the mismatch between local, regional and national communications.

I believe that with effective internal communications we can increase our activism and involve thousands more.

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Publications Co-ordinator

Dee Searle

A strategic, inclusive approach to print and online publications can help strengthen the Green Party’s relationships with existing supporters and reach new audiences. We have fantastic, important things to say to all sections of society, from those in power to communities suffering under austerity measures.

Listening is as important as telling. We can use our communication channels to give voice to people who have points to make and questions to ask.

I have over 30 years’ experience in print and digital publishing, initially as a journalist for national and international news organisations, including the Guardian, Observer, BBC World Service and Time Magazine. I launched Red Pepper magazine and worked for Channel 4 Television, before holding senior communication and campaigning roles with Amnesty International, Oxfam, Unicef and University of the Arts London, among others.

I was the Green Party 2015 General Election candidate for Tottenham and came third with 9.2% of the votes. We collaborated with other London Green Parties around common issues, such as disability, housing, race, immigration and international affairs.

As an active member of Camden Greens, I convened a new social media group and am London Fed Representative. I have leadership experience in local, national and international organisations.

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Local Party Support Co-ordinator

Thom French

When a local party is active, exciting and well run, it can engage new members and keep activists busy working locally for years. I joined the Green Party because I want to see a sustainable environment and a fair society. With strong and active local groups we can campaign against fracking and TTIP, protect the NHS, and end austerity. My local party is my first port of call for my activism, where I go to get involved.

The skills I learnt from mobilising Young Greens to come to Brighton to get Caroline Lucas re-elected, I will put into getting activists out for campaigns. The experience I have gained from working on regional and national committees supporting local groups, has given me the ability to support local parties and help the fantastic current groups with the new challenges of the next 5 years.

Key Manifesto Points:

1. Expansion: Supporting new parties to develop year round activities to build towards regular election activity.

2. Mobilisation: More funding for regional and local parties, for staff and campaigns.

3. Retention: Skill matching our Green Surge members on a local and regional level to empower new members to keep them active.