Full list of candidates for the Green Party Executive announced
This summer, Green Party of England and Wales members will elect six new members of the party’s executive (GPEx). Nominations are now closed, and Bright Green can announce the full list of candidates. Here’s the full list:
Equality and Diversity Coordinator
There are two candidates standing for Equality and Diversity Coordinator this time around.
First up is Ashley Routh, a Sheffield based party activist who stood to be Chair of GPEx in 2020.
Routh told Bright Green on announcing her candidacy that she wanted to use the role to “push for a higher standard of consultation on equalities policy”.
Routh’s competition comes from a job share ticket of Rashid Nix and Dzaier Neil.
Nix is the incumbent, having been elected alone to the role in 2019, the last time the position was up for election. He previously stood for the Greens in the Dulwich and West Northwood constituency in the 2015 and 2017 general elections. In April 2020, he caused controversy by sharing a video of conspiracy theorist David Icke in a tweet which has not been deleted.
Neil is the current chair of the Green Party Disability Group. She has also been a Paralympic athlete, having won a gold medal in Javelin, a silver medal in table tennis, and a bronze medal in shot put at the 1984 games.
Finance Coordinator
Two of the positions up for election this year will have uncontested elections, with candidates only going up against re-open nominations.
One of those is finance coordinator, where Jon Nott faces no competition. Nott is the incumbent in the post.
Internal Communications Coordinator
Another two horse race for internal communications, with Alexander Sallons going up against Zoe Hatch.
Sallons is a member of Brighton & Hove Green Party, and told Bright Green upon announcing his candidacy that he wanted to engage the party membership through providing them with “a variety of tools and information – in an engaging way”.
Meanwhile, Hatch is a Councillor on Burnham Parish Council. In the 2019 general election, Hatch stood for the Beaconsfield constituency, picking up 3.4 per cent of the vote.
Local Party Support Coordinator
Local Party Support is the most crowded field, with four candidates seeking election.
First up is the job share ticket of Daniel Laycock and Lysndsay McAteer. Laycock is the coordinator of the Eastern Green Party, while McAteer is currently chair of Warrington and Halton Green Party. On their candidacy, Laycock previously told Bright Green he wanted to use the position to strengthen support for local parties and in order to help them “to grow and ultimately win“.
Also standing is Duncan Kerr. Kerr is a town Councillor in Oswestry, having previously served as mayor of the town. He is now also a Councillor on Shropshire Council, having been elected to the Oswestry South Divison in the 2021 local elections when he unseated a Conservative.
Current Young Greens co-chair Rosie Rawle is also in the running. Rawle has served three terms as co-chair of the party’s youth wing, and has also served on Oxfordshire Green Party’s committee, as well as working in a staff capacity for the Norwich Green Party in the run up to the 2016 local elections.
The final candidate is Taymar Pitman. Pitman stood unsuccessfully in the 2021 Newcastle City Council elections in West Fenham Ward.
Policy Development Coordinator
Policy Development Coordinator is the second of the two uncontested elections members will be voting in this year. Lowthion is the incumbent having been elected for a one year term in 2020 in a by-election triggered by a resignation. Now, she’s up for re-election for a full two year term.
Lowthion is well known among Greens as the party’s education spokesperson, and for standing in successive general elections in the Isle of Wight. Upon announcing her candidacy, Lowthion told Bright Green that she wants to use the role to ensure that the Green Party “has clear identified direction and outcomes.”
Publications Coordinator
The final position up for election this year is Publications Coordinator, and its the third of the two horse races.
Julia Lagoutte is the first of the two candidates. Lagoutte is the incumbent, having been first elected in a 2020 by-election caused by a resignation. Alongside her position as Publications Coordinator, she is also a member of the Green Party Women committee, and is the host of the Big Green Politics Podcast.
Also standing is the job share team of Kathryn Bristow and Rachel Collinson. Bristow is currently co-chair of Green Party Women and also serves on the committees of LGBTIQA+ Greens and Greens of Colour. Meanwhile, Collinson is a former co-chair of the Green Party Regional Council.
What happens next?
Members will be balloted in August to elect members to these GPEx posts, following a campaigning period throughout July. Results of the elections are expected to be announced in September.
There will be three formal hustings for candidates organised by the Green Party. Hustings will be held on the following dates for the following positions:
- Tuesday 13 July – Equality and Diversity, Internal Communications & Publications Coordinator roles
- Wednesday 14 July – Local Party Support and Finance Coordinator roles
- Thursday 15 July – Policy Development Coordinator
In addition to these hustings, groups within the party typically organise their own hustings for these positions, or ask candidates to respond to a series of questions.
Bright Green will be covering the campaign in depth – with articles from the candidates and interviews with them too.
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Image credit: Bristol Green Party – Creative Commons
Bright Green don’t claim to be neutral. They are left wing and anti-fascist.
Bright Green doing its usual crony job of promoting a small faction of greens and failing abysmally in its pretence of neutrality or journalism.
I agree that this is of real concern. Why was Routh interviewed and quoted, but Nix and Neil not?
Is this not a level playing field
If the mark of controversy is a tweet and some responses then why a different standard for nix than others on the list? Notice you didn’t ask nix for a candidate statement as well.
I never knew about the antisemitic memes thing and I know about most things so if a year has passed since it “prompted controversy” and this is the first I knew of it, it probably didn’t prompt controversy.
I am really surprised the alleged tweet allegedly wasn’t taken down.
It’s probably not constructive to pass on conspiracy theories at the best of times. An E & D coordinator should be developing international policy in my opinion, certainly not doing things that risk putting the party in disrepute.
Also, did you consult ALL of the candidates individually and equally for comments/ quotes.
I notice that Dzaier Neil’s biog. is not the one Dzaier usually uses. It seems lifted from a generic wiki-type entry.
A large quote and exposure for Routh, but nothing from Nix and Neil.
@Bright Green :
1) who gave you this information before the membership was informed?
2) who informed you of the hustings’ dates before even some/all candidates knew…clearly accessibility requirements haven’t been discussed with certain candidates.
Hi Chris
I would like to bring it to your attention that you have only referred to one candidate as acting “controversial[ly]” and he is the only black man.
Were you able to research, tweets and actions of all other candidates to ensure they hadn’t been involved in any ‘controversial” situations?
What was your rationale when linking to these tweets and mentioning this while talking about his candidacy?
I hadn’t thought of that.
A nice archaeological dig of everyone’s Tweets seems only fair doesn’t it?
A bit of stitch-up job really.
I agree that this is of real concern. Why was Routh interviewed and quoted, but Nix and Neil not?
I was interested that you only had quotes from some candidates, not all. Does this not offer a bit of an unfair playing field if people read your blog and think ‘I like their stance’, without having heard from the others? I know you probably wanted ‘a scoop’, but was it really appropriate to include quotes, in that case?
Hmmm, quite tricksy really, because I’d love to know how Bright Green got this information before the paid up membership having been informed…as of today, we’ve still not had an official party email in this regard.