A poster reading "Vote Green Party" on the back of a chair

Members of the Green Party of England and Wales will this summer be voting to elect new leaders and deputy leaders.

Under the party’s rulebook, if members elect co-leaders, a single deputy leader is elected. However, if they choose to elect a single leader, there will be instead be two deputy leaders. This means that candidates in the running for the deputy leadership are seeking election to either one or two posts.

Despite nominations not having formally opened for these positions, two candidates have already confirmed their intention to stand.

First out the gates was Antoinette Fernandez.

Fernandez announced her candidacy in a video released on Instagram. In the video, Fernandez said she wanted to ‘build on Zack [Polanski]’s legacy as deputy leader’ and that the party needed to elect ‘charismatic and dynamic leaders’.

She went on to say that “Reform have shown us that people are voting for them not just because they are canvassing and door knocking”, but for their “jokey, charismatic leader”, adding that “we need leaders that can combat that, that can drive people towards the left, to vote for our party.”

In a second video on Instagram, she Fernandez said she would “engage with the public and the media to get them to focus on the many policies that we have to make our society better”.

Fernandez currently doesn’t hold any public office. However, she has stood in a number of elections for the Greens in the last 18 months.

In May 2024, Fernandez stood in the North East constituency in the London Assembly elections, coming second to Labour. Shortly after, she stood in a Hackney Council by-election, again coming second to Labour. And in the 2024 general election, she should in the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency, coming – you guessed it – second to Labour.

The second candidate to announce was North Somerset Councillor Thomas Daw.

Announcing his candidacy on X, Daw said: “I’m running for deputy leader! Why? For too long young people haven’t been represented on a national level. The working class is getting crushed for the benefit of billionaires and the country, I love, is crumbling. It’s time for real change, delivered with strong leadership!”

Speaking to Somerset Live about his candidacy, Daw said: “We are the best performing party among 18-24 year olds and there’s no one in our leadership that reflects that.”

He went on to endorse Zack Polanski’s leadership bid and say of the current leadership team that the party has had: “two years of the nice people” before adding “Its gotten us to where we are but, with the rise of Reform and with it coming to a little bit more of a fight, I think we need the power of the people to stand up and take on that fight. Or we are going to slowly plod along.”

He also said in a statement:  “I’m standing for deputy leader because the Green Party needs a leadership team that can seize this political moment. Working-class communities, particularly young people, face impossible choices: unaffordable housing, crumbling infrastructure, and poisoned countryside. The system is failing us all.”

Members will vote for their new deputy leaders in August. The results will be announced on September 2.

Image credit: Jon Craig – Creative Commons