With a turnout of just under 50% of the party membership, the ballot of party members produced a resounding 3-1 majority in favour of change following the six-month long internal debate on the issue.
The motion, which creates the positions of a leader and deputy leader (or co-leaders), was approved by 2,634 members (73% of those who voted), a figure comfortably above the two-thirds majority needed for approval. The vote against was 963 (27%).
The result was welcome by the current female Principal Speaker,Caroline Lucas, who had campaigned for a Yes vote. “We now need to demonstrate to all our members, regardless of which way they voted, that this is not about weakening our principles, it’s about strengthening our effectiveness,” she said.
Derek Wall, the male Principal Speaker who had campaigned against change, emphasised the need to create leadership that worked for the party. “The result of this referendum challenges the Party to create a leadership structure that is true to green ideals,” he said. “It has put our future leaders on notice that the membership expects a more focused, more effective party, with a leadership team that is truly accountable to the membership in a real and effective manner.”
So what comes next?
No actual election for a leader and deputy leader/co-leaders will take place until the autumn when the posts of the current Principal Speakers, whose posts will disappear in the changes, expire. Nominations for the new positions are likely to open in July, with a result possibly announced to coincide with the autumn conference.
Ahead of this, the party’s Standing Orders Committee (SOC) first has to appoint a new Electoral Returning Officer to decide on and oversee the process. Dean Walton, the convenor of SOC, said that the process may altered from the traditional approach to electing the party’s principal speakers and the other members of the party’s national Executive.
“The election of our first leader brought about by the constitutional changes could require us to do some things differently,” he said. “I want the Green Party’s Leadership election to be as high profile as last year’s campaigns for the Lib Dem leadership and the Labour Deputy leadership – I want to see the candidates engaged in an interesting and motivating dialogue with the membership.”
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