Caroline Lucas has announced she is backing Green politician Siân Berry to be her party’s candidate for the London mayoralty.
Berry was the party’s candidate in the 2008 mayoral election, and has held high-profile positions in the party for a number of years. She served as principal speaker (what is now a leadership position) from 2006-7, and is a Green councillor on Camden Council, for Highgate ward.
She has burnished her environmental credentials in the capital, through campaigns such as a drive to reduce 4x4s being driven in urban areas, a campaign to replace inefficient boilers, and a position covering roads and sustainable transport for the Campaign for Better Transport.
An experienced London Green then, and one who Lucas clearly deems worth endorsing. She commented:
Sian Berry has all the qualities and experience to make a really effective London mayoral candidate for the Greens.
Dynamic, articulate and engaging, she’s well known and widely admired, particularly for her outstanding work on environmental issues in the city. An experienced and effective local councillor and campaigner, she has a strong track record of promoting equality and social justice as well as sustainability.
Sian has used her position to forge excellent links with a wide range of groups in the city, and is committed to running a grassroots, open and inclusive campaign to reach and engage as many Londoners as possible. I’m delighted to endorse her candidacy.
But a side-effect of this endorsement is a blow for party leader Natalie Bennett. The talk is that Bennett is deliberating whether or not to run to be the Green candidate for London mayor.
It would be a high-stakes move for her to do so, because if she were to lose to another contender then it would surely mean the end of her leadership when it comes to the Greens’ internal elections next year. Lucas’s endorsement of Berry suggests that Bennett would not be the party’s first choice for the mayoral race.
Related
