A short promotional video from Leeds Green Party highlighting the policies and principles that make the Green Party different from the three main parties. It features local members and supporters and covers public services, creating jobs, the NHS, transport, affordable housing, free higher education, animal rights, and leaving a planet for our children and grandchildren to inherit.

Green Party of England & Wales Local Election Manifesto 2012

The GPEW launched the Local Elections Manifesto 2012 in Solihull. We had a great response, with Sky News, ITV and BBC giving us coverage. To read about our 2012 manifesto and find out what the Greens can do in your area please click on the link below. 

2012 Local Elections press pack

Adel & Wharfedale Paul Marchant
Armley Jane Morrison
Beeston & Holbeck David Smith
Bramley & Stanningley Kate Bisson
Burmantofts & Richmond Hill Peter Exley
Calverley & Farsley Clive Lord
Chapel Allerton Colin Noble
City & Hunslet Neil Seepujak
Crossgates & Whinmoor Ben Goldthorp
Farnley & Wortley David Blackburn
Guiseley & Rawdon Colin Avison
Harewood Patricia Capstick
Headingley Christopher Foren
Horsforth Andrea Binns
Hyde Park & Woodhouse David Webb
Kirkstall Morgan Tatchell-Evans
Otley & Yeadon Steven Crossan
Roundhay Paul Ellis
Weetwood Martin Hemingway

Beeston & Holbeck Leaflet

The candidate is David Smith.

Farnley & Wortley Leaflet

The candidate is Cllr David Blackburn looking for re-election.

Headingley Leaflet 1

Headingley Leaflet 2

The candidate is Chris Foren.

More leaflets

The Green Party's Local Election Broadcast for 2012

Arriving by train, Caroline was welcomed at Leeds station by Farnley & Wortley Green Party members including Cllrs Ann and David Blackburn, and taken on a tour of the ward. Caroline was introduced to a Wortley resident whose house had been one of the first to benefit from the free insulation scheme initiated by Green Councillors. The visit to Farnley & Wortley ward concluded with photos with Cllr David Blackburn on the Armley Heights estate. Cllr Blackburn is standing for re-election in that ward on 3rd May.

The second part of Caroline's visit was to a lunchtime meeting at the HEART Centre in Headingley. Caroline addressed members of the public in a passionate speech about the government's false claim about being green, social justice, and the economy.

Criticising the government's green credentials Caroline raised the issue of cutting Feed-in Tariffs paid to households generating electricity through solar panels. The halving of the payment had created uncertainty in an industry that had been creating jobs, and had affected schemes across the country including Leeds where a project to install solar panels on council house roofs was no longer viable. Caroline also pointed out that the recent Budget had commissioned an extra £3 billion pounds into more oil and gas exploration in the North Sea. 

Caroline went on to speak about social issues, saying that social justice and environmental justice are absolutely linked, and that it is the poorest people who will be hurt the most by changes that are taking place. The Green Party believed in fighting for good public services that are in public hands, she said, and given that the Liberal Democrats supported the government, and Labour introduced measures like PFIs, the Green Party were in a unique position over its support for the NHS and fighting privatisation. Greens campaign to put people's lives before company profits whether it be supporting vibrant local high streets, good affordable housing, good affordable public transport, health and education.

Finishing on the economy, Caroline criticised the austerity measures of the government, including the cutting of 500,000 public sectors jobs and the ludicrous hope that the private sector would somehow create enough jobs to replace them. She added that the key issue is unemployment, particularly among the young, and to tackle the deficit we must be getting people in work which raises tax revenues and reduces the benefits paid out. Caroline went on to say that there was a real synergy between green policies and economic policies, as one of the fastest ways of creating employment would be through programmes like insulation schemes which would provide jobs, lower our emissions, and reduce fuel poverty.

Following a question and answer session with members of the public, Caroline was photographed with the Headingley ward candidate Chris Foren,  the candidate for Beeston & Holbeck, David Smith, and several other supporters. It was then time to depart for the station and a train to Huddersfield to meet our Green colleagues in Kirklees, spending time with Councillors and Parish Councillors at various projects in the region. Caroline then continued her busy work as a Member of Parliament, heading back to London for evening votes in the House of Commons. Leeds Green Party are very grateful to Caroline for taking time out of her busy schedule to visit Leeds and see what work Green Councillors and members are doing to help make Leeds a better and fairer place to live.

Caroline Lucas MP, the Leader of the Green Party of England & Wales, will be visiting Leeds on Monday 26th March. 

Caroline will be first spending time with Cllr David Blackburn touring the Farnley & Wortley ward to meet residents who have benefited from the free insulation scheme which was the idea of Leeds' two Green Councillors.

Caroline will then attend an event called "Lunchtime with Lucas" at the HEART Centre in Headingley with Chris Foren, the Green Party candidate for that ward. The event starts at 1pm and is open to the public. All are welcome. The Headingley Enterprise and Arts Centre (HEART) is on Bennett Road, LS6 3HN.

Feed the world without destroying the planet

A seminar on food production and food sovereignty

Speakers: Maria Neri (Filipina Ecosocialist), and Martin Hemingway (Leeds Green Party)

10th November 7pm     Free Entry

Fourth floor. The Rose Bowl (LS1 3HR), back of Leeds Civic Hall

Sponsored by the Green Party and Socialist Resistance.

One and a half billion people are at risk from rising food prices. This is the dramatic conclusion of the report by UN food agencies; the state of food insecurity in the World today.

The report talks of a triple crisis of food, climate change and depleted natural resources, which could affect 1.5 billion people across 10 countries. It says: “having 600 million people suffering from hunger on a daily basis is never acceptable”

But the way the UN agencies focus on the concept of “food security” is fundamentally flawed. They promote private investment and increased agricultural productivity – both of which are part of the problem. They have contributed to the development of widespread hunger, rising food prices and small producers being forced off the land by increasing power of agribusiness and the supermarkets.

The real the answer is food sovereignty; that is the right of the people who produce food to determine their own agricultural policies, free from interference from either multinationals or from international institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.

Food producers are at the mercy of the supermarkets who dictate what is grown and what price they will pay. Tesco makes two thirds of its sales and profits in Britain. In the second quarter of this financial year like for like sales in British stores fell by 0.7% while profits increased by 12% in the first half of the year! 

Maria Neri has worked for CONZARRD since the mid 1990s.  CONZARRD is a grouping of popular and non-governmental organisations working on agrarian reform and rural development in Mindanao, in the Philippines. For CONZARRD organic farming is not a luxury – but essential to the survival of the farmers.

These are not issues that people in Britain often addresses – we hope you will join us to hear Maria and other speakers discuss why they are vital to us all.

It was an encouraging night for the Green Party in Headingley and across the city of Leeds. In Headingley ward Chris Foren came third from a field of seven candidates with 682 votes (a 17.57% share, almost double the 2010 result). In Weetwood ward Martin Hemingway polled 596 votes (8.96%), over a 3% increase on 2010. In Adel & Wharfedale Paul Marchant almost doubled his percentage, polling 337 (4.08%). In nearby Hyde Park and Woodhouse ward Robert Simpson exceeded expectations by finishing in second place with 689 votes (18.3%), a huge increase on the 2010 figure of 7.87%. 

Elsewhere in the city the key result was the re-election of Cllr Ann Blackburn in Farnley & Wortley with 2,995 votes, a 47.42% share. There were other notable results in Armley, Bramley & Stanningley, and Kirkstall.

The Green Party results in Leeds for the Local Council Elections on 5th May 2011 are as follows:

Adel & Wharfedale Paul Marchant  337 (4.08%)

Armley Jane Morrison  748 (13.70%)

Beeston & Holbeck David Smith  308 (6.56%)

Bramley & Stanningley Kate Bisson   514 (10.01%)

Burmantofts & Richmond Hill Peter Exley  356 (6.56%)

Chapel Allerton Colin Noble  484  (7.47%)

Crossgates & Whinmoor Ben Goldthorp  253  (3.94%)

Farnley & Wortley Ann Blackburn  2995 (47.42%) ELECTED 

Guiseley & Rawdon Colin Avison  529 (6.92%)

Harewood Patricia Capstick  400 (5.36%)

Headingley Christopher Foren  682 (17.57%)

Hyde Park & Woodhouse Robert Simpson  689 (18.30%)

Kirkstall Morgan Tatchell-Evans  527 (9.35%)

Pudsey Irene Dracup  321 (4.67%)

Roundhay Paul Ellis  559 (6.53%)

Weetwood Martin Hemingway  596 (8.96%)

Thank you for your support.

The candidates selected so far are:

Adel & Wharfedale Ward Paul Marchant

Headingley Christopher Foren

Weetwood Martin Hemingway

More details about the candidates will follow shortly.

Remember that on the same day as the local elections you will have the chance to vote in a referendum about whether to change the UK's electoral system. The choice is whether to adopt a new Alternative Vote system or to keep the existing "First Past the Post" system. The Green Party is backing the "Yes to AV" campaign. 

At a full meeting at Leeds Civic Hall on 5th October 2010, members of the Green Party in Leeds agreed to the formation of a city wide party.

Proposing the motion Cllr. David Blackburn (Farnley & Wortley) said that a city wide party would provide a forum for members living outside the active branches, and could provide support for the growth of new ward parties with the City.

Supporting Cllr. Blackburn, Martin Hemingway from Headingley Green Party stated that the branch would not replace the current branches, but would provide the focus for growth of the party in the City.

After several further meetings to draw up a constitution, the Inaugural Meeting of the Leeds Green Party took place on 24th February 2011 at the Civic Hall. The Inaugural Meeting saw the election of the new Officers, some final amendments to the constitution, and the start of the process towards setting up a bank account. The new party is now able to concentrate on the coming elections and campaigning.

The Leeds Green Party elected Officers are:

Coordinator & Chairperson:  Andrew Pointon

Fundraising & Events Officer:  Jane Morrison

Local Party Contact:   Martin Hemingway

Membership Secretary:  Kate Bisson

Nominating Officer:  Ann Blackburn

Secretary:  Chris Foren

Treasurer:  Wendy Selina

For more information contact either Martin Hemingway (0113 2749159) or Andrew Pointon (0113 2718717)

More details to follow.