Principal Speakers

Principal Speakers were the public spokespersons of the Green Party of England and Wales but have since been replaced in the party by a national Leader and Deputy Leader. There were two Principal Speakers, one female and one male, who were elected annually at the Green Party's Autumn Conference and held no vote on the Green Party Executive (GPEx).

A referendum passed on 30 November 2007 has abolished the posts and a leader and deputy were elected at Autumn Conference on September 5, 2008.

The Principal Speakers performed the public and media roles undertaken by the leaders of more conventional political parties. Green Parties often consider joint leadership of this kind to embody the widely held Green beliefs in consensus decision making and gender balance. It also symbolises their belief in the need for a society in which people are empowered and involved in making the decisions which affect them. In the Party's Philosophical Basis, it states that the Green Party "reject[s] the hierarchical structure of leaders and followers, and, instead advocate[s] participatory politics" and it is "for this reason" that the Green Party has eschewed an individual leader.

There were six Principal Speakers in the UK Green Party until 1991, when changes introduced by the Green 2000 grouping reduced this to two and streamlined the organisation of the party. This left a system that neither side in the 2007 leadership referendum was happy with.

Not all regions of the Green Party use the Principal Speaker system. In particular, the Wales Green Party has a Leader, Pippa Bartalotti, and Deputy Leader Chris Were. The North West of England appointed a Leader some years ago in the run up to a European election but this has now been abandoned. However, some regional and local groups have adopted the gender balance principle and emulated the Principal Speaker structure, including the LSE Students' Union Green Party, who have a Female and Male Co-Chair.

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