Caroline Lucas

Caroline Lucas
Born	9 December 1960 Malvern
Alma mater	University of Exeter, University of Kansas
Children	2
Spouse	Richard Savage
Party	Green Party UK, Green Party of England and Wales
Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion  Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales  In office 5 September 2008 - 5 September 2012  Principal Speaker of the Green Party of England and Wales In office 30 November 2007 - 5 September 2008  Principal Speaker of the Green Party of England and Wales In office 2003 - 24 November 2006  Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion In office 6 May 2010 - Present  Member of the European Parliament for South East England In office 14 June 1999 - 6 May 2010

Caroline Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician and member of the Green Party of England and Wales who has been Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 General Election, when she became the UK's first Green Party MP. She was re-elected in 2015 with an increased majority. Asked in February 2011 how she felt about working in Parliament as a lone Green MP, as a socialist and as an environmentalist, Caroline Lucas replied:

"I think one of the positive things has been the fact that it has been possible to make alliances across the different groups in Parliament. When I was a lone councillor on Oxfordshire County Council I was completely frozen out. Nobody would even second my amendments – they just didn’t want me to be part of the council. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that Parliament is different. So it has been possible to work with people like Jeremy Corbyn MP on nuclear disarmament and in the all-party group on disarmament, and people like Paul Flynn on Afghanistan (we’re both co-chairs of the all-party group for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan), and at the same time on electoral reform to work with Douglas Carswell, a right-wing Tory, who I was able to work with to try to broaden the number of choices on the ballot paper when the Alternative Vote referendum happens – we wanted it to include a proper proportional representative system as well as AV."

In December 2015, she was reported to have resigned as patron of the Stop the War Coalition. In a statement, her spokesman said:

“Caroline was specifically troubled by some Stop the War Coalition statements after the Paris atrocities. StWC has played an important role in building the anti-war movement in Britain, and Caroline will continue to work in support of peace."

Spying

Caroline Lucas has been spied on by the London Metropolitan Police force's anti-extremism unit.

European Parliament

Affiliations

• Vice-Chairwoman, Delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council
• Member, Committee on International Trade
• Member, Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
• Substitute, Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
• Substitute, Delegation for relations with Afghanistan

Former Affiliations

• Member, Committee on International Trade
• Member, Delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council
• Substitute, Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
• Substitute, Temporary Committee on Climate Change
• Substitute, Delegation for relations with Mercosur
• Substitute, Delegation for relations with the United States

Record of Parliamentary Votes

• Voted in favour of the directive on "establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy" (A5-0027/2000). The directive covers all water management aspects in order to achieve a 'good status' of all waters by 2015.
• Voted against the directive on "national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants" (A5-0063/2000). The amendment allows setting less ambitious national emission ceilings for sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH3) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), which would result in more damage to human health and the environment.
• Voted in favour of the directive on "waste electrical and electronic equipment" (A5-0100/2002). The amendment sets higher reuse and recycling rates for IT and telecommunication equipment. Rejected due to lack of absolute majority.
• Voted in favour of the report on "Community guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network" (A5-0135/2002). The Trans-European Network of Transport (TEN-T) is a network of so-called 'transport corridors' through Europe. This amendment calls for a full Strategic Environmental Assessment of these transport corridors and calls on the Commission to improve methods for analysing the environmental and economic impact of the TEN-T.
• Voted in favour of the regulation concerning "traceability and labelling of genetically modified organisms and traceability of food and feed products produced from genetically modified organisms" (A5-0229/2002). The amendment allows customers the right to choose GM free food.
• Voted in favour of the report towards a "thematic strategy on the sustainable use of pesticides" (A5-0061/2003). The amendment proposes to ban or severely restrict use of pesticides in areas around sources of drinking water and nature protected zones.
• Voted in favour of the directive on "environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage" (A5-0145/2003). According to the amendment, polluters have to pay for environmental clean-up, and it supports an EU-wide regime which makes polluters liable for the damage they cause to wildlife, water and land.
• Voted in favour of the directive on restructuring the "Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity" (A5-0302/2003). The amendment aims at giving tax benefits to environmentally friendly sources of energy, which would make them cheaper and more competitive to conventional (more polluting) sources of energy. It also gives tax benefits to environmentally friendly uses of energy for transport, for instance trains. Rejected due to lack of absolute majority.

Personal Information

Curriculum Vitae

• BA (First Class Hons.) English Literature, Exeter University (1980-1983); scholarship, University of Kansas (1983-1984).
• Diploma in Journalism (1987). Ph.D. (English and Women's Studies), University of Exeter (1985-1989).
• National press officer, Green Party (1987-1989).
• With Oxfam:

press officer (1989-1991);

communications officer, Asia Desk (1991-1994);

policy adviser on trade and the environment (1994-1997);

team leader for trade and investment (1998-1999).

• With UK Government: Policy adviser on trade and investment, Department for International Development (1997-1998).
• In the Green Party:

Co-Chair, Party National Council (1989-1990);

general election speaker (1991-1992);

member, Party Regional Council (1997-1999);

Principal Speaker (2003- ).

• Member of the European Parliament (since 1999).
• Vice-President, ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (1999-2003).
• Advisory Board Member:

International Forum on Globalisation;

Centre for a Social Europe.

• Trustee, Radiation Research Trust.
• Patron, Joliba Trust (Africa), Matron, Women's Environmental Network. *President, UNA West Oxfordshire Branch.
• Publications include:

'Green Alternatives to globalisation: a manifesto' (co-author) (2004);

'The euro, or a sustainable future for Britain', Green Party (2000);

'Reforming world trade', Oxfam (1994).

Resources

• European Parliament, Declaration of Members' Financial Interests: Caroline Lucas, 06 January 2009, accessed 09 February 2009.
• European Parliament, Declaration of Members' Financial Interests: Caroline Lucas, 17 June 2009, accessed 04 November 2009.
• European Parliament, MEP Directory: Caroline Lucas, accessed 09 February 2009.
• Friends of the Earth, EU Vote Watch, accessed 09 February 2009.

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Who should hold the next prime minister to account? Our best hope lies with the Green party	Article	12 June 2024	George Monbiot	The Green party has a chance of winning six seats in this election – Brighton Pavilion, where former party leader Caroline Lucas is standing down, Birkenhead, Bristol Central, Clacton, North Herefordshire, and Waveney Valley. If you live in one of these constituencies and wish to evict the Tories, this is the most effective way to use your vote.

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.