GPEx Local Party Support Coordinator candidates

We are Lyndsay McAteer and Daniel Laycock. Lyndsay’s the current Chair of Warrington and Halton Green Party and has been a member since 2005. She has stood in many local elections and as Green Party candidate for Parliament. Before living back in the UK, Lyndsay worked in Aotearoa/New Zealand Parliament and saw the first past the post system replaced with Proportional Representation. 

Daniel Laycock currently sits as the Chair/Coordinator of the Eastern Green Party. Previously Daniel was Deputy Coordinator and Fundraising Officer on the regional committee and is also the Elections and Campaigns Officer for Huntingdonshire, having run the local party as Coordinator and relaunched his local party in 2018 due to the local party being inactive. 

We’re standing on a job-share, as we are fully aware that local parties need the support they deserve and to see all local parties are working effectively with their campaign teams and within each party, so they’re election ready at all times. Ensuring that support and infrastructure meets the needs of local parties is an essential first step in making this happen. 

Our local parties are the backbone of our party. They work tirelessly for us to win on local councils –campaign on local issues that help and change people’s lives for the better and stand up to social and environmental injustices, all the time. 

Our local parties range from the smallest to the largest. From the most urban to the incredibly large rural areas, with members that have years of experience to ones that have only just joined And from local parties that are financially stable to ones that are struggling right across England and Wales. 

Local parties desperately need vital support. They’ve been ignored too much, for far too long. They need two people to stand up for them, that will work with them and champion the work they do, every single day, fighting to put their local parties, councillors and campaigners on the map in their communities. 

We need to work with local parties who need critical support, providing training, sharing of experience and knowledge from the Association of Green Councillors, experienced councillors and campaigners, Target to Win, Regional Parties, and all our local parties right across the country. 

If you want two people that will help out local parties to grow and win, vote McAteer and Laycock from 1 August and let’s build our local parties for future success.

Professional qualifications and experience in Social Work, Environmental Health and Housing Management:

• 20 years of experience of managing public services, including five as a local authority Chief Executive.
• First Green Party Councillor to be elected in Derbyshire (Bolsover District in 2011)
• First Green Party Councillor to be elected to Shropshire Unitary Council (2016)
• First Green Party Councillor to be elected to Oswestry Town Council (2013). In the subsequent two elections (2017 and 2021) we grew the Green Group to five out of 18 in 2017 and in 2021 took complete control of the Council with 12 out of the 18 seats. Every single seat was won against Tory opposition.
• Have held practically all positions in local parties since joining in 2009 and been instrumental in breathing new life into a dormant branch.
• Good understanding of the organisational, motivational, practical, strategic and technical issues that local groups face.
• Considerable experience in building local groups in rural/semi-urban areas that have never considered themselves “green”.

My perception is that there has never been a more exciting time to be involved in Green politics. But it would be all too easy to miss this opportunity if we do not provide appropriate support and clarity for local groups so that they can maximise the opportunities they have.

I am a strong advocate for equalities and diversity and wish to see under-represented groups given proper encouragement and assistance to take on key roles for the party in, and beyond, local groups.

Beyond that I am still learning how local groups relate to communities, environmental pressure groups and elected Green Party Councillors – it’s a complex dance!

As a target ward candidate, I know how vital this role is. Our Field Officers are our unsung heroes; they do a tremendous job of supporting our local parties through every stage of their campaigns, including provision of training, resources and anything else that’s needed. To help them to carry out their roles most effectively, they need a strong, reliable Local Party Support Coordinator to provide strategic direction and ensure they get the necessary resources and support from the Executive Committee (GPEx). 

I became Co-Membership Officer for my local party in 2015 and am also our Climate Action Officer. I’ve stood in several local elections and the 2019 General Election. I know the issues that local parties face, especially with regard to membership recruitment, engagement and retention, and similarly all the aspects of running target ward campaigns. Living in the North East, I appreciate the London-centric nature of current politics and I am keen that no parties feel forgotten about. 

The remit of the Local Party Support Coordinator is to facilitate local parties, to listen to their needs and to provide the support with which they need to thrive. Strong local parties are more likely to get elected councillors which in turn improve our prospects for national electoral success. I plan to survey all our local parties to produce a map displaying the general health and strength of them all. This will enable us to encourage the more successful ones to help and support nearby parties that aren’t yet thriving, and to foster networking and best practise. The map would identify areas lacking local parties and I’ll attempt to initiate new start-up until the whole country is covered. 

We’re facing a climate and ecological emergency and the Greens are the only party who truly offer the solutions that are really needed; getting more Greens elected at all levels is critical in avoiding the tipping point. 

My experiences as a Party member, local officer and electoral candidate leave me well equipped for this role. I am a good communicator and people find it very easy to talk to me. I’m equally good at seeing the big picture as well as analysing issues to find solutions. Currently, I’m a stay-at-home mum, but I’ve spent the majority of my working life in IT as a developer, working for a local authority, the NHS and the CQC. 

I’m a trustee at a community swimming pool and leisure centre which I fought to reopen after its closure by the local council. With a considerable turnover and around 30 staff members, there’s a great deal of scrutiny involved in this role. I’m a life-long environmentalist but I evolved into an activist after the birth of my children, compelled by the lack of governmental action on climate change. 

If we’re to turn the climate crisis around, we need more Greens. It’s as simple as that. The Local Party Support Coordinator can play a key role in making that happen and I’m willing to give it my all.

Hi, I’m Rosie. Having been an active member of the party in the last five years, and with nine years of professional experience in campaigns, activist training, and movement building, I believe I have the experience and skills to deliver in the role of Local Party Support Coordinator and help grow our powerful network of local parties. 

Experience within the Green Party

• Active member of GPEx for 2+ years (2018 - present) 
• Target candidate in winning ward in Oxford’s 2021 local elections
• Executive Committee member of Oxfordshire Green Party (2019 – 2021)
• Committee member of South East Green Party (2017 – 2018)
• Young Greens Co-chair for three terms (2018 – present) 

Professional experience in activist training and movement building

• Campaigns Manager at Oxfam GB (2016 – 2018) 
• National Organiser at The People’s Assembly Against Austerity (2014 – 2015)
• Staff member for Norwich Green Party (2016) 

Experience on organisational governing bodies

• Member of the Council at the University of East Anglia (2013 – 2014)
• Chair of Trustee Board for the Union of UEA Students (2013 – 2014) 
• Trustee Board member of People & Planet (2012 – 2014) 

Recently, we’ve seen record breaking election results for the Greens and there’s good reason why. While the Covid crisis has revealed the deep flaws in our current political economic system, more and more people are looking for an alternative – voting Green for a future that is truly just, sustainable and radically democratic. The political context alone however will not be enough to again double our number of elected councillors in the coming year, nor win more crucial voices in the corridors of Parliament. We need to continue building the capacity, skills and talents of our grassroots organisers and local party election machines. 

If elected as Local Party Support Coordinator, I will deliver on three priorities to help us achieve this:

1. Bespoke training and support packages for all local parties: Let’s deliver a comprehensive mapping of local party capacity and devise multiple effective local party training and support packages. This means mentoring, training and resource programmes that support target seats to win, help smaller local parties get a foot on the ladder, and provide those already in administration with the tools to deliver greater transformative change in their communities.
2. Development of national and local activist training programmes: Our national Campaign School and Campaign Academy have proven to be immensely valuable, building election organisers that go out to win time and time again. If elected, I would work to help grow and strengthen these programmes, working with regional and local parties to facilitate similar projects at these levels. 
3. Building an engaged and empowered membership: The strength of our success as a party has so much to do with the passion, dedication and power of our party’s activists. If elected, I will work with our Development team to deliver a strategy on membership recruitment, engagement and retention. This will include plans to build the capacity of our liberation groups and increase the diversity of our membership.