Former Green Party leader will join Baroness Jenny Jones as the second Green Party member of the Lords
Former Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett will join Baroness Jenny Jones in the House of Lords, after she was today named in the list of Resignation Peerages awarded by former Prime Minister Theresa May.
Bennett, who led the Green Party from September 2012 to September 2016, was nominated for a peerage by the current leaders of the Green Party, Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley. By convention, Resignation Peerages are nominated by the outgoing Prime Minister or opposition parties via the PM.
She will become only the third Green Party member ever to sit in the Lords, following Baroness Jenny Jones and Tim Beaumont.
Writing on Twitter, Bennett said she was "excited" by the news. Being in Lords would give her the "chance to represent millions of Green voters, to be the voice of the anti-fracking protestors, supports of Universal Basic Income, disability and climate emergency campaigners I've spent years on the streets with, in the corridors of power," she said.
Exciting morning: chance to represent millions of Green voters, to be voice of the anti-#fracking protectors, supporters of #universalbasicincome, disability & #ClimateEmergency campaigners I've spent years on the streets with, in the corridors of power. https://t.co/NKlgCfw9Ve
— Natalie Bennett (@natalieben) September 10, 2019
During her leadership Bennett oversaw a significant expansion in the Party's membership, from 13,000 in 2012 to 63,000 in 2016, and grew its share of the vote to 3.8 per cent.
She was praised for raising the Party's profile and sharply increasing the number of candidates it was able to field at general, local, and European elections.
However, under her leadership the Party failed to build on its single parliamentary seat, with still only one Green MP - Caroline Lucas - sitting in the Commons.
Bennett was also criticised in some quarters for a number of faltering media performances, including one interview where she suffered a self-described 'brain fade' and failed to explain the Party's housing policies.
Her sole colleague in the Chamber, Baroness Jones, has spent 16 years representing the Green Party in the London Assembly and has sat in the Lords since 2013. She welcomed the arrival of Bennett, cheering "A Green colleague at last!"