In May 2016, less than a month before the European Union referendum, I announced that I would be standing for the Green party leadership with Jonathan Bartley. By any political standard, it’s been a tumultuous time since, but two things that have remained constant are my faith in our party and a commitment to doing what’s best for it. That’s why, when the party was being buffeted by strong countervailing forces, I was honoured to be approached to stand for the leadership. I hope I’m continuing to show the kind of leadership that’s about doing what’s best for the party by creating space now for more voices to be heard.

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Part of Green party leadership is knowing when to step up and when to step aside. I won’t be seeking nominations to be a candidate in this year’s leadership election, when the process starts on Friday, but instead will be focusing even more on work in parliament and in my Brighton constituency. I believe that Jonathan and I have shown the power of working together, since we became joint Green party leaders in September 2016, and it’s now time for me to show the power of letting go. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved in two very busy years: thanks in large part to the extraordinary work of staff and volunteers, the party has been transformed in so many positive ways, with progress towards our shared goals well underway. One of our priorities was to secure political backing for updating the party’s structures, which have changed very little since the 1970s. We are driving forward a root-and-branch review of how the party operates and organises itself.

We want to be a more inclusive party, to see better representation of our members at all levels, faster decision-making and an ability to better capitalise on the next green surge. We focused relentlessly on getting Greens elected across the country, meeting thousands of activists from South Shields to Solihull, Lewes to Liverpool, who are at the forefront of our march forwards. And we’ve championed investment in our amazing regional staff to build a more powerful election machine. The effects are already clear – our best local election results ever earlier this month brought the Green party to every corner of this country as we broke on to councils as diverse as Birmingham, Burnley and Richmond. The polls now show us ahead of Ukip, and closing in on the Liberal Democrats.

For a smaller party such as the Greens, it is always going to be hard to swim against the political tide. But in the last few years, against the odds, we have strengthened our position as a leading force in progressive politics. We have not been eclipsed by the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, but instead have used these unique circumstances to push for even more radical change, and to put our boldest policies yet before the public.

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Who would have thought a few years ago that we would be talking in primetime interviews about shortening the working week that we would have the government on the run on environmental protection, That pressing Amber Rudd on arms sales to Saudi Arabia in the general election debate would go viral? or that we would have hours of radio shows dedicated to discussion of our proposals for evidence-based drug laws? When it comes to the EU, we’ve not been afraid of championing membership of the world’s most successful peace project and being in the forefront of the movement for a people’s vote. As politics moves in our direction, I’m proud that we have consistently been out in front of the establishment.

We are living through climate breakdown. We have an economy that prizes pointless jobs and condemns people to a lifetime of drudgery. We have an electoral system that excludes everyone outside of swing seats. Britain needs a party that makes the desirable feasible – that says what needs to be said, not what is deemed acceptable by the powers-that-be. The Green party must always be an insurgent force for good, consistently asking the big questions that matter. I have faith that our party, under a new leadership team, will step up to the challenge that our increasingly febrile times present, and give the people of this country the bold alternative that is so desperately needed.