This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Jonathan Bartley, the co-leader of the Green party, is to stand again for the post on a joint ticket with London assembly member Siân Berry after his current co-leader, Caroline Lucas, said this week she was stepping down.

The announcement by Bartley and Berry has made them frontrunners for the role, which is voted on by Green members every two years. Bartley and Lucas were elected as joint leaders in 2016.

Lucas, by far the party’s best-known figure and its only MP since she was elected to represent Brighton Pavilion in 2010, said on Wednesday “making space for other people” was the right thing to do.

“We have a wonderful array of talent in the party and I would love the opportunity for more of that to be showcased,” Lucas said.

Bartley, who was not well known before he stood with Lucas, is the leader of the Green opposition on Lambeth council in south London.

Berry has a slightly higher profile, albeit largely in the capital. She is a Camden councillor and stood twice as the Greens’ candidate for London mayor.

Lucas became the Greens’ first leader in 2008 after the party dropped its system of two “principal speakers”. She was replaced as leader by Natalie Bennett in 2012. Bennett endured a difficult 2015 general election, after which Lucas and Bartley took over.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green party. Photograph: PA

When Lucas and Bartley were elected joint leaders there was some scepticism as to how such an arrangement might work, but the pair say it has proved a success.

Nominations for the leadership remain open this month and the winner will be announced at the party conference in October.

Bartley said the Greens were “firmly established as England’s fourth party”. He said: “I want to continue that work with Siân as we build towards the next vital set of elections.

“Our ambition is to have a Green on every council and together we believe the time is right for the party to step up to a whole new level.”

Berry said that although Lucas was a hard act to follow, she was committed to growing the party’s support.