Caroline Lucas to stand down: Her 13 years as an MP

Ms Lucas, who was first elected in 2010 as the UK’s first (and so far only) Green MP, has announced she will not stand for re-election to spend more time focused on climate activism.

In a letter to constituents seen exclusively by The Argus, she said: “When I think back over the past 13 years, my strongest emotion is deep gratitude.

“My heart will always be in this most special city, and with the inspiring communities and individuals I’ve been privileged to get to know.

“I pledged that I would do my very best to do you proud. I can only hope that - whether you voted for me or not - you will judge that that is what I have done.”

Ms Lucas first joined the Green Party in 1986, becoming the party’s national press officer the following year and co-chair in 1989.

She was first elected as a Green representative in 1993 as a councillor in Oxfordshire, before becoming an MEP in 1999 for South East England.

In the 2005 general election, the Green Party came third in Brighton Pavilion with 22 per cent with candidate Keith Taylor. Two years later, Ms Lucas was selected as the candidate for the constituency for the following election.

After becoming Green Party leader in 2008, Caroline Lucas was elected as the UK’s first, and so far only, Green MP - gaining the seat from Labour with a majority of 1,252. She also became the first woman to represent Brighton in Parliament.

Caroline Lucas celebrating her election victory in 2010 with former Green Party candidate Keith Taylor (Image: Simon Dack)

After the results were announced in 2010, Ms Lucas said: “Today, the people of Brighton Pavilion have made history by electing Britain’s first Green MP to Westminster.

“Thank you so much for putting the politics of hope above the politics of fear and I pledge that I will do my very best to do you proud.”

She told The Argus: “The empathic support of the people of Brighton Pavilion has shown that they are prepared to put their trust in the Greens.

“I feel humbled by their trust in me and am looking forward to the challenging task of representing the people of Brighton Pavilion as their MP.”

Front page of The Argus after the 2010 general election

In her first speech in Parliament three weeks after the election, she compared her election to that of the first socialist and independent Labour MPs, “whose arrival was seen as sign of coming revolution”.

She said: “When Keir Hardie made his maiden speech to this House, after winning the seat of West Ham South in 1892, there was an outcry.

“But what Keir Hardie stood for now seems much more mainstream. Progressive taxation, votes for women, free schooling, pensions and the abolition of the House of Lords.”

Caroline Lucas outside Parliament following her election in 2010 (Image: John Stillwell/PA)

Ms Lucas was arrested at a non-violent protest against fracking operations by Cuadrilla Resources in Balcombe in August 2013, along with her son.

Protesters encamped along the roadside at the demonstration, with many locking arms and blocking the road, while others glued themselves together or attached themselves to fencing.

She was charged with obstructing a public highway, but later found not guilty in April 2014 at Brighton Magistrates’ Court.

Caroline Lucas with other protesters outside the drilling site in Balcombe in 2013 (Image: Simon Dack)

Outside court following the verdict, Ms Lucas said: “We are pleased that the court upheld our right to peacefully protest against fracking, but this judgement is not a victory or cause for celebration.

“We will continue to campaign to end fracking and only celebrate when our world is on the path to a clean energy future.”

Ms Lucas also campaigned on a variety of progressive issues during her time in Parliament, including against the publication of bare-breasted models in The Sun. She was rebuked in 2013 for wearing a shirt which said “No More Page Three” to protest against the feature. The section was discontinued in January 2015.

Caroline Lucas was rebuked for wearing the shirt protesting against Page 3 (Image: BBC)

As a supporter of a universal basic income, Ms Lucas also tabled a motion in Parliament calling for research into the effects of the scheme and the feasibility of replacing the UK’s current welfare system.

Following the Brexit referendum, Ms Lucas expressed her concern for the end of freedom of movement and the fate of EU citizens living in the UK.

She later joined the People’s Vote campaign, which unsuccessfully called for a second referendum on leaving the EU.

In 2020, Ms Lucas was found to have breached the House of Commons Code of Conduct after offering a tour of Parliament for £150. She apologised for the breach and the Green Party returned the donation to the supporter who received the tour.

Caroline Lucas ripped up a copy of the Illegal Migration Bill in Parliament earlier this year (Image: PA wire)

More recently, Ms Luas has campaigned against the government’s plans on tackling illegal immigration, ripping up a controversial bill during a Parliamentary debate.

As she tore up a copy of the Illegal Migration Bill, which has been branded as an effective “asylum ban” by the United Nations, Ms Lucas said: “The Home Secretary, on the face of this bill, invites Parliament to rip up international law.

“The only act of a Parliament that has any kind of moral integrity is to rip up her illegal and immoral bill.”