Being politically homeless was not a happy place for me to be in as the second decade of the millennium arrived. Labour had long lost their working-class roots, if they ever had them to begin with, and I felt that I would never be inspired by a politician again.

But that changed after listening to Caroline Lucas’s maiden address in the House of Commons. This inspiration for me and so many others has continued since her election in 2010. We have seen Caroline’s passionate speeches, commitment to the environment and dogged determination to demand different, do better and get things done.

Her record is unparalleled for a lone MP. Thanks to Caroline, students have statutory PSHE lessons in English and Welsh schools and a natural history GCSE will be on the syllabus by 2025/26. She helped lead the campaign for gay men to be allowed to donate blood. From the environment to housing to democratic rights, Caroline Lucas has achieved so much for the city and the country.

One of the many legacies that Caroline will leave is helping to push the climate emergency into the mainstream. Without that Green MP, this would not have happened. Labour cannot be trusted to fight for the planet. For proof of this, look no further than last week’s announcement that Rachel Reeves has backtracked on Labour’s £29 billion pledge on a Green Deal. Summer is truly here and the flip flops are on.

Despite being the Green Party’s only MP, Caroline Lucas has represented not just Brighton Pavilion, but the Green movement across Britain.

The Greens’ single seat is itself a curse of the failed first-past-the-post voting system. When you vote in this country’s system, the result is a winner-takes-all scenario. No matter how many people voted, how close the results or whether the winner gets a majority of votes, the single candidate with the highest vote gets elected. It’s simple, but it means that usually those elected represent a minority of overall voters. That’s probably why in the whole of Northern Europe, first-past-the-post is only used by the UK and Belarus.

Up and down this country at general elections people simply don’t vote. In 2019, those who didn’t vote outnumbered those who voted for any party other than the Conservatives. Commentators often criticise non-voters but people so often rightly understand that their vote won’t make a difference in a political system such as ours. The two establishment parties know this and use it to stifle the real change this country needs. Last month, the Labour leader said he had a “longstanding view against proportional representation”. And yet not so long ago, in the 2020 leadership election he ran in, he promised to address the fact that millions of votes in every election go unrepresented. Keir Starmer will say anything that benefits him in the moment, he knew that proportional representation is popular and used it to stand for leadership before getting rid of it if it meant sacrificing a shred of power in favour of a truly democratic system.

Alongside first-past-the-post, the establishment parties benefit from the influence of money in politics. Labour and Tories alike get their funding from donors who influence their policies and decisions, all while refusing to allow electoral reform that would give access to funding for elections for smaller political groups and parties. It is in their interests to uphold a system that skews election results in their favour.

Here in Brighton and Hove, despite the uphill battle, Caroline Lucas has tapped into something. She was not just elected in 2010 – at each of the subsequent general elections her majority increased, growing from around 1,200 to almost 20,000. People are excited and persuaded by her.

Our elections are broken so politics needs to be about more than just elections.

There needs to be a genuine movement for change, of which elected politicians are representatives of. That is what the Green Party is about.

Future historians will have their hands full dissecting recent UK life, from Brexit, pandemic, lockdown, a cost-of-living crisis, energy poverty, Truss budget and the worsening climate emergency. All this time faith in public servants has diminished and we need the likes of Caroline Lucas more than ever to restore belief.

Caroline rejuvenated my belief in politics – to have had the opportunity to work so closely with one of this country’s greatest parliamentarians has been an absolute honour and privilege. I wish her well on her continuing journey in defence of our planet and know she will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the movement every day.