Caroline Lucas steps down as MP to focus on climate change

Caroline Lucas to resign in the next general election

Caroline Lucas, the first and only MP for the Green Party, said she was not stand in the next general election as her work with the constituency prevents her from fighting climate change.

Ms Lucas, who has represented the Brighton Pavilion since 2010, said local commitment means she is irony of fate” could not devote more attention to the “accelerating crises” facing climate and nature.

In a letter to voters received by The Argus, Ms. Lucas said she looked forward to finding more time to explore ways to make a “livable future a reality.”

She wrote: “I love it. of the city and its people, and I know how incredibly lucky I am to have the opportunity to represent you and work alongside you.

“I have always prided myself on being a good constituency deputy first and foremost. I did my best to help in any way I could and always strived to make people feel heard, that their concerns matter, and that they are not alone.

“But the intensity of these commitments to the voters, together with the special responsibilities of being the sole MP for my party, means that, ironically, I have been unable to focus on the existential issues that drive me – emergencies related to nature and climate.

«The truth is that as these threats to our precious planet become more pressing, I have struggled to spend the time I want with these accelerating crises.

“Therefore, I have decided not to run again as your Member of Parliament. in the next election.”

Voting is expected in 2024.

No date has been set for the next general election, although it has been reported that voting could take place next year. Rishi Sunak could call for elections as early as January 28, 2025.

Ms Lucas made history in 2010 when she was elected the first Green MP after she defeated Labor candidate Nancy Platts, with 1,252 votes.< /p>

Since then, the 62-year-old woman has increased her majority in every subsequent election, receiving 57.2% of the vote in 2019.

In her 13 years in the Parliament, Ms Lucas said of her accomplishments, including putting issues such as universal basic income and the legal right to access nature on the political agenda, as well as securing the first House of Commons debate on drug law reform.

< p>She also said that the introduction of the GCSE in natural history into the school curriculum was «thanks to my work in Parliament».