Caroline Lucas will not be seeking re-election in September

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Aurora

Caroline Lucas will not be seeking re-election in September

Post by Aurora »

BBC News - 13/05/12

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas says she will not be seeking re-election when her second term ends in September.

She announced on Sunday that she will continue as MP for Brighton Pavilion, and hopes to "dedicate even more of my work to the political front line".

Article continues ...
The Independent - 14/05/12

Green Party leader steps aside to aid fight against Lib Dems

Caroline Lucas will hand over top job as part of strategy to boost her colleagues' profiles.

Article continues ...
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UndercoverElephant
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Post by UndercoverElephant »

May be a clever move to avoid losing next time because of massive boundary changes.
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tattercoats
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Post by tattercoats »

May be a clever move, equally, to give someone else the profile - not to mention allow her to concentrate on what she's already doing as an MP without running the party as well. Which reminds me I must chase up joining it... :-)
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emordnilap
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Post by emordnilap »

UndercoverElephant wrote:May be a clever move to avoid losing next time because of massive boundary changes.
?

Don't understand. How do boundary changes affect her decision?
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
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biffvernon
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Post by biffvernon »

Caroline sets out the reasons here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... down-green

It's quite simple.
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emordnilap
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Post by emordnilap »

biffvernon wrote:Caroline sets out the reasons here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... down-green

It's quite simple.
I thought so too, but I'm mystified about the boundary change angle.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
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UndercoverElephant
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Post by UndercoverElephant »

emordnilap wrote:
UndercoverElephant wrote:May be a clever move to avoid losing next time because of massive boundary changes.
?

Don't understand. How do boundary changes affect her decision?
Her seat is effectively disappearing. There will still be a constituency called "Brighton Pavilion", but its not going to be the same constituency. The vote in Brighton is not evenly distributed. The Greens depend partly on the hippy/liberal long-term community, and partly on the universities/students. Both the universities are moving consituencies, and half the students will go with them. They will be replaced by tory voters from Hove.
"We fail to mandate economic sanity because our brains are addled by....compassion." (Garrett Hardin)
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mobbsey
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Post by mobbsey »

An inspired move. By allowing others in the party to step forward and promote a broader image they can hopefully move their media profile from primarily invisible towards merely transparent.
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Post by JavaScriptDonkey »

That article is full of non-reasons.

I suspect the UCE is bang on the money, Lucas doesn't want to be leader if/when she loses her seat in 2015. If she stands down now it'll give which ever unknown gets the job at least some time to develop a public persona.
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