What people say

I have been extremely privileged to work with amazing, committed and passionate people in the Green Party. I’ve learnt so much.

These endorsements reflect the way I interact with people from all parts of the party and how I would work as Deputy Leader; inclusive, supportive and effective.

Adrian Ramsay, Green Party Deputy Leader, 2008 to 2012.

Caroline has shown that she has the skills and qualities we need from a Deputy Leader. She understands policy thoroughly and can effectively communicate our stance on particular issues and the wider Green vision. She was an effective and inspiring candidate in the recent London Assembly elections. Caroline is clearly a team player who works well with local parties and campaign groups and can unite people behind our cause.

Please vote for Caroline Allen to be our new Deputy Leader.

Jean Lambert, MEP.

I am giving my first preference for Deputy Leader to Caroline: I believe she brings a “can-do” attitude to the post and a strong, proven commitment to helping maximise the strengths and talents we have within the Party so we can increase our impact politically.

 

Jenny Jones, London Assembly Member and 2012 Mayoral Candidate.

 

I’ll be voting for Caroline because she has proven that she has the campaigning, team working and strategic skills as well as obvious passion to be an excellent Deputy Leader. Caroline played a key role in the recent London Assembly and Mayoral campaign, achieving a great result in North East London, by running a positive campaign that gained great media coverage and helped us achieve our historic third place.

 

Darren Johnson, London Assembly Member and Lewisham Councillor.

At all levels of the party Caroline has made a real impact: playing a thoughtful and constructive role in developing policy at national level, being an effective regional presence in the recent London Assembly elections and galvanising her own local party with some inspired campaigning. I think she will make a great Deputy Leader.

 

Christopher Were, Wales Green Party, Deputy Leader.

Caroline’s always been a strong voice on policy within the party and has spoken on so many issues with a great deal of compassion, we could benefit greatly from from her ability to strongly and passionately champion Green Party policy.

 

Stuart Jeffery, Policy Coordinator for Green Party National Executive (GPEx) and Chair of Kent Green Party.

Electing Caroline will give the party someone who is articulate, knowledgeable and passionate about Green politics. Her commitment to policy and her performance in the London Assembly elections have demonstrated that she has real political courage and conviction. She will be a superb asset to us, please vote for Caroline as Deputy Leader.

 
Matty Mitford. Campaigns Coordinator GPEx.

I’ve worked with Caroline on elections in London, both in her party in Islington and the
numerous times she’s come to my party, Camden, to help with elections and other events. I’ve always found her committed, informed and driven – she’s also a seriously impressive speaker and political writer. Caroline would make an excellent Deputy Leader, she’s everything we want to project to the outside world about our party. Organised, radical, hard working and serious. I’ll be pleased to give her my first preference for Deputy.

Emma Pruen, Internal Communications Coordinator on GPEx.

I am backing Caroline Allen for Deputy Leader as I think she is an exceptional candidate with a very strong track record who has all the skills to be a dynamic force within the party and a vote winning ambassador to the outside world.

 

John Street, International Coordinator GPEx.

Caroline Allen’s knowledge and willingness to engage contributed very positively to the discussions at the European Green Party’s (EGP) Paris Congress (November 2011) on the Agricultural Dimension of the Green New Deal. Caroline was also a very valuable member of the Green Party delegation at the following EGP Council in Copenhagen (May 2012). Her understanding of international Green perspectives and willingness to engage in these debates will be valuable assets if elected as Deputy Leader.

Councillor Sam Riches, Lancashire County Council.

I’ve always been impressed by Caroline’s meticulous work on policy. She has the unusual ability to be able to focus on getting the details right without losing sight of the bigger picture. From our time together on GPRC  (Green Party Regional Council) I know that Caroline understands the importance of supporting all the regions within GPEW. She will make an excellent Deputy Leader for the next stage of the Greens’ development.

 

Cllr Andrew Cooper, Kirkless Green Party.

I’ve met all the Deputy Leader Candidates now and it’s a strong list but I’ll be backing Caroline Allen. Caroline has got the political radar, commitment and nous we need in the leadership team to ensure we are seen as both radical and accessible to ensure we widen our appeal to more voters.

 

Lewis Coyne, Liverpool Green Party

When working as part of the election campaign team in Islington this year, I was seriously impressed by the hard work and commitment that Caroline put into the North East constituency campaign for the London Assembly elections – Greens are now the second party in Hackney and Islington North. If elected as Deputy Leader, I know that this dedication and hard work would continue. We desperately need someone who can galvanise and cooperate within the party, so that our successes can start to match our ambitions. That’s why I’m giving my first preference vote to Caroline for Deputy.

Phil Simpson, Birmingham Green Party, past Co-Chair Green Party Regional Council.

I have worked with Caroline on GPRC (Green Party Regional Council) on a number of difficult issues. She was always notable for bringing us back to the topic and concentrating our attention on positive results. She worked hard as part of the team and you knew that she would deliver her part of any project, but best of all it was done in such an unassuming and supportive way you always enjoyed the work. From my 30 years in the Green Party I cannot honestly think of anyone whom I’d rather work with as Deputy Leader.

 

Noel Lynch, Coordinator, London Federation of Green Parties and Co-Convenor of the Green Party Trade Union Group.

 

Rupert Read. Norwich Green Party and East of England Green Party Coordinator.

I have worked with Caroline for years on various issues including animal rights and the Party’s science policy, and she played a key strategic role in helping me in informal ‘negotiations’ with the ‘Animals Count’ Party, before the last European elections. I am very impressed with Caroline’s commitment both to deeply Green values and to effective political operation and vote-winning. This combination of deep value-commitment and real political effectiveness is rare. Caroline is a selfless person who would, I believe, make a strong Deputy Leader, a very worthy successor in that role to Adrian Ramsay.

Emily McIvor, Regional Coordinator, South West Green Party.

As a contributor to the recently adopted agriculture and fisheries policies, I have direct experience of Caroline’s ability to listen and come up with practical, workable solutions to apparently intractable problems. Caroline’s attention to detail has, I’m sure, impressed all of us in the policy community, as has her ability to present complex ideas in a simple yet compelling way. I believe Caroline would make an excellent Deputy Leader for the Green Party.

Cllr Jonathon Essex, Reigate Green Party.

I support Caroline Allen standing for Deputy Leader as she is able to clearly communicate policy. I believe we must communicate our Big Idea of a post growth, sustainable economy in ways that inspire. Caroline can help us transform what is still considered politically impossible by many to Occupy the mainstream. I back Caroline to challenge business-as-usual and build campaigns that turn cynicism in our current politicians into the momentum that allows citizens to shift what our society believes is possible.

 

Rob Jarrett Councillor for Goldsmid ward. Chair of Adult Care and Health committee, Brighton and Hove City Council.

I am backing Caroline for Deputy as I think she has the essential qualities of integrity, honesty and commitment. She is a hard worker who has guided complex policy areas successfully through conference. She has a real job and is selfless in her dedication to the party. Caroline is a real team worker.

 

Peter Garbutt, Chair, Sheffield and Rotherham Green Party.

Caroline has impressed me with her depth of knowledge, her commitment and her ability to communicate with clarity and confidence. The post of Deputy Leader will require both people skills and organisational skills, and Caroline possesses both in spades. I believe she has the vision and the energy to inspire the party to move forward.

Brian Heatley, past GPEW Policy Coordinator and Secretary Green House think tank.

I’ll be voting for Caroline for Deputy Leader. She was a great GPRC Friend when I was Policy Coordinator, and went beyond the Friend’s brief to throw herself into the actual work of Policy Committee. Since then she has taken forward revisions of substantial tracts of policy with insight, determination and genuine consideration. Whatever she does she does with energy and to great effect.

John Youatt, Coordinator Derbyshire Dales Green Party.

I first met Caroline Allen in hyper space when she and others began to assemble a working group to review a complicated and out of date countryside policy. Managing a debate by email is an essential modern skill. She has it. The policy review then went to the Sheffield conference. Again it wasn’t straightforward, but with Caroline’s leadership and knowledge of how conference works, a team of 5 of us got it through. There were some unscheduled moments that required quick and decisive thinking and action. She can do that too. This was a good moment for the Derbyshire Greens, three of whom provided some of the input. My overview is that policy tends to be run from town. It was good to introduce a perspective from the countryside.

Mustafa Korel, Hackney Green Party Campaign Coordinator.

 

Campaigning with Caroline has been inspirational – both to me and our  local party, and it’s changed us for the better. She really brought the campaign  together and injected it with life that I think we needed at that point. Working with Caroline has probably been one of the best experiences in the  Green Party for me so far – she knows her policy, but at the same time really  knows how to engage with people, from press to local parties to residents. She encourages and sees potential and opportunity and I think this quality  is what calls people to action. I support Caroline’s decision to stand as Deputy Leader because she is  deserving of it and has proved it through her knowledge, her experience and her  ability to bring out the best in others, like she has done in me.

Eric van den Berg, Hackney Green Party.

As a member of the Hackney Green Party, I had the privilege of working with Caroline Allen in the run-up to the 2012 GLA elections.
During the campaign, I was extremely impressed by Caroline’s energy, optimism and knowledge of local issues. She was an extremely dependable and hard-working campaigner.
Caroline is a true believer in our party’s cause, and I know that animal issues are particularly close to her heart. When discussing political issues with her, I have found she is able to speak with firm belief and empathy for other viewpoints simultaneously. These qualities could serve us well in rallying the wider electorate behind our cause, but will also be of great benefit internally, creating consensus and enthusing our membership.
I think Caroline would make an excellent Deputy Leader of our party and endorse her as such without reservation.

Jonathan Kent. Rother Green Party, Sussex.

I’m really pleased that Caroline has decided to stand for Deputy Leader. She’s already shown that she’s a great campaigner and an excellent candidate with her result in the London Assembly elections. However Caroline is more than that. I cannot overstate the importance of electing a scientifically literate woman, like Caroline, to a senior post within the party. As a vet she can speak with authority about issues that matter to us all, such as animal welfare. But beyond that the rigour of her professional training is the perfect preparation for a whole range of debates where Greens are portrayed as irrational but where, in reality, the science is on our side and our opponents rely on pseudo-science and disinformation funded by powerful vested interests. Above all Caroline is an inclusive candidate, collegiate and unifying who can bring together the social and environmental justice threads of Green thinking and whose ambitions are for the party and the causes we campaign for and not for herself. By supporting Caroline you support someone who realises that our most powerful contribution to making our country and our planet a better place will come from working together, and not from pursuing personal goals or surrendering to ego.

Tom Chance, London Policy Co-ordinator.

I have been impressed when working with Caroline on policy and local party organisation. In her contributions to London’s manifesto for the recent Mayoral and Assembly elections she showed a radical edge combined with credible policies. I believe she would bring her experience of very successful election campaigns to better support local parties, her knowledge about the internal mechanics of the party to strengthen our national team, and her background in veterinary science to improve our public image on science.

Ricky Knight, North Devon Green Party.

We Greens need to be different: sitting on the fence is the prerogative of another party. So what to do when faced with candidate options? Keep stumm or go with it. Two basic reasons for hereby endorsing Caroline: one, I know her, we went to the Paris Conference together and have worked together on PfSS european policies; two, to my mind she came of age, or rather leapt out of the limelight at the Liverpool Conference, when she saw through with such adroit calm and skill one of the best policy rewrites I’m aware of. She has that wonderful capacity to totally understand something completely baffling to most ordinary mortals, explain it simply and guide you on your way, never patronising or impatient, always thoughtful yet confident and determined.

Henry Gent, Exeter Green Party.

Caroline Allen works long and hard to pull together the threads of Green Party policy and weave strong, consistent, and credible policies. I am a farmer from rural Devon and I came to know Caroline when she took the lead role in updating the Countryside Policy, and the Food and Agriculture Policy, both of which were a success. I realised that Caroline Allen is someone who gets things done. At a time when we need to move forward more quickly, she will be working to make the Party more effective, more credible, more successful.

 

Rob Telford, Bristol Green Party (target ward candidate, Ashley)

Caroline knows what the party needs on the ground to take our national policies and make them into local campaigns that can inspire and engage communities and win us more elections. I know that her attention to detail in policy coupled with her commitment to growing local parties will be invaluable for the Green Party nationally in the years ahead.

Vote Caroline for Deputy!

Cathryn Symons, Camden Green Party.

I’ll be voting for Caroline.  We worked together on the rewrite of the Science Policy, when she facilitated drafting the new policy, creating a coherent, comprehensive document.  With many differing views, and strong voices to deal with, she showed leadership and wisdom – just what we need in our Deputy Leader!

Ute Michel, Lewisham Councillor 2006-2010.

I have worked with Caroline on a range of issues from policy to party development at local, regional and national level and across several elections. She is eminently sensible, hard working, focused, reliable and delivering – a great combination of professionalism and experience, strategic thinking and getting on with the tasks at hand. In short, just the right person for the job!

AM Poppy, Barnet Green Party

Caroline’s level-headed commitment and leadership qualities are clear in the way she gets things done and her excellent record both at the national level and in London where she registered one of the very best electoral results in the recent GLA election. Being in London she will be an invaluable deputy for the leader wherever they may be based.

Diana Korchien, Press Officer, Waltham Forest & Redbridge Green Party.

During the recent GLA Election campaign, Caroline has amply demonstrated her thorough grasp of, and commitment to a variety of local issues in our borough, from the insidious spread of supermarket chains, to disability access on the underground, excessive pay differentials at the Town Hall, air quality, the Olympic take-over of Leyton Marsh – and last but not least the contentious issue of the redevelopment of Walthamstow Stadium, formerly a famous greyhound racing venue. Caroline works hard over and above the call of duty, and that, coupled with her ability to thoroughly research contentious issues, in addition to her communication skills, augures well for her future in Green politics.

Caroline Russell, Islington Green Party Campaigns Coordinator.

Since I joined the Party in 2009 Caroline has provided generous and unstinting support to the local party; helping members build an effective team with sound advice, hard work and great strategic insight. Its been tough in Islington since we lost our councillor in the massive Labour surge of 2010, but Caroline has been key to our team effort to pick ourselves up, hold our Labour Council to account and run an effective GLA election campaign. Caroline achieved great media coverage and 2nd place in much of Islington, putting us in a strong position for 2014.

Mark Dawes, Waltham Forest and Redbridge Green Party Coordinator.

Caroline stood as the Green candidate for us in both the General Election and GLA election. During the later campaign, the issue of greyhound racing in Walthamstow was a hot topic, Caroline combined her ethical integrity with hard facts and a vision of a positive alternative to create a distinctive position. She worked very hard and worked very well with the local party acheiving one of our best ever results, I am sure she would make an excellent Deputy Leader.

Katie Dawson, Islington Green Party Councillor 2006-2010.

Caroline Allen is an enthusiastic, hard-working and resourceful member of the Green Party. She has brought an impressive range of talents and experience to her work in Islington and Hackney, and achieved a terrific electoral result in the result GLA elections. We are all proud of her.

Emma Dixon, Islington Green Party.

I have worked with Caroline Allen in Islington over a number of years. She brings huge energy to campaigning and was a fantastically successful GLA constituency candidate, coming 2^ndin the majority of Islington wards. She also worked closely with Hackney and Waltham Forest Greens on their campaigns. Caroline combines extensive knowledge of Green Party policy with her own specialised professional knowledge as a vet. She shows great determination and commitment, and knows how to translate that into electoral success. I am pleased to support her for Deputy Leader.

Tom Bowker, Islington Green Party, new member.

I heartily endorse Caroline Allen for GPEW Deputy Leader – just as I was excited to campaign for her as our local London Assembly candidate this year. She is so obviously passionate about Green issues and social justice, is incredibly sharp and independent minded, and has a rare ability for communicating her politics – as well as being a tireless campaigner and a great party colleague. I am convinced she has a major role to play in taking the Green Party into the mainstream of UK politics.

Daniel Goldsmith, London Assembly Constituency Candidate for South West London.

Caroline was an inspirational Assembly candidate for North East London in the recent elections. She canvassed hard and received a lot of favourable press coverage. Her final share of the vote was very creditable. She was even mentioned by members of the public at a Street Stall in Chiswick.

Elisabeth Whitebread, Hackney Green Party, National Policy Committee.

I have been lucky enough to work closely with Caroline for the past two years on Policy committee, and have been consistently impressed by her amazing work ethic, organisational skills and solutions-focused approach. She ran a very visible and inspiring campaign in Hackney as constituency candidate, garnering high levels of media coverage and deservedly polling highly. I know that she would bring the same level of enthusiasm and commitment to the role of Deputy Leader. I have absolute confidence that she would be an excellent Deputy to take the Green Party forward.

Julia Stevenson, previous Animal Spokesperson.

I have had the pleasure to work with Caroline Allen during several campaigns, most recently we helped organise a very successful party to launch the animal welfare manifesto. I’ve always found Caroline to be very efficient, calm-headed and compassionate, qualities that are used to great effect when managing the animal rights message boards, which at times can get very heated! She is highly regarded in the Green party and the animal welfare world, so I have no hesitation in recommending her for this post.