Wealden councillor seeks election to national Green Party post

Wealden district councillor Rachel Millward has announced her candidacy.

Cllr Millward was first elected to Wealden District Council in 2021 and represents Hartfield as its ward councillor.

Since 2023, she has been part of the Alliance for Wealden — a coalition of Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors who run the district council.

As part of this coalition, she has been the leader and deputy leader of the council, swapping roles with Liberal Democrat James Partridge each year. She is currently the council’s deputy leader and also holds a cabinet portfolio for community, culture and communications.

The way the Green Party runs its internal elections means there can be either one or two deputy leader posts available, depending on who is elected as the party’s leader.

If the party elects a single national leader it will have two deputy leaders of different genders who will “job-share” the post. If the party elects co-leaders (as it has done in every leadership election since 2016), there will be a single deputy leader.

While it normally carries a two-year term, the deputy leader post will only be elected for a single year due to the party’s last round of internal elections being delayed by the 2024 general election.

The party’s internal elections are due to be held throughout August, with the results due to be announced on September 2.