I resigned from the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) on 3rd April 2024, minutes after reading the email from the Complaints Manager that informed me that I had been put on a No Fault Suspension (NFS).
My NFS was at least number 12 in line following a series of sanctions on members who have expressed a disagreement in policy. I do not agree that men can become women and I have publicly held that opinion for the length of my membership (since 2015). The expectation that members have the right to disagree with any GPEW policy if they preface their comment with the words “this is Green Party policy” followed by the policy, and “however, I disagree” is now defunct if the policy mentioned is RR530 (Transwomen are Women…)
I believe in the principles of democracy. I believe that having a different point of view is valid and in a political party this means that becoming involved in internal process and debate is the way to effect change. In March 2023 I was elected to be the South East Region’s representative on the Disciplinary Committee (DC). During that year I also participated in the review of the SE Complaints Procedure, and was elected to the working group to review DC/GPRC processes. In short, I volunteered many extra hours of effort.
The NFS was manufactured by cherry-picking half sentences from a trawl of my activity outside of the Green Party to provide “evidence” of something I did not say. All because I had questioned the allocations procedure for DC members to be given cases, and in doing so I had exposed myself as critical of gender ideology.
“It is deeply concerning that there is a very large democratic deficit at the heart of The Green Party. The damage extends to the sanctioning of members who disagreed with tactics for the recent General Election, and is at odds with the prevailing public distaste for “tribalism over consensus”.
Failing to address this woeful lack of democratic process, which also manifests itself at Conference (only 1% of members attend) leaves the Party wide open to abuse.”
I no longer consider myself to be a “Green in Exile”- rather a “former member of the Green Party”.
Editors note
Following her resignation from the party Imogen was elected as the new Mayor of Lewes Council on 9 May 2024.
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