Green Party Wales leader faces possible leadership challenge from councillor
Emily Price
The leader of the Green Party in Wales could face a leadership challenge next month after a Monmouthshire councillor announced plans to run for the position.
Cllr Ian Chandler, who represents the Llantilio Crossenny ward on Monmouthshire County Council, announced his bid in an opinion column on devolution published in the Monmouthshire Beacon on Saturday (October 24).
He wrote: “The challenge is to combine national ambition with local power: to agree the outcomes we want for Wales, then give communities the resources, freedom and support to help achieve them.
“This belief in national and local partnership is why I’m happy to announce that I will be standing for election as Leader of the Wales Green Party next month.
“I want to help build a Green movement that challenges the concentration of power, strengthens local democracy and puts communities at the heart of the changes Wales needs.”
Cllr Chandler is Monmouthshire Council’s only Green Party member and has sat in a joint Green/Independent group with another councillor since forming a coalition with the minority Labour administration in 2023.
He was the Green Party’s lead candidate in Sir Fynwy Torfaen at the most recent Senedd election but failed to win a seat.
All Green Party leadership and executive positions are elected by its party members on two-year terms via an annual ballot.
Anthony Slaughter has been the leader of the Wales Green Party since December 2018 after previously serving as the deputy leader in 2014 and 2015.
He led the Greens to a historic breakthrough at May’s Senedd election, with Slaughter and fellow candidate Paul Rock winning seats in Caerdydd Penarth and Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf respectively.
In September, Slaughter revealed that he underwent surgery over the Senedd summer recess as part of his treatment for a cancer diagnosis.
He requested privacy on what he described as a “deeply personal matter” saying it was his wish for the news to not overshadow his work in Wales’ parliament.
Slaughter declined to take any questions or interviews relating to his diagnosis.
Nation.Cymru asked Slaughter whether he would stand for re-election as Green Party leader at next month’s internal vote.
He said: “Nominations for the leadership and other roles up for election this year have not yet officially opened.
“This should be happening shortly, hopefully within a week, and I’ll be releasing a statement on my position then.”
Cllr Chandler said the Welsh Greens should be “proud” of what they achieved at the Senedd election but said the party “must be ambitious about what comes next”.
He said: “I’m standing to lead the Wales Green Party because I believe we can do so much more — not just as a party, but for the people and communities of Wales.
“Imagine buses that connect our communities with more frequent and reliable services; town centres that are vibrant places to spend time; and public services that do more to help people stay healthy, rather than simply treating them when they fall ill.
“These are examples of what bold Green politics can deliver. I want us to challenge the political consensus, offer practical solutions to the problems people face, and build a grassroots movement capable of winning many more seats.
“I don’t want us simply to respond to Welsh politics. I want us to help shape it. We have the ideas, the values and the people to change Wales. Now we need the ambition and determination to make it happen.”
The leadership battle comes after the Green Party’s former deputy leader in Wales resigned earlier this month over a motion to declare “Zionism is racism”.
Phil Davies had been a member of the Greens for seven years, but said he felt he was being treated like “the token Welshman moaning at various points”.
Davies called for the Welsh Greens to become independent from the wider party, saying his position was not being treated with “respect”.
He also branded the Green Party’s passing of a controversial motion to define Zionism as racism as “pointless”.
The motion called for a “single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine”.
The party’s leader, Zack Polanski, was barred from Israel after the new policy was confirmed.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
Get more trusted Welsh news
Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.
Didn’t Anthony Slaughter say that the Green Party in Wales would split from the party in England if they were to win any seats in the Senedd last May? Having won two seats, I wonder why are we still waiting?