Siân Berry | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament forBrighton Pavilion | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Caroline Lucas |
| Majority | 14,290 (27.3%) |
| Co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales | |
| In office 4 September 2018 – 1 October 2021 Serving with Jonathan Bartley (2018–2021) | |
| Deputy | Amelia Womack |
| Preceded by | Caroline Lucas |
| Succeeded by | Carla Denyer andAdrian Ramsay |
| Leader of theGreens in theLondon Assembly | |
| In office 6 May 2016 – 19 October 2018 | |
| Leader | |
| Preceded by | Jenny Jones |
| Succeeded by | Caroline Russell |
| Principal Speaker of theGreen Party | |
| In office 24 November 2006 – 30 November 2007 Serving with Derek Wall | |
| Preceded by | Caroline Lucas |
| Succeeded by | Caroline Lucas |
| Member of the London Assembly for Londonwide | |
| In office 6 May 2016 – 7 May 2024 | |
| Camden London Borough Councillor forHighgate | |
| In office 22 May 2014 – 20 October 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Maya De Souza |
| Succeeded by | Lorna Jane Russell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Siân Rebecca Berry (1974-07-09)9 July 1974 (age 51) Cheltenham,Gloucestershire, England |
| Political party | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Oxford (MEng) |
| Website | sianberry |
Siân Rebecca Berry (/ʃɑːn/; born 9 July 1974) is a British politician who has served as the member of Parliament forBrighton Pavilion since July 2024, succeedingCaroline Lucas. She was aco-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales alongsideJonathan Bartley from 2018 to 2021, and was its sole leader from July to October 2021. From 2006 to 2007, she was one of the Green Party'sprincipal speakers.[1]
Berry was a member of theLondon Assembly (AM) from 2016 until she resigned in 2024, serving as a London-wide member elected under theAdditional-member system. She also served as a Green Party councillor onCamden Council, representingHighgate until October 2023.[2][3]
Berry[4] was born on 9 July 1974[5] and brought up inCheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. She was educated atPate's Grammar School, a stategrammar school in Cheltenham, where her parents were teachers.[6] She studiedmetallurgy and thescience of materials atTrinity College, Oxford, graduating with aMaster of Engineering (MEng) degree.[7] Upon graduating in 1997, she moved to London.[1]
Berry worked as a medical copywriter. From June 2011 to late 2015, Berry worked as a roads andsustainable transport campaigner for the charityCampaign for Better Transport.[8]
Berry joined the Green Party aged 27.
In her first major party political role as the party's campaigns co-ordinator, Berry led the Green Energy Works campaign, calling for low carbon, non-nuclear energy to tackleclimate change. She also led a campaign against the renewal of Britain's nuclear weapon, theTrident submarine, travelling to the nuclear submarine base inFaslane, Scotland, to protest.[1]
Berry failed to be elected toCamden London Borough Council three times: once during 2002 and twice in 2006. In the2002 local elections, she came fifth in theHighgate ward with 811 votes, 38 votes behind the third place required to gain a seat.[9] The2006 local elections saw her contest the neighbouringKentish Town ward, in which she gained 1,057 votes and came sixth out of 12.[10] A7 December 2006 by-election inKentish Town ward saw her come second out of four with 812 votes, behind theLiberal Democrat winner on 1,093 votes.[11]
In 2005, Berry was the Green Party's parliamentary candidate for theHampstead and Highgate constituency (which included Highgate ward) at that year'sgeneral election. She received 5.3% of the vote, coming fourth; the seat was held by Labour'sGlenda Jackson.[12]
Berry was elected as the Green Party's femalePrincipal Speaker unopposed in autumn 2006, succeedingCaroline Lucas MEP and, working alongside male Principal SpeakerDerek Wall, served until autumn 2007, when Lucas resumed the post following an election. She wrote a regular blog for theNew Statesman magazine from November 2006 to July 2008.[13]
On 12 March 2007, the Green Party announced that Berry would be the party's candidate in the2008 London mayoral election, after she received 45% of the votes in the London Green Party's internal election.[14] Berry recommended that her voters backLabour Party candidateKen Livingstone as their second preference[15] and Livingstone advocated an equivalent preference for his supporters.[16] Berry was endorsed byThe Independent andThe Observer newspapers, with Ken Livingstone as second preference.[17][18] Berry came fourth, with 3.15% of first preferences and 13.50% of second preferences.[19]
In the2014 local elections, Berry waselected to theHighgate ward ofCamden London Borough Council, holding the seat of outgoing Green councillor Maya De Souza in a split result for the ward.[20][21][22]
Berry has supported local services in Camden threatened by redevelopment projects. She has advocated "green development" inKings Cross Railwaylands (the largestbrownfield site in the UK) to provide more family-housing.[1]
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On 2 September, it was announced that she had won the internal party election to stand as the Greens' London mayoral candidate and first place list candidate for the London Assembly elections in 2016. She was one of the few candidates in the race to rent rather than own her home and made private renters' rights a centrepiece of her campaign.[23] She was described byThe Guardian's London specialist Dave Hill as having "like her party, grown more formidable with experience".[24]
Berry came third in the first preference voting round for the mayoralty, and thus did not make it to the second round.[25] However, she was elected to the London Assembly as one of two Green members.[26]
At the2017 general election, Berry ran as the Green candidate forHolborn and St Pancras, which includes her Highgate ward. She finished fourth, and the party lost its deposit in the seat, which was retained for Labour bySir Keir Starmer.[27]
At theMay 2021 London Assembly elections, delayed by a year owing to theCOVID-19 pandemic, Berry was re-elected.[28] The same month, alongside celebrities and other public figures, Berry was a signatory to an open letter fromStylist magazine which called on the government to address what it described as an "epidemic of male violence" by funding an "ongoing, high-profile, expert-informed awareness campaign on men's violence against women and girls".[29]
On 14 July 2021, Berry announced she would stand down as the Green Party's co-leader, citing an internal party conflict overtransgender rights and stating that "there is now an inconsistency between the sincere promise to fight for trans rights and inclusion in my work and the message sent by the party's choice of frontbench representatives."[30][31]
In August 2023, she announced her candidacy for the2024 London Assembly election, to be held in May 2024.[32] Berry won a seat, but resigned three days later to hand it toZoë Garbett, who had come fourth in the2024 London mayoral election, for which she was criticised.[33][34][35]
On 13 June 2023, Berry announced her intention to stand to be the Green Party'sprospective parliamentary candidate forBrighton Pavilion constituency, a seat that is being vacated by incumbent Green MPCaroline Lucas.[36][37] On 19 July 2023, she was confirmed as the Green candidate, having secured 71% of first preference votes.[38]
On her selection she said that "Labour's lurch to the right would help the Greens hold the seat".[39] This raised questions about whether she would continue as a councillor, after saying "I will work every moment between now and the general election" in Brighton Pavilion.[40] On 20 October 2023, Berry stood down as a councillor in Camden to focus on her general election campaign in Brighton Pavilion.[2]
In the2024 general election, Berry was electedMember of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion with 28,809 votes (54.8%) and a majority of 14,290 over the second-placed Labour candidate.[41] The Greens would win a further three seats for their best-ever election result:Ellie Chowns and Green co-leadersCarla Denyer andAdrian Ramsay joined Berry as first-time MPs, making them amongst the party's first five MPs ever alongside the retiring Lucas.[42] She made hermaiden speech on 17 July 2024 during the debate following theKing's Speech.[43]
Berry is a co-sponsor ofKim Leadbeater'sTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill onassisted suicide.[44]
Berry was a founder of the Alliance against Urban 4×4s, which began in Camden in 2003 and became a national campaign demandingmeasures to stop 4×4s (orsport utility vehicles) "taking over our cities".[1] The campaign is known for its "theatrical demonstrations" and mock parking tickets, credited to Berry[1] (although now adapted by numerous local groups),[45] some 150,000 of which have been placed on 4×4 vehicles by campaigners. The group was successful in getting theMayor of London, Ken Livingstone, to adopt one of its founding principles when he introduced a highercongestion charge for vehicles with high emissions. The Alliance campaigns further for greater taxes and stricter controls on advertisements for 4×4s. An international '4×4 Network' has now been founded.[1]
In 2009 she was a driving force behind the Reheat Britain campaign for boiler scrappage which secured funding to replace some of the most inefficient boilers in the UK through the 2009 annualPre Budget Report.[46]
Berry has also campaigned against theIraq War. She initiated the Census Alert[47] campaign to stopLockheed Martin from running theUK Census.
Berry is ahumanist and a patron ofHumanists UK (formerly the British Humanist Association), a UK charity representing non-religious people who want asecular state.[48] On 15 September 2010, Berry, along with 54 other public figures, signed a BHA open letter published inThe Guardian, stating their opposition toPope Benedict XVI's state visit to the UK.[49] In a 2021 video recorded for Humanists UK's 125th anniversary, Berry stated humanism was "an approach to life shaped by a rational, evidence-based understanding of our society and the problems we face – not only as individuals, but collectively" and rooted in "concern for other living beings, for our planet, and for future generations".[50]
Following the 2024 general election, Berry was elected Vice Chair of theAll Party Parliamentary Humanist Group.[51] Later that year she was elected the honorary President of the Green Humanists group.[52]
She is a patron of the Fair Pay Network.[53][54] She has campaigned againstgenetically modified foods.
In April 2016, it was reported that Berry had been monitored by theNational Domestic Extremism and Disorder Intelligence Unit, in apparent contradiction of assurances byBernard Hogan-Howe, the Commissioner of theMetropolitan Police, that the unit would not target peaceful campaigners.[55]
In 2019 Sian Berry told Sky News she has previously taken drugs, including cocaine[56]
Berry is also author of a number of books, including50 Ways to Greener Travel,[57]50 Ways to be a Greener Shopper,[58]50 Ways to Save Water and Energy[59] and50 Ways to make your house and garden greener.[60] In 2010 she publishedMend it![61] and in 2011Junk for Joy onupcycling projects.[62]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Principal Speaker of theGreen Party of England and Wales 2006–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales 2018–2021 With:Jonathan Bartley | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBrighton Pavilion 2024–present | Incumbent |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
