Larry Sanders
Sanders in 2008
Spokesperson forHealth andSocial Care of theGreen Party of England and Wales
In office February 11, 2016 – May 7, 2021[1]
Leader	Natalie Bennett Caroline Lucas (co-leader) Jonathan Bartley (co-leader) Siân Berry (co-leader) Carla Denyer (co-leader) Adrian Ramsay (co-leader)
Preceded by	Jillian Creasy
Succeeded by	office abolished
Member of theOxfordshire County Council fromOxford East
In office 2005–2013
Personal details
Born	Lawrence Sanders (1935-04-29)April 29, 1935 (age 90) New York City, U.S.
Nationality	United States United Kingdom
Political party	Green (2001–present) Labour (before 2001)
Other political affiliations	Democratic[a]
Spouse	Margaret (died 1983)
Domestic partner	Janet Hall (since 1998)
Children	2
Parent	Elias Sanders (father)
Relatives	Bernie Sanders (brother)
Education	City University of New York, Brooklyn (BA) University of Oxford (MSW) Harvard University (JD)

Lawrence Sanders (born April 29, 1935)^[2][3] is an American-British academic, social worker, politician, and former Health and Social Care Spokesperson of theGreen Party of England and Wales. He is the older brother ofBernie Sanders,United States Senator fromVermont and two-time U.S. presidential candidate.

Larry Sanders was born inBrooklyn, New York City, to Dorothy (née Glassberg) and Eli Sanders.^[4][5] His father was a Polish-Jewish immigrant whose family was killed inthe Holocaust,^[4][6][7] while his mother was born in New York City on October 2, 1912, to Jewish immigrant parents fromRadzyń Podlaski, in eastern Poland and Russia.^[8][9] His father immigrated to America in 1921 at age 17,^[10][11] and supported his family by selling paint.^[12] Sanders said that when he was a child, his family never lacked food or clothing, but major purchases "like curtains or a rug" were difficult to afford.^[12] His mother died on March 25, 1960, at age 47.^[7]

Both he and his brother attendedJames Madison High School in Brooklyn.^[13] Sanders has said they were young postwar Jewish radicals but part of the crowd, not yet leaders.^[14] Sanders attendedBrooklyn College of theCity University of New York and obtained a master's degree insocial work from theUniversity of Oxford.^[15] He also attendedHarvard Law School in the 1950s, leaving after two years to care for his sick mother. He returned after 35 years and completed hisJ.D. degree there in 1994.^[16]

Sanders immigrated to the United Kingdom in 1968^[17] or 1969.^[18][19] He became a university lecturer, first at theUniversity of West London and later at Oxford in the Department of Social Administration.^[20]

His son, Jacob Edward "Jake" Sanders (born November 26, 1968), waselected to Oxford City Council in 2000 and was aGreen Party parliamentary candidate in theOxford East constituency at the2005 general election.

Sanders was active in theLabour Party in Oxford in the 1980s.^[20] He left the party in 2001 because he felt that it had moved too far to theright underTony Blair, and defected to the Green Party.^[16]

First elected in 2005, Sanders was aGreen Partycounty councillor representing the East Oxforddivision in theOxfordshire County Council until he retired from the Council in 2013.^[21][22] His main focuses in county politics weresocial andhealth care services. He resigned from the board of theOxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust in October 2005 in a principled stand amid concerns that proposed cuts to services would leave vulnerable patients at greater risk.^{[citation needed]}

Sanders became Chairman of theOxford Community School's Board of Governors in September 2009, following the resignation of the previous chairman, Chris Ballinger, and six other board members.^[23] In December 2009, theDepartment for Children, Schools and Families approved Oxfordshire County Council's application to disband the Board of Governors and replace them with an interim executive board. On hearing the decision, Sanders said he was 'dreadfully disappointed'.^[24]

In February 2016, Sanders was appointed Health Spokesperson of theGreen Party of England and Wales. He served until May 2021.^[25][26]

Sanders was elected as a pledged delegate for Bernie Sanders to the2016 Democratic National Convention at theDemocrats Abroad Global Convention inBerlin in May 2016. He tearfully spoke at the convention on July 26 of his intention to cast his vote for his brother.^[27] He was the 7th-placed candidate for the Greens in theSouth East England constituency in the2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom.

Sanders was selected to contest theOxford East constituency at the2017 snap general election. He finished in fourth place with 1,785 votes (3.3%).^[28]

General election 2017: Oxford East^[29][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Anneliese Dodds[31]	35,118	65.2	15.2
	Conservative	Suzanne Bartington[32]	11,834	22.0	2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Kirsten Johnson[33]	4,904	9.1	1.7
	Green	Larry Sanders[34]	1,785	3.3	8.3
	Independent	Chaka Artwell	255	0.5	0.2
Majority			23,284	43.2	13.1
Turnout			53,896	68.8	4.6
	Labour Co-ophold		Swing	6.5

Sanders was selected as the Green Party candidate for theWitney by-election afterPrime MinisterDavid Cameron's resignation as an MP in September 2016.^[35][36] He finished in fourth place with 1,363 votes (3.54%).^[37]

By-election 2016: Witney^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Courts	17,313	45.0	15.2
	Liberal Democrats	Liz Leffman	11,611	30.2	23.4
	Labour	Duncan Enright	5,765	15.0	2.2
	Green	Larry Sanders	1,363	3.5	1.6
	UKIP	Dickie Bird	1,354	3.5	5.7
	NHA	Helen Salisbury	433	1.1	0.0
	Independent	Daniel Skidmore	151	0.4	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Mad Hatter	129	0.3	New
	Independent	Nicholas Ward	93	0.2	New
	Bus-Pass Elvis	David Bishop	61	0.2	New
	Eccentric Party	Lord Toby Jug	59	0.2	New
	English Democrat	Winston McKenzie	52	0.1	New
	One Love	Emilia Arno	44	0.1	New
	Independent	Adam Knight	27	0.1	New
Majority			5,702	14.8	28.2
Turnout			38,455	46.8	26.5
	Conservativehold		Swing	19.3

Sanders ran as a Green Party candidate forOxford West and Abingdon at the2015 UK general election and finished in fifth place, receiving 2,497 votes, 4.4% of the total.^[19][39]

General election 2015: Oxford West and Abingdon^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicola Blackwood	26,153	45.7	3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Layla Moran	16,571	28.9	13.1
	Labour	Sally Copley	7,274	12.7	2.1
	UKIP	Alan Harris	3,963	6.9	4.2
	Green	Larry Sanders	2,497	4.4	2.3
	NHA	Helen Salisbury	723	1.3	New
	Socialist (GB)	Mike Foster	66	0.1	New
Majority			9,582	16.7	16.4
Turnout			57,247	75.2	5.0
	Conservativehold		Swing	8.2

• Oxfordshire County Council (July 2005).Who and How: Your guide to Oxfordshire County Council.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLarry Sanders.

• Larry Sanders onTwitter
• Oxford Mail: Companies may run community care, 2005-10-13
• An interview in 2006 with Larry Sanders bySaint Kermit the podcastArchived April 8, 2016, at theWayback Machine
• Meet Larry Sanders, Bernie's Big Brother,The Takeaway
• Bernie Sanders brother gives glimpse into their childhood the real Bernie,Rolling Stone interview

• 1935 births
• Academics of the University of Oxford
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• American emigrants to the United Kingdom
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• British people of Polish-Jewish descent
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• Politicians from Brooklyn
• New York (state) Democrats
• James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni
• Brooklyn College alumni
• Alumni of the University of Oxford
• American people of Russian-Jewish descent
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