Brecon's Grenville Ham will now lead the Wales Green Party after Alice Hooker-Stroud announced today (Monday March 6) that she will step down from her role at the end of March.
The 39-year-old is the current deputy leader and an expert in renewable energy. In a statement, Ham thanked Alice Hooker-Stroud for her work and said it will be an "immense privilege" to lead the party.
Alice Hooker-Stroud has led the party since 2016, having defeated two other candidates in the contest to succeed Pippa Bartolotti. She said in a statement today that the lack of funding for smaller political parties in the UK has contributed to her position being untenable, adding that she believes there is a need to "level the playing field financially."
Mr Ham, said was elected as a deputy leader in December in 2016. He ran as a candidate on the regional list for Mid and West Wales in the Welsh Assembly elections last year and is currently standing in this May’s council elections in his own ward, St Mary’s in Brecon.
He runs a not-for-profit engineering company in Powys called TGV Hydro which installs small-scale hydro-electric systems. He said people need to choose if they want large donors or companies investing in political parties.
"We need to decide if we want to continue with corporations or large donors putting in money and that they can potentially sway party decisions. We from the outset have said that's never going to be our way but that does constrain us financially. Ultimately, we are looking for fairer representation in politics."
He said the local elections this May are a good chance for the Greens to make gains away from the huge money in national elections.
"It's a chance to make our mark. We have got some really strong candidates who have been there, campaigning for year. There are a great many who have been representing their town or village or community.
"I live in Powys and we know there's many more cuts coming. We have been warning against them. Local candidates from other parties can't often speak out because it's their parties who are sanctioning the cuts. We can."
Read more on Wales Online at http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/leader-wales-green-party-resigned-12699599
And at ITVNews at http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2017-03-06/wales-green-party-leader-alice-hooker-stroud-steps-down/
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