Caroline was first elected as Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion in 2010. She served as leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2008 to 2012, and Co-leader from 2016 to 2018. From 1999-2010 she served as one of the Party's first MEPs and represented the South East region until becoming the UK's first Green MP.
As an MP, Caroline has served as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Climate Change and Limits to Growth.
She has been a Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency and Democratic Participation, and Deputy Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Renewable and Sustainable Energy.
She has also been Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Better Brexit for Young People, Choice at the End of Life, Drug Policy Reform, EU Relations, European Citizenship Rights, Food Waste, Land Value Capture, Proportional Representation, Pubs, Refugees, Sixth Form Colleges, State Pension Inequality for Women, Students, Visitors' Economy and West Papua.
And she has been an Officer of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Sustainable Food and Farming, Domestic Violence and Abuse, Hate Crime, Sexual Violence and Southern Rail.
As an MP, Caroline has sat on Parliament’s influential Environmental Audit Committee and has also sat on temporary committees set up to scrutinise Government legislation.
Caroline's book, Honourable Friends, details her first parliamentary term as a fresh, green voice to the House of Commons. She also co-edited a book on cross-party working called The Alternative.
Photos of Caroline are available on her Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/133882891@N08
A passionate campaigner across a broad range of issues, Caroline is
- Patron of Martlets Hospice, Brighton Carer's Centre, Sussex and Kent ME/CFS Society
- Patron of Brighton's Kollektiv Gallery, ONCA Gallery and Firecracker Theatre Company
- Founding member of Brighton Women's Voices and Patron of For Our Daughters
- Parliamentary Champion for UNICEF and for the Accord Coalition
- Vice President of RSPCA
- Vice President of CND
- Patron of IMET2000
- Patron of the United Patients Alliance
- Ambassador for Women's Environmental Network
- Breast Cancer Now Ambassador
Awards
Caroline was named the 'Most Influential MP' in 2012 by the Political Studies Association, 'MP of the Year' in the Scottish Widows and Dods Women in Public Life Awards 2011, and 'Newcomer of the Year' in the Spectator's 2010 Parliamentarian awards.
She has been voted the UK's most ethical politician in 2007, 2009 and 2010 by readers of the Observer, and in 2008 was judged one of the Guardian’s top “eco-heroes”. She received Red magazine's Woman of the Year Award 2010 in the ethical/eco category and is in the Environment Agency's Top 100 Eco-Heroes of all time.
The Patchwork Foundation named Caroline MP of the Year 2014, Overall MP of the Parliamentary Term 2010-2015 and Other Party People's Choice MP of the Year 2017 for her work with deprived and minority communities in Brighton and across the country. She again won the People's Choice MP of the Year in 2020.
Caroline has received the Michael Kay Award from the RSPCA for her outstanding contribution to European animal welfare and the Lord Houghton Award for Services to Animal Welfare.
She received the Best MP award at the 2018 Green Heart Hero Awards.
In 2020, she topped the list of the BBC Radio Woman's Hour Our Planet Power List of influential activists, educators and campaigners.