MGC 1979 Leaver

Caroline was elected as the Green Party's first ever Member of Parliament in 2010, representing Brighton Pavilion. She served as the first Leader of the Green Party, from 2008-2012; and Co-Leader from 2016-2018. Prior to that, she was one of the Green Party's first Members of the European Parliament, where she served from 1999-2010.

She attended Malvern Girls' College from 1972-79, studied  English Literature at Exeter University, and went on to do a PhD in Sixteenth

Century Literary Romance (never let people put you off studying what you love, on the grounds that it "won't be useful"! - it always will, one way or another). Before being elected to the European Parliament, she worked for Oxfam for 10 years, her last post as Head of the International Trade Policy team.

Her most recent book, Honourable Friends: Parliament and the Fight for Change, details her first parliamentary term as a new Green voice in the House of Commons. She is a champion of electoral reform, and believes in the role of peaceful direct action as well as parliamentary politics. She was arrested - and later acquitted - for taking part in non-violent direct action outside the fracking site in Balcombe in 2013.

She is a Vice-President of the RSPCA, a Council Member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, a Parliamentary Champion for UNICEF, and a Patron of the United Patients Alliance - a group which campaigns for the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal purposes. She is a passionate campaigner for urgent action on the climate emergency, and chairs Parliament's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change.

What is your best piece of advice?

Margaret Mead's insight made a huge impact on me: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

So follow your dreams, take risks, believe you can make a difference, and never be afraid to fail - failure can teach you just as much as success! 

What does success look like?

Sticking to your principles and doing the right thing - even if that doesn't mean "winning" in conventional terms. Being true to the person you want to be - so when you look back, you can be proud of what you did and not have regrets.