I would make the Green party a force at the heart of British politics. That's why I'm running to be co-leader

I've been an activist since I was a teenager. I've marched against apartheid, was arrested for protesting peacefully against environmental breakdown, have campaigned for warm homes with Friends of the Earth, worked with peace-builders in war-torn northern Uganda and more. I've spent my life fighting for a fairer, greener world.
And today, as a member of parliament and Green party co-leadership candidate alongside Adrian Ramsay, I'm more convinced than ever that the power and hope of activism must go hand in hand with electoral nous to win the change we need at the heart of our politics.
Because the stakes couldn't be higher.
We face an accelerating climate and nature crisis, soaring inequality in everything from health to housing, and a government complicit in genocide. Disillusionment with politics is at record levels.
After years of Conservative chaos, people hoped Labour would bring real change. Instead, it's doubling down on the damage: cutting support to the most vulnerable, refusing to tax extreme wealth, rowing back on climate action and trashing protections for the natural world. They may not call it austerity, but it feels the same.
It's no wonder Nigel Farage and Reform UK are exploiting this opportunity, sowing division and channelling justified anger at inequality into misdirected hate. And it's more urgent than ever that we step up with credible solutions.
This is the defining political battle of our time: hope v fear. The Green party can and must lead a hopeful fightback, offering a genuine alternative and a home for voters who feel abandoned by Labour and the Tories.
People trust the Greens – polling shows we now have higher favourability ratings than any other party. Under the leadership of Carla Denyer and Adrian, we've had our most successful electoral period, quadrupling our number of MPs and almost doubling our number of councillors. We've built the foundation. Now it's time to build the transformation.
Adrian and I are standing to be co-leaders of the Green party with one simple aim: to win enough Green MPs to be able to shape government policy after the next general election. In our skewed electoral system, that means building a broad coalition of voters – reaching out well beyond our traditional base, not just preaching to the choir. And that's exactly what Adrian and I know how to do.
We've been campaigners all our lives. Adrian joined the Greens at 16 and became one of the youngest councillors in the UK. He played a key part in creating the party's 'target to win' strategy that has transformed our electoral fortunes.
I joined in 2015, compelled by the rise of Farage's politics of division. I couldn't bear to see his brand of political poison seeping into the lifeblood of my country. And in July last year, I overturned a Conservative majority of almost 25,000 to become MP for North Herefordshire – one of the biggest electoral swings in UK history.
Let's be clear: it's entirely possible that Greens at Westminster could play a pivotal role in a hung parliament and help shape the next government. Green parties around the world – in Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Finland – have successfully grown their vote and won real power in government.
We need to be laser-focused on our goal: to convert the support we have in the community into leverage at the centre of political power. For that, we need leadership with the experience and credibility to win new voters over, and then convert that mandate into policy wins.
As MPs, Adrian and I are already speaking out in parliament every day, challenging injustice and bringing the voice of grassroots campaigns into the parliamentary system. We're insurgents with integrity, campaigners with a platform in the Commons.
Our leadership campaign is about turning protest into political change: empowering local teams, raising national ambition, and growing a party that's ready for power in parliament and in councils, communities and coalitions across the country.
We believe the Green party can and must take on Reform and win. Not by aping the divisive 'populist' rhetoric of Farage, but by connecting with the broadest possible range of people and showing that Green policies embody their aspirations for a fairer country and a livable future.
And that's where our record matters. Adrian and I have won multiple first-past-the-post elections by inspiring huge teams of activists. We know what it takes to win in, and then to transform, our broken political system.
Again and again, we've found that our values correspond with deep wellsprings of compassion and solidarity among people in every community and demographic. That's why we know that we can grow the Green party even faster.
So to every Green party member considering this election, I say: let's not walk away from the success that we've built and the trust that we've won.
As other parties react to the crises we face by sliding ever deeper into magical thinking and empty rhetoric, we need a Green leadership that's firmly rooted in our values, unafraid to speak truth and ready to act on it. Divisive populist politics is a recipe for chaos and failure. By turning widely shared green values into many more Green votes, the Green party can and must be the antidote.
Ellie Chowns is the MP for North Herefordshire

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