History of the Green Party of England and Wales Liberal Democrats. In May 2014, Molly Scott Cato became the party's third MEP. History of the Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales has its roots in the PEOPLE Party started in Coventry in 1972/3 by four professional friends (Michael Benfield, Freda Sanders, Tony and Lesley Whittaker). It then changed its name to the more descriptive Ecology Party in 1975, and to the Green Party ten years later. In the 1990s, the Scottish and Northern Ireland wings of the Green Party in the United Kingdom decided to separate amicably from the party in England
Ecology Party Election, entitling them to radio and television election broadcasts. Though many considered this a gamble, the plan, encouraged by Porritt, worked, as the Party received 39,918 votes (an average of 1.5%) and membership jumped tenfold from around 500 to 5,000 or more. This, Derek Wall notes, meant that the Ecology Party "became the fourth Party in UK politics, ahead of the National Front and Socialist Unity". Following this electoral success, the party introduced annual spring conferences to accompany autumn conferences, and a process of building up a large compendium of policies began, culminated in today’s "Policies for a Sustainable Society"