Green Party of England and Wales elections in England and Wales, the Green Party in Brighton and Hove took minority control of the City Council by winning 23 seats, 5 short of an overall majority. At the 2012 local government elections the Green Party gained 5 seats, and retained both AMs at the 2012 London Assembly election. At the London Mayoral Election the party's candidate Jenny Jones finished third, and lost her deposit. In May 2012, Lucas announced that she would not seek re-election to the post of party leader. In September, Natalie Bennett was elected party leader and Will Duckworth deputy leader in the leadership
Gareth Bennett (politician) of 16 other UKIP Assembly candidates opposing Bennett's candidacy was presented to the party's National Executive Committee, which upheld his candidacy. He was elected to National Assembly for Wales as member for South Wales Central in 2016. In the UKIP Assembly group, Bennett backed Neil Hamilton for leader over Nathan Gill. After Hamilton became leader of the group, Bennett was appointed as UKIP Assembly spokesman for Local Government, Housing and Sport. In April 2017, Bennett was appointed as UKIP's Business Manager in the Assembly. In the same month, the Assembly's Equalities Committee, of which Bennett was a member, published a