History of the Green Party of England and Wales of Deputy Leader. The Green Party fielded more than 300 candidates for the 2010 general election. Caroline Lucas became the first Green candidate to gain a seat in Westminster, after being elected MP for Brighton Pavilion by a margin of 1,252 votes. The following week 600 new members had joined the Green Party bringing total membership to over 11,000. In previous years 600 new members was high for a whole year. On 24 May 2012, the six Green Party councillors elected to Stroud District Council formed a power sharing administration (a "constructive cooperation") with both the Labour Party and the
UK Independence Party representation and election results Commons. The party first had representation for a period in 2008 when Dr Bob Spink, the MP for Castle Point, resigned from the Conservative Party and joined UKIP on 21 April 2008. However, by November 2008, Spink had left UKIP, and in any case subsequently lost his seat to the Conservatives in the 2010 General Election. Douglas Carswell, the MP for Clacton, and Mark Reckless, the MP for Rochester and Strood, resigned from the Conservative Party to join UKIP on 28 August and 27 September 2014, respectively, and resigned their seats shortly thereafter. Carswell and Reckless won subsequent by-elections held