Caroline Lucas

Lucas' official portrait (2018)

Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British Green Party politician who was the MP for Brighton Pavilion from the 2010 to 2024 general elections. She was previously MEP for South East England from 1999 to 2010 and leader of the Green Party twice, between 2008 and 2012 and again between 2016 and 2018.

Quotes

2017

• The government is turning lives upside down by callously playing hard ball over Brexit and it needs to take its responsibilities far more seriously
  • "EU citizen detention letters sent in error" BBC News (23 August 2017)

2018

• How can the will of the people be undermined by a vote of the people?
  • Said after the People's Vote campaign, of which Lucas is part, asked Jeremy Corbyn to call a vote of no confidence in the Conservative government. "Brexit: People's Vote campaign urges Corbyn to call no-confidence vote" BBC News (11 December 2018)

2019

• At a moment when we need a leader with courage and integrity, we get a pompous clown.
  • Said in a tweet after the election of Boris Johnson as Conservative leader and prime minister in 2019.

• In my experience, women tend to be less tribal, they tend to find it easier to establish trust more quickly
  • "Green MP Caroline Lucas calls for all-female emergency cabinet" BBC News (12 August 2019)

• The Leave campaign claimed Brexit would save the NHS. But Home Office plans to end freedom of movement will do the opposite. 65,000 EU citizens work in our NHS. It couldn't cope without them.
  • Said in a tweet in August 2019

• The rainforest is being sacrificed on the altar of free trade with Europe
  • Said in a tweet during the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires in August 2019

• We would be kidding ourselves if we put our trust in Brazil’s right-wing, pro-business president Jair Bolsonaro to protect it.
  • "Caroline Lucas MP: The Amazon rainforest must not be sacrificed on the altar of free trade with Europe" PoliticsHome (23 August 2019)

• We will block what is nothing less than a coup.
  • Said after Lucas signed the Church House Agreement that pledged that MPs would form an alternative government if Boris Johnson attempted to prorogue Parliament. Quoted in "MPs pledge to form alternative parliament in case of prorogation" The Guardian (27 August 2019)

• Extinction Rebellion are carrying a message we all need to hear. They won’t be silenced by a police crackdown, nor should they be in a free democratic society.
  • Cited in "Extinction Rebellion begins legal challenge against protest ban", The Guardian (24 October 2019).

• Ultimately, that speech was a dark moment in British politics. Democracy is indeed under threat from extremists. The problem is, they're running the government itself.
  • "I’m still reeling from Rishi Sunak’s shameless, dangerous speech", The Guardian (3 March 2024).
  • Referring to Rishi Sunak's speech delivered on 1 March 2024 in Downing Street.