The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Ex-city Green leader resigns from party
The former leader of the Green Party in Peterborough has resigned from the group.
Cllr Julie Stevenson – who was known as Cllr Julie Howell beforeherweddinglastmonth – made the announcement on Thursday.
At the council elections in May, she secured more votes than any other candidate in the city, and will now be an independent councillor.
Shesaid:“Iamveryproudof whatPeterboroughGreenParty has achieved over the past six years: I was one of only two
Green candidates in the country to retain our deposit at the combined authority mayoral elections in 2017.
"I was the first Green councillor ever to be elected to Peterborough City Council in 2018. A second Green councillorwaselectedtothecouncilin 2019, and we formed a ‘Green Group’onthecouncil,ofwhich I was leader for three years.
"In 2021, a third Green councillor was elected, and Orton Waterville became the first solely ‘Green’ ward in the city. In 2022, I became the first Green councillor in Peterborough to be re-elected.
“All of these achievements were the result of determination, tenacity and hard work, and I thank local Green Party members past and present, our treasured volunteers and the voting public for their constancy and support.
“I joined the Greens in March 2016, having never belonged to any political party before, when a friend who was a Peterborough Green Party member asked me if I would be the Green Party candidate forOrtonWatervilleward,with ‘no chance of getting elected’. Little did I know where saying ‘yes’ would lead me, the party and the city.
“When the party achieved almost 9% of the vote in Orton Waterville, I wondered whether I ought to make a proper attempt to win the seat for the
Greens in 2018. At a meeting of Peterborough Greens in July 2016, I committed to dedicating the next 22 months of my lifetowinningtheseatinOrton Waterville. In May 2018, I was elected with 50% of the vote.’’
Cllr Stevenson said she had consultedwithresidentsinher ward before making the decision. She said: “I have always been open about the fact that I take no strong personal interest in party politics. While I have been happy to help the local Green Party to achieve these goals, we have always knownthatatimewouldcome when it would be right to step back to enable Peterborough Green Party to flourish without me.”