Political Career
One of 13 Green Party councillors in Norwich, Rupert Read was first elected in 2004 to represent Wensum ward and re-elected in 2007 with 49% of the vote. Read sits on the Joint Highways Committee of the city and county councils, and is spokesperson on Transport for the Green Party city councillors. He is also the Green Party's representative on Norwich Peace Council and has been an active opponent of the British Government's foreign policy.
Having held a number of officer posts for the Eastern Region Green Party, at the beginning of 2007 Rupert Read was selected as Eastern Region Green Party’s lead candidate for the European Parliament elections in 2009. The East of England is one the Green Party’s stronger regions in terms of support, and under the proportional representation system on which the European Elections operate, the Party was optimistic that he would represent them in the European Parliament. However, he was beaten to the last of the seven seats in the constituency by the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). He stood in the Norwich North by-election, 2009, as the Green Party candidate, and came fifth with 9.7% of the vote.
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