Sara Parkin - Political Career

Political Career

Parkin joined the Ecology Party in the 1970s, partly as the result of the influence of public lectures by Conrad Hal Waddington. In 1979 she stood unsuccessfully as an Ecology candidate against Keith Joseph. Parkin also contributed to the development of Green Parties worldwide through her writing and administrative positions. After 1989, she emerged as the most articulate and telegenic Green party spokesperson, alongside David Icke.

She was credited with both being personally close to Green Party policy views, and practical in terms of political tactics.

She was considered a highly dynamic figure within the party during the 1989 elections: “Quite often we'd be exhausted in the office and she'd burst through the door and bring with her new thoughts and ideas,” said Caroline Lucas at the time.

Walter Schwartz wrote after the 1989 results that “she could be the party’s best all-rounder, the easiest of the Greens to imagine as a cabinet minister. She is a highly organised political animal. Most Greens are not.”.

However, during the 1989 conference, internal disputes began to arise. Parkin was defeated in her attempt to initiate negotiations with other parties to establish a pro-proportional representation alliance against the Conservative Party.

She also at this stage supported ideas to slim down the number of official external spokespeople, Principal Speakers, but rejected the idea of a single leader.

Later, she became associated with the group Green 2000, which advocated wholesale constitutional changes to the Green Party, including creating an executive with a single chair and only two principal speakers. Although successful in getting these changes agreed to and winning almost all the positions on the Executive, she staked everything on the 1992 general election which brought a complete lack of success. The fallout resulted in Parkin and others becoming the target of a 'recall' campaign which, although unsuccessful, was thought to be a factor in Parkin's withdrawal from the re-election competition as Chair of the Green Party. She subsequently left the party and active politics.