Co-leaders of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

Co-leaders of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
Marama Davidson
Davidson in 2023
Chlöe Swarbrick
Swarbrick in 2017
Incumbents
Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick
since 8 April 2018 and 10 March 2024
TypePolitical party office
Formation21 May 1995
First holderJeanette Fitzsimons
Rod Donald
Websitehttps://www.greens.org.nz/

The co-leaders of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand are the dual highest-ranking members of the Green Party caucus, chosen by the party membership to represent the party. The current co-leaders are Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick.

The co-leaders are elected for one year terms at Green Party annual general meetings (AGMs) or at leadership elections held to fill vacancies at other times. Incumbent co-leaders are required to be confirmed in their roles, and to meet a 75% threshold of support in a vote amongst members, at each AGM.[1] Confirmation is usually a formality, although Russel Norman and James Shaw have defeated a challenger in this way in 2013 and 2021 respectively.[2][3] In 2022, Shaw was briefly removed from the co-leadership due to only garnering 70% of the vote in the first round of voting, but was later re-elected.[4][5]

Any member of the party can be a candidate for the co-leadership, even those that are not currently members of parliament, as long as they have five other party members willing to nominate them.[6] From the creation of the roles in 1995 until May 2022, the party had a requirement that one co-leader be male and one co-leader be female. This was changed and now it is required that one co-leader be female and one co-leader be Māori. It is not required that these conditions be fulfilled by two different people.[7]

The co-leaders comprise a quarter of the voting members on the Green Party's leadership team, known as Kaunihera (Council). The other members of the team consist of two Te Rōpū Pounamu[a] kaiwhakahaere, two party co-convenors, and two policy co-convenors. The general manager of the party also sits as a non-voting member of the Kaunihera.[8] The role of Kaunihera, as stated by the party's constitution, is to "...monitor the performance of the Party against the [party's] Charter, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Long-term Strategy [and] any other Party strategies supplementary to the Long-Term Strategy".[9]

  1. ^ Green Party Constitution (2022), p. 38
  2. ^ Vance, Andrea (27 November 2023). "Russel Norman faces leadership challenge". Stuff. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  3. ^ Scotcher, Katie (6 July 2021). "Green Party leadership challenge: James Shaw vs James Cockle". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  4. ^ Watkins, Tracy; Galuszka, Jono (23 July 2022). "Surprised James Shaw not reconfirmed as Green Party co-leader, nominations to be reopened". Stuff. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  5. ^ Coughlan, Thomas (10 September 2022). "James Shaw re-elected Green co-leader six weeks after ouster". NZHerald. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  6. ^ Coughlan, Thomas (30 January 2024). "Green Party taking steps to find next co-leader to replace James Shaw". NZHerald. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  7. ^ Whyte, Anna (3 May 2022). "Green Party drops male co-leader rule, adds Māori requirement". 1News. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  8. ^ Green Party Constitution (2022), p. 9
  9. ^ Green Party Constitution (2022), p. 10


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