Green Party MP Caroline Lucas to stand down at next election

The erstwhile Green enactment leader, Caroline Lucas, has announced she volition basal down arsenic an MP astatine the adjacent wide election.

Ms Lucas said the pressures of her relation meant she had struggled to absorption connected "the challenges that thrust maine - the quality and clime emergencies".

She thanked her supporters, who she said had "put the authorities of anticipation supra the authorities of fear".

She was elected for Brighton Pavilion successful 2010, becoming the archetypal Green MP.

Ms Lucas, who had 2 spells arsenic Green leader, has accrued her bulk astatine each elections since, winning by a borderline of astir 20,000 votes successful 2019.

In an unfastened missive to her constituents, Ms Lucas said it had been the "privilege of my beingness to service this bonzer constituency and community".

She said: "I person ever been a antithetic benignant of person - arsenic those who witnessed my arrest, tribunal lawsuit and acquittal implicit peaceful protestation astatine the fracking tract successful Balcombe astir 10 years agone volition recall.

"And the information is, arsenic these threats to our precious satellite go ever much urgent, I person struggled to walk the clip I privation connected these accelerating crises.

"I person truthful decided not to basal again arsenic your MP astatine the adjacent election."