Young Greens of England and Wales

The Young Greens (of England and Wales) [ acronym: YG(EW)] is the official youth wing of the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW). All members of the GPEW who are under 29 years old may opt to join the Young Greens at no cost and stand for election to the Young Greens Committee.

The Scottish Green Party also has a youth wing, the Scottish Young Greens, who work with the England and Wales group. Young Greens is affiliated with the Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG).

History
The Young Greens were set up by young members of the Green Party of England and Wales, rather than by the party itself. The organisation aimed to build local groups at universities, colleges, higher education institutions, sixth form colleges and schools, with no lower age limit for joining.

As the GPEW's electoral performance improved, many Young Greens were elected to County or City Councils, including Cllr Adrian Ramsay (Norwich) who was the youngest person ever to be elected as a Councillor (at the age of 21), Cllr Matt Sellwood (Oxford) and others. Within the party, Young Greens have slowly grown in profile, with Young Greens Cllr Matt Sellwood and Matt Wootton sitting on the Green Party Executive Committee (GPEx) and Tom Tibbits becoming Energy Policy Spokesperson.

Structure
The Young Greens is governed by a constitution, newly adopted at the GPEW 2006 Autumn Conference in Hove. The group has an executive known as the Young Greens Committee, in which all positions are regarded as equal (although the Male and Female Co-Chairs are the public face of the organisation) and and a legislature known as the Young Greens Council made up of the Committee as well as regional and local co-ordinators. The Young Greens Committee is assisted by the Young Greens Coordinator, currently Francesca Richards, who is employed by the GPEW and works at the party office.

At regularly held national meetings (each meeting must be held within 2 months of the last), hosted in various geographical locations to provide accessibility, all members of the Young Greens Council have one vote. The Young Greens also meet at all of the bi-annual party conferences, where the Young Greens have become increasingly active through fringes and entertainment events such as comedy sketches and quizzes.

Representation
The Young Greens has become increasingly involved in Students' Unions and the National Union of Students (NUS).

National Union of Students of the United Kingdom
At the 2006 NUS Conference in Blackpool, Young Green, Joe Rooney was elected to the 'Block of Twelve' on the NUS UK National Executive Committee (NEC), although he was defeated in the race for the position of National Secretary. In 2008, Joe Blakesley was elected as an FE officer on the NUS Wales NEC and to NUS UK Council.

London School of Economics and Political Science
Young Greens have been elected to positions on some Students' Union Executive Committees. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Students' Union Young Greens, who refer to themselves as the LSESU Green Party, are currently the largest political party society at the LSE Students' Union, traditionally the most politically active Students' Union in the UK. Their rivals at the LSE are, interestingly, not the Socialists/Labour Party or the Liberal Democrats, but the Conservatives. LSE Conservatives have sometimes overtaken LSESU Greens in membership. However, the LSESU Greens have always been more successful in internal SU elections and have had two members re-elected to the Students' Union Executive during 2007 after taking office in 2006. In 2008, Young Green Aled Dilwyn Fisher was elected General Secretary of the LSESU.

University of Manchester
The Young Greens presence at the University of Manchester and in the Union has been sporadic, but recent election success, having Daniel Lee elected to the position of Campaigns Officer as well as winning positions on council, should be significant building blocks.