About Sian Berry

Photo of Sian Berry on a doorstep in Brighton with text: Sian Berry listening to Brighton. [tick mark] Brighton has made history by electing - four times so far - a Green MP. Let's keep Brighton special by keeping our unique voice in Parliament. [tick mark] Meet Sian Berry, the woman running to continue Caroline Lucas' work as your next MP.I’m Sian Berry, Green MP candidate for Brighton Pavilion at the next election.

Before being elected to serve people as a political representative, I worked with communities across the country to protect the environment and win big new funding for better transport services.

In the Green Party you will find everyday people who became politicians because we care deeply about the places we live, our future and our neighbours.

Our citizens are crying out for people they can trust who will stand up for what’s right.

I have worked as a London Assembly Member since 2016 and was Green candidate for Mayor in 2008, 2016 and 2021. From 2014 to 2023 I was also a local Councillor in Camden.

Originally from Gloucestershire, I moved to London at the start of my working life, after leaving college nearly 25 years ago.

In all that time I have been a private renter, including now I live in Brighton. Like many working people who rent privately, I have had to move regularly, and in many places I’ve experienced first-hand the frustration of bad landlords and broken plumbing, and I have always known the pain of paying such high rents.

London Mayor and Assembly campaign 2021

Sian Berry with general election candidatesI won third place in the election for Mayor in 2021 and won more second preference Mayor votes than any other candidate.

As a London Assembly Member, working with Caroline Russell AM since 2016 and now with a new third Assembly Member Zack Polanski, I have listened and worked with Londoners on the issues that matter to you.

On the Assembly I have chaired the Housing Committee and the Transport Committee and served for five years on the Police and Crime Committee, along with other work overseeing the GLA’s multi-billion pound budget and proposing influential amendments to how we spend and raise funding.

I have:

  • Helped to stop drastic cuts to vital bus services, preserving a crucial lifeline for young and older Londoners, disabled people and those on low incomes.
  • Got over £150 million invested into buying back homes from landlords for social housing – after proposing an influential (and costed) budget amendment to make use of unused grant money in 2021.
  • Finally achieved a London-wide clean air zone, helping to steer a strong policy through the Assembly in November 2022 and winning the Mayor over to support the development of smarter road charging.
  • Won a big change in policy from the current Mayor to give residents the power to vote down plans that demolish council homes.
  • Been relentless in my work pushing for rent controls.
  • Pushed for support for exploring a basic income from the Assembly – despite the skepticism of Labour and the Mayor.
  • Got the Mayor and Assembly to declare a climate emergency. Greens are needed now to make the new 2030 net zero target a reality.
  • Helped reverse deep cuts by winning over £70 million in new funding for youth clubs and services in London.

I joined the Greens in 2001 and have always combined electoral politics with campaigning on issues within the community.

Until I was elected to the London Assembly in 2016, I was a transport campaigner by profession, working to support public transport and to stop damaging road-building projects all over the country.

But I have done a very wide range of jobs ever since I was 14, including shop worker, taxi controller, insurance adjuster, medical writer, assistant and PA in the City, academic, legal and charity sectors, author of books on re-using and mending our stuff, and as an IT project manager and website developer.

The Mayor and Assembly campaign in 2016

Darren Johnson, Jenny Jones, Sian Berry and Caroline RussellI was selected by Green Party members to be their candidate for London Mayor in 2016 and to stand for the London Assembly.

The London Assembly is an important body holding the Mayor to account – it’s elected by proportional representation and each year approves the Mayor’s budget.

Darren Johnson and Jenny Jones, the two former Green members of the London Assembly, both stepped down in 2016. Their work made vital changes to the policies of both Mayors they scrutinised, and they are hugely well-respected across London.

Getting more Green Assembly members to continue their work was vital and I was delighted to be elected to the London Assembly for the Greens alongside Caroline Russell at this election.

A Green Councillor

speaking at a council meetingI was elected to Camden Council representing Highgate Ward in May 2014, taking over after eight years from previous Green councillor Maya de Souza.

As a councillor, I raised many issues around funding local services and conditions for local workers, particularly the London Living Wage.

I also worked on getting better planning policies, scrutinising and improving council development plans and reducing air pollution, raising this at a London level too by demanding a more effective low emission zone and better facilities for bikes.

The very first motion I put to the council was passed in November 2014, creating a £1 million reserve fund to help prevent local community centres and libraries from closing.

Mayor and Assembly campaign 2008

Photo: PA. Green Alliance Hustings 2008I also stood for Mayor of London in the 2008 London elections.

Our campaign aimed to show that green policies make a more affordable city, with lower transport fares, more affordable housing, free insulation to reduce bills and a living wage. We reached well beyond the usual ‘green’ issues to increase our vote on the London Assembly, while improving on our previous seventh place in the race for Mayor.

Coming fourth was a big gain on the previous election and a great result – more than one in six London voters gave me one of their two votes, and my candidacy won the endorsement of both the Independent and Observer newspapers for first choice votes.

We increased the number of Green votes by 43,000, keeping our two Assembly Members (unlike the LibDems, who lost votes and two of their AMs).

Campaigning for better transport

Sian Berry at the climate march - by Joseph GordonFrom 2011 until 2015, my day job was as a roads and sustainable transport campaigner at the charity Campaign for Better Transport.

My work revolved around opposing the government’s many new road-building plans and supporting local communities and campaigns. All the evidence shows that new roads create new traffic and fill up again very quickly. We need clean, cheap and efficient public transport instead.