Natalie Bennett facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Right Honourable The Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
Official portrait, 2023
Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
In office 3 September 2012 – 2 September 2016
Deputy	Will Duckworth (2012–2014) Amelia Womack and Shahrar Ali (2014–2016)
Preceded by	Caroline Lucas
Succeeded by	Jonathan Bartley and Caroline Lucas
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 October 2019 Life peerage
Personal details
Born	Natalie Louise Bennett (1966-02-10) 10 February 1966 (age 59) Eastwood, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Green Party of England and Wales
Residences	Sheffield, England
Alma mater	University of Sydney University of New England University of Leicester

Natalie Louise Bennett, also known as Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (born 10 February 1966), is an Australian-British politician and journalist. She was the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2012 to 2016. In 2019, she was given a special title called a "peerage" by then-Prime Minister Theresa May. This means she became a member of the House of Lords, which is part of the UK Parliament.

Natalie was born and grew up in Australia. She started her career writing for local newspapers. In 1995, she moved to Thailand and worked for a newspaper there. She came to Britain in 1999 and has written for well-known newspapers like The Guardian and The Independent. She joined the Green Party in 2006 and became its leader six years later.

Early Life and Education

Natalie Bennett was born on 10 February 1966 in Eastwood, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Her parents, John and Joy Bennett, were young and from working-class families. Her mother worked part-time as a secretary, and her father was an apprentice carpenter. Sadly, her mother died in a car accident in 1989.

Natalie received a special scholarship to attend MLC School, a private school for girls in Burwood. She was the first person in her family to go to university. She earned degrees from the University of Sydney and the University of New England. Later, in 2001, she completed a Master of Arts degree in Mass Communication from the University of Leicester in the UK.

Journalism Career Highlights

Natalie Bennett began her journalism career in New South Wales, Australia. She wrote for several local newspapers, including the Northern Daily Leader. In 1995, she moved to Thailand. There, she worked for a group called Australian Volunteers International. She also became the chief foreign sub-editor at the Bangkok Post newspaper.

In 1999, Natalie moved to the United Kingdom. She started writing for The Guardian newspaper's "Comment is Free" section in 2006. She also worked as a blogger. From 2007 to 2012, she was the deputy editor and then editor of The Guardian Weekly. She also wrote for other major London newspapers, The Independent and The Times. In 2012, she decided to leave journalism to focus on her political career.

Political Journey

Natalie Bennett officially joined the Green Party on 1 January 2006. The Green Party focuses on environmental protection, social justice, and non-violence. Soon after joining, she ran for local council elections in London in 2006 and 2010 but was not elected. She also worked behind the scenes for the party, helping with internal communication.

In 2010, she was chosen to run for a seat in the UK Parliament for the area of Holborn and St Pancras. She finished fourth in that election. She also ran in the London Assembly elections in 2012.

Leading the Green Party

On 3 September 2012, Natalie Bennett became the new leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. She took over from Caroline Lucas, who had been the leader before her. When she was elected, Natalie told reporters that the Green Party's ideas were "the only viable way forward" for Britain and the world.

In May 2014, she was again chosen to run for the Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary seat. She was re-elected as the party leader without anyone running against her in September 2014.

In February 2015, Natalie had a challenging interview on a radio station called LBC. She found it difficult to explain how the Green Party would pay for building 500,000 new council homes. The interviewer questioned her numbers, asking if the homes would be made of "plywood" because the cost seemed too low.

Later in 2015, a media regulator called Ofcom initially decided to exclude the Green Party from televised debates before the general election. They said the party hadn't shown enough support in past elections. Natalie called this decision "disgraceful." Other politicians, including then-Prime Minister David Cameron, also spoke out against it. The decision was later changed, and Natalie was able to take part in the seven-way debate on 2 April. After this, the Green Party's support increased.

In the 2015 election, Natalie came third in her constituency. In 2016, after serving two terms as leader, she decided not to run for re-election. Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley were then elected as co-leaders.

2017 UK General Election

On 7 October 2016, Natalie Bennett was chosen to run for the Sheffield Central area in the 2017 United Kingdom general election. In this election, the Green Party's share of votes in Sheffield Central went down, and Natalie finished third out of eight candidates.

Joining the House of Lords

In September 2019, Natalie Bennett was given a "life peerage." This special honour meant she would become a member of the House of Lords for life. On 7 October 2019, she was officially named Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle. She became the second current Green Party member in the House of Lords, joining Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb. She was formally introduced to the Lords on 15 October 2019 and gave her first speech on 17 October 2019.

Political Beliefs

Natalie Bennett has considered herself a feminist since she was a young child. Feminism is the belief that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men. She also helped start the Green Party's women's group. She became interested in environmental issues while studying Agricultural Sciences at university. She believes the UK should not have a monarchy (a king or queen as head of state). In 2015, she said she supported a boycott of Israel and believed Britain should stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia.

Personal Life

Baroness Bennett is not married and lives in Sheffield, England.

Images for kids

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  Natalie Bennett at a "Take Back Our World!" event in 2015.

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  Natalie Bennett campaigning in Cambridge during the 2015 general election.

This category has articles on people who were born in the year 1966.
See also: 1966 deaths.

Wikisource has original writing related to this article: Category:Living people

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Category:Living people

Category:Journalists from SydneyCategory:Alumni of the University of Leicester

Category:Australian emigrants to EnglandCategory:Australian life peers Category:Australian newspaper editors Category:Australian expatriates in England Category:British feminist writersCategory:British newspaper editors Category:British republicans Category:Green Party of England and Wales life peers Category:Green Party of England and Wales parliamentary candidates Category:Leaders of the Green Party of England and Wales Category:People educated at MLC School Category:People from Somers Town, London Category:University of New England (Australia) alumniCategory:The Guardian journalists Category:The Independent people Category:The Times people Category:Women newspaper editors Category:Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II

See also

In Spanish: Natalie Bennett para niños