Dozens of national figures have given their backing to the campaign to re-elect Caroline Lucas as the MP for Brighton Pavilion.
They include broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, actors Jeremy Irons and Joanna Lumley, singer songwriter Thom Yorke, from Radiohead, and impersonator Rory Bremner.
Their support comes in a joint statement signed by 40 backers including authors, comedians and people from the worlds of science, business and environmental campaigning.
It comes less than a week after former Brighton and Hove Albion chairman Dick Knight voiced his support for Dr Lucas.
Mr Knight’s backing comes even though his former Albion boardroom colleague Martin Perry is standing for Labour in the local elections.
And earlier this month the Queen guitarist Brian May, one of the signatories, also spoke in support of Britain’s first Green MP as he urged people to vote.
The joint statement said: “Most of us are not members of the Green Party and many are not much involved in party politics.
“But we all feel it’s crucial that Caroline Lucas, the Green Party’s sole MP at this time, should be re-elected in her Brighton constituency on May 7.
“Over the last five years Caroline has eloquently addressed many of today’s most pressing issues – from accelerating climate change to sustainable farming, from human rights to a just and sustainable economy.
“This leadership matters all the more at a time when the mainstream parties are finding it so hard to address these challenges properly.
“Regardless of our own political allegiance, we believe that our democracy can only be strengthened by maintaining such a strong and inspirational presence in Parliament.”
Those who signed the statement were
John Ashton, special representative for climate change at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2006 to 2012
- Sir David Attenborough, naturalist and broadcaster
- Phil Bloomer, executive director at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
- Billy Bragg, singer songwriter and campaigner
- Rory Bremner, impersonator and satirist
- Tom Burke, environmentalist
- James Cameron, barrister and environmentalist
- Lily Cole, model, actress and environmental campaigner
- Mark Constantine, businessman and founder of Lush cosmetics
- Joseph Corré, businessman and environmental and human rights campaigner
- Joyce d’Silva, campaigner for animal welfare and the environment
- Stephen Frears, film director
- Jane Goodall, UN messenger of peace
- Katharine Hamnett, fashion designer and pioneer of ethical and environmental fashion
- Jeremy Irons, actor
- Tim Jackson, Surrey University
- Bianca Jagger, president and chief executive of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation
- Tony Juniper, environmentalist, writer and sustainability adviser
- Satish Kumar, activist for the environment and peace and teacher
- Jeremy Leggett, green energy entrepreneur and writer
- Joanna Lumley, actress and author
- Brian May, astrophysicist, musician and songwriter and animal welfare campaigner
- Kevin McCloud, designer, broadcaster and developer of sustainable property
- Alistair McGowan, actor, impersonator and author
- George Monbiot, journalist, author and campaigner on environmental and human rights issues
- Michael Morpurgo, children’s author, poet and playwright
- Cornelia Parker, sculptor and installation artist
- Sara Parkin, environmentalist and author
- Jonathon Porritt, environmentalist, broadcaster and writer
- Diana Quick, actress
- Christopher Rapley, scientist
- Gordon Roddick, founder of 38 Degrees, co-founder of the Big Issue and co-founder of the Body Shop
- Oliver Rowe, chef
- Charles Secrett, environmental activist, author and broadcaster
- Sir Tim Smit, entrepreneur, environmental educator, author and co-founder and executive vice-chairman of the Eden Project
- Mark Steel, social commentator, writer and comedian
- Mark Thomas, comedian, investigative journalist, political campaigner
- Dale Vince, entrepreneur
- Tracy Worcester, animal welfare campaigner
- Thom Yorke, musician and singer songwriter
Mr Knight said: “Caroline’s earned the right to continue her genuine commitment to improving our society in the place where she will stand up and can be counted on to make a difference.
“I wish all MPs were as brave.”
Its lucky they can’t vote for then ain’t it..
I bet most of them don’t live in Brighton, and therefore don’t have to put-up with the mess that the incapable, incompetent Greens have created
I think You are being more than generous with the Term National figures Mr Le Duc.
Oh I think that some of them may be well known.
Telling that they don’t back an establishment party candidate.
More telling that they all appear to be typical Green voters; White, middle-class Guardian readers and completely out of touch with the rest of society
That’s funny, I may be white but I’m working class (albeit also a Politics student, but that’s just through trying hard at school) and read the Independent.
The views of “well known” people count no more than the views of ordinary people, unless they’re speaking about an area of expertise. So a businessman talking about business, and artist talking about art etc.
Also, I think that any MP wishing to be reelected is automatically part of the Establishment, whether she wishes to be portrayed as such or not.
I’m all for everyone in Brighton Pavilion voting for Caroline so she can keep on promoting her own pro-feminist pro-drug legalisation policies in parliament – after all just 1 independent MP in a group of over 600 can’t cause that much damage to the economic and political real world.
So now elections are based upon the number of members in the green party; the number of green windows stickers; and now the number of “celebrities” that can be coerced in saying that Caroline Lucas is “inspirational”!
Just make sure that everyone in the city votes for other parties in the council election to make sure we don’t get another 4 years of failed, grandiose, vanity projects with the resultant ever increasing demands on council taxes and continual inability to focus on delivering core services (street cleaning, rubbish collection) for residents, businesses and visitors.
There’s a difference between an endorsement of a political party and a group of so called celebrities telling people to back an individual candidate in a constituency they don’t even live in.
So no thank you, I will be basing my decision on who to vote for on what it’s like to have someone as an MP and as it is, I won’t be voting to ‘re-elect Lucas’ (note the missing reference to the Green party, as seen in many of their posters). Instead I want to see Purna Sen elected to represent me.