Green party MP Caroline Lucas to stand down at next election | Caroline Lucas

Caroline Lucas, the Green party’s former leader and its only MP, has announced she is to stand down at the next election.

Lucas told her constituents in Brighton Pavilion, a seat she has represented since 2010, that serving as an MP meant she had “struggled” to spend the time she wanted campaigning on the climate crisis.

Her decision comes a month after the Green party lost control of Brighton and Hove council despite gaining more than 240 seats elsewhere in the English local elections.

The party’s co-leaders praised the popular MP as a “force of nature”.

In her letter to constituents, Lucas said: “I have always prided myself on being, first and foremost, a good constituency MP. I’ve done everything possible to help wherever I can and always worked to ensure that people feel heard, that their concerns matter, and that they are not alone.

“But the intensity of these constituency commitments, together with the particular responsibilities of being my party’s sole MP, mean that, ironically, I’ve not been able to focus as much as I would like on the existential challenges that drive me – the nature and climate emergencies.”

Lucas, 62, who served two spells as Green party leader, joins a list of more than 50 MPs who have announced they will not be contesting the next election. They include the former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, the Conservative former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab and the former deputy Labour leader Margaret Beckett.

Lucas became the first and only Green party candidate elected to parliament when she was elected in 2010. Her majority has increased at the subsequent three elections, with voters returning her to parliament with a majority of almost 20,000 in 2019.

In comments first reported by the Argus newspaper in Brighton, Lucas said it had been the “privilege of my life to serve this extraordinary constituency and community”. She added: “I have always been a different kind of politician – as those who witnessed my arrest, court case and acquittal over peaceful protest at the fracking site in Balcombe nearly 10 years ago will recall.

“And the truth is, as these threats to our precious planet become ever more urgent, I have struggled to spend the time I want on these accelerating crises. I have therefore decided not to stand again as your MP at the next election.”

Lucas was Green party leader between 2008 and 2012 before returning for a second stint, this time co-leading the party with Jonathan Bartley for two years from September 2016.

A tweet from Lucas confirming her decision to stand down prompted hundreds of replies, most expressing both sadness and gratitude.

The Green party co-leader Carla Denyer said: “Caroline’s impact on politics in this country cannot be overstated: she truly is a force of nature and has been an extraordinary servant of the people of Brighton Pavilion as well as the Green party. We are so proud of her achievements.”

The joint leader Adrian Ramsay said: “Very few politicians can claim to have changed the course of the national debate in the way Caroline has. She has brought so much to us as a party, shown real integrity in her work and added a crucial dimension to our democracy in this country.

“Having MPs who are genuinely dedicated to standing up for the climate and nature could not be more important than it is right now and that’s why we are striving to get more Green MPs elected at the next general election so that we can build on Caroline’s achievements.”