Monmouthshire's sole Green councillor plans to stand for leadership of the Welsh party

THE political face of Monmouthshire County Council, which has already been struck a blow by the defection of two former Labour councillors to Plaid Cymru, has been put into further jeopardy with the news that Llantilio Crossenny councillor Ian Chandler plans to stand in the forthcoming battle to lead the Welsh Green party.

Cllr Chandler, is the sole Green Party member on Monmouthshire council and has sat in a Green/Independent group with one other councillor, since forming a coalition with the minority Labour administration at County Hall in May 2023.

Announcing his decision in his Monmouthshire Beacon column this week, Cllr Chandler said while his commitment to Monmouthshire remained firm, he planned to stand to lead the Welsh party to ‘help build a Green movement that challenges the concentration of power, strengthens local democracy and puts communities at the heart of the changes Wales needs’.

Holding the party leadership would not prevent Cllr Chandler from keeping his seat on Monmouthshire County Council, something he stressed in his column

“My commitment to Monmouthshire remains as strong as ever. I will continue working hard for residents, listening to their concerns and campaigning for our communities, including in next May’s county council elections. Seeking a national leadership role is not a step away from that work. It is an opportunity to build on it,” said Cllr Chandler

“We face enormous challenges, from the climate and nature emergencies to rising inequality and growing pressure on public services. We won’t solve them by expecting distant institutions to have all the answers. Nor will we solve them by leaving every community to struggle alone.

“We need a Wales that combines collective action with local initiative, public investment with community ownership, and national leadership with genuine democratic power,” added Cllr Chandler.

Earlier this month it was revealed that the power sharing deal between Labour and the Green Party was to continue despite the national row over the party’s anti-Zionism stance.

Monmouthshire County Council’s Labour leader Mary Ann Brocklesby defending the decision saying Councillor Ian Chandler had publicly explained his opposition to the motion adopted at the Green Party’s autumn conference.

Cllr Richard John, the Conservative leader at Monmouthshire Council had questioned the power sharing arrangement after Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the House of Commons his party would have nothing to do with the Green Party’s stance which he called ‘wrong’ and ‘antisemitic’.

Labour has since told its councillors to end power sharing arrangements with the Green Party unless its councillors disown the policy.

Cllr Chandler recently published an article online in which he explained he has previously worked in Israel and the Palestinian territories and while he would unequivocally describe as racist, the form of Zionism that has resulted in the forced displacement of Palestinians and their unequal treatment, he could not support the motion passed by his party, adding that antisemitism was ‘a real and persistent cancer in our society’.

The balance on Monmouthshire County Council is now 19 Conservative, 18 Labour, six Independent, two Plaid Cymru and one Green.