Ellie Chowns

Last updated

Ellie Chowns
MP
Official portrait of Ellie Chowns MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for North Herefordshire
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Website elliechowns.org.uk

Eleanor Elizabeth Chowns (born 7 March 1975) is a British Green Party politician, serving as the Member of Parliament for North Herefordshire since 2024. She previously served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands for the party from 2019 to 2020. She was a councillor on Herefordshire Council from 2017, representing the Bishops Frome & Cradley ward, and leader of the council's Green group until stepping down following her election to parliament. [3]

Contents

In 2025, Ellie Chowns announced she was standing for co-leader of the Green Party along with Adrian Ramsay. Both Chowns and Ramsey were defeated by Zack Polanski.

Early life and education

Chowns was born on 7 March 1975 in Chertsey. [4] She is the daughter of Gillian and Stephen Chowns, who is a methodist preacher and worked as a lecturer in human resource management. The couple moved to Ledbury, in Ellie Chowns's constituency, in 2013, and in 2024 Stephen Chowns was elected mayor of Ledbury Town Council. Ellie Chowns has a brother, Jonathan. [5]

She studied geography, environmental studies, and development studies at the University of Sussex, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1997. She then undertook a one-year Master of Professional Studies (MProf) degree in sustainable development at the University of Middlesex, graduating in 1998. She later undertook doctoral research in international development at the University of Birmingham. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2014, with a doctoral thesis titled "The political economy of community management: a study of factors influencing sustainability in Malawi's rural water supply sector". [6] [7]

Career

She is a specialist in international development, having worked for charities such as Voluntary Service Overseas and Christian Aid and as a lecturer at the University of Birmingham. [6]

Political career

Chowns got involved in politics in 2015. [8] In 2017 she was elected as a councillor on Herefordshire Council, and became the leader of the Green group. In the May 2019 Herefordshire Council elections, Chowns was re-elected onto Herefordshire Council with 78.6% of the vote.

European parliament

Chowns was elected as an MEP in the 2019 European elections, winning 10.66% of the vote share. In the same election, the Green Party won 7 MEPs, up from 3. [9]

Extinction Rebellion

Chowns was arrested on 14 October 2019 in Trafalgar Square defending the rights of Extinction Rebellion protesters to continue. She was released pending investigation, and later was one of the claimants to challenge the legality of the Section 14 order under which she was arrested. On 6 November 2019 the High Court ruled this blanket use of Section 14 by the Metropolitan Police was unlawful. [10] Chowns declined to sue the Metropolitan Police for unlawful arrest, but declared the ruling to be a "victory for the right to peaceful assembly and protest, two cornerstones of our democracy". [11]

House of Commons

Chowns stood as the Green candidate for North Herefordshire, a safe seat for the Conservatives, in the 2017 General Election, securing 5.5% of the vote. In the 2019 General Election, she won 9.3% of the vote share, the 6th highest Green vote share in the country and the highest of any seat where there was no Unite to Remain alliance. [12]

In the 2024 General Election, Chowns was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for North Herefordshire with 21,736 votes (43.2%) and a majority of 5,894 over the second-placed Conservative candidate, Sir Bill Wiggin. [13] She overturned a significant Conservative majority and unseated the incumbent Wiggin with a swing of +34.4% as compared to the 2019 election. [14] Alongside Siân Berry and Green co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, she was one of the first five Green MPs in UK history; the first, Caroline Lucas, retired from the Commons in 2024.

On 18 July 2024, Chowns made her maiden speech in the House of Commons during a debate on foreign affairs and defence. [15]

On 11 May, incumbent co-leader Adrian Ramsay launched a joint leadership bid alongside Chowns for the 2025 party leadership election. [16]

Personal life

Chowns has two adult sons. [17]

She is a member of Giving What We Can, a community of people who have pledged to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities. [18]

Selected works

References

  1. ↑ "Key dates ahead". European Parliament. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. ↑ "Key dates ahead". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  3. ↑ "Councillor details - Councillor Ellie Chowns". Herefordshire Council. 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "Ellie Chowns: 9th parliamentary term". www.europarl.europa.eu. European Parliament. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  5. ↑ "Councillor Stephen Chowns is the new Mayor of Ledbury". Ledbury Reporter. 14 May 2024. Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Dr Ellie Chowns". University of Birmingham. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  7. ↑ Chowns, Eleanor (2014). "The political economy of community management: a study of factors influencing sustainability in Malawi's rural water supply sector". E-Thesis Online Service. The British Library Board. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  8. ↑ "Rebrick meets: Dr Ellie Chowns MEP". Rebrick. 17 June 2019. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  9. ↑ "The UK's European elections 2019". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  10. ↑ "Extinction Rebellion: High Court rules London protest ban unlawful". BBC News. 6 November 2019. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  11. ↑ "High Court rules against Met ban of protest". Ellie Chowns MEP. 11 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "Herefordshire North". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  13. ↑ "North Herefordshire results - General election results 2024". BBC News. 5 July 2024. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  14. ↑ Corry, Paul (5 July 2024). "Greens makes history in North Herefordshire as Ellie Chowns defeats Conservatives". Green Party.
  15. ↑ Ellie Chowns (18 July 2024). "Foreign Affairs and Defence". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 752. United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 256–260. Archived 17 August 2024 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ "Green Party leadership contest: Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns bid". BBC News. 12 May 2025. Archived from the original on 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  17. ↑ "Councillor Stephen Chowns is the new Mayor of Ledbury". Ledbury Reporter. 14 May 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  18. ↑ "Members", www.givingwhatwecan.org, retrieved 25 October 2020
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for North Herefordshire
2024–present		Incumbent
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