Gina Dowding’s current roles include being an active County Councillor for Lancashire County Council, holding the seat for Lancaster Central since 2013, and a City Councillor for Marsh ward since May 2019.
Gina was the first Green Party representative to be elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the North West from July 2019 – January 2020. Gina has been a Green Party member since 1986.
Gina has previously carried out several roles for and within the Green Party, including:
- Lancaster City Councillor, for Castle then Dukes ward: 1999-2007, including being a Cabinet Member for seven years.
- North Lancashire Green Party Co-ordinator/External Communication Co-ordinator
- Green Party of England and Wales Health Spokesperson
- Fylde General Election 2019 Parliamentary Candidate
- Lancaster and Fleetwood General Election 2010 Parliamentary Candidate.
- Represented the Green Party of England and Wales at Congress of the Global Greens (Dacca, Senegal 2011) and European Green Party Council (Zagreb, Croatia 2015).
Educated at St Martin’s-in-the-Fields High School, London (1972-1980), Gina has A-Levels in Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths.
She then went on to study at Nottingham Trent University (1981-85) where she was awarded a 1st class BA (Hons) in European Business Studies, including a year in Paderborn, Germany.
Gina speaks German and French at a good level.
Employment
- Managing Director, Churches Trust for Cumbria 2009-2011
- Health Promotion/Public Health NHS adviser/District HIV co-ordinator/Health Promoting University Project coordinator (Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde Health Authority/ Morecambe Bay NHS Trust) 1988-2001
- Drug and Alcohol health adviser (charity sector, Lancaster) 1986-88
Voluntary roles
- Director North Lancashire Community Land Trust. Current
- Chair of the Friendship Centre for Older People (2006-8)
Council work priorities
Anti-fracking, safe cycling and walking provision, pensions divestment, local procurement, alcohol harm reduction. Gina chaired a newly-formed Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee, following a failed OFSTED inspection Lancashire County Council 2016/17.
Extra-curricular political experiences
As city councillor in 2002-3 Gina made ‘confidential’ information regarding the finances of British Energy nuclear industry and its appeals for delay in paying business rates, available to the public. She was found in a local government standards tribunal to be in breach of recently-introduced regulations and suspended for 3 months from the city council (and during the time waiting for the tribunal, was re-elected with a greater majority).
Gina regularly attended the protests at Preston New Road fracking site and took part in a ‘rolling resistance’ direct action July 2017. She was fined after self-defence in court for ‘wilful obstruction for the highway’.
On her current elected roles, Gina says:
“I a delighted to be part of the group of ten Green Councillors in Lancaster, and our alliance arrangements with Labour and the Lib Dems. I am the sole Green Party County Councillor but have joined independent councillors in an administrative group to ensure I can play role in scrutiny committees. I am on the Health Scrutiny and Pension Fund Committees.”
On her approach to politics Gina says:
“My political action and decision-making is underpinned by an approach of ‘politics is the art of the possible’. This requires a judgement on how to achieve incremental positive changes for the people and the causes I represent, and in particular for the most vulnerable people and species, while simultaneously working for broad-scale acceptance of the radical changes required within institutions and in the economic system, in order to protect our planet to sustain life. I am hopeful that adoption of the Green Party’s Green New Deal, and associated polices like Basic Income Scheme will help us transition to a circular economy”
