Rachel Millward
Rachel Millward | |
|---|---|
| Deputy Leader of Wealden District Council | |
| Assumed office 14 May 2025 | |
| Leader | James Partridge |
| Preceded by | James Partridge |
| In office 24 May 2023 – 15 May 2024 | |
| Leader | James Partridge |
| Succeeded by | James Partridge |
| Leader of Wealden District Council | |
| In office 15 May 2024 – 14 May 2025 | |
| Preceded by | James Partridge |
| Succeeded by | James Partridge |
| Councillor for Hartfield ward, Wealden | |
| Assumed office 2 December 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Christopher Hardy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | West Midlands, England |
| Political party | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Alma mater | Oxford University African Gender Institute |
Rachel Millward is a British politician for the Green Party of England and Wales. She is deputy leader of Wealden District Council as part of the Alliance for Wealden, and is currently running in the 2025 Green Party of England and Wales deputy leadership election.
Early career
Millward attended Oxford University.[1]
In 2002, Millward founded the Birds Eye View women's film festival with Pinny Grylls, which ran until 2014.[2][3] It was the UK's first major film festival for female filmmakers.
Millward was named as a "World Changing Woman" by The Guardian in August 2006,[4] and was awarded a Clore fellowship for film in 2009–11.[5] In 2010 she was named one of 50 “Women to Watch” by Arts Council England and the Cultural Leadership Fellowship, and for the Women of the Future media award.
In 2014 she moved away from film and became the first director of The Old Church, a community arts centre in Hackney, where she curated a month-long festival called BREATHE: a celebration of air.[6]
From 2016, she became executive director Nest Collective,[7] an organisation ran by folk musician Sam Lee which produces and promotes regular concerts, campfire clubs and outdoor festivals.
She is a conservator of the Ashdown Forest[8] and a founding member of the Friends of the River Medway.[9][10]
Political career
Millward's first involvement with politics was joining Greenpeace and joining an anti-apartheid protest at the age of eight.[7]
She was first elected as a councillor in the 2021 by-election for Hartfield ward on Wealden District Council,[11] and was reelected in the 2023 Wealden District Council election in which the Conservative Party lost their majority. Since 2023, the Liberal Democrats have led the council in coalition with the Green Party, with the two parties alternating council leader annually.[12] The Labour Party joined the coalition in December 2024.[13]
She had been nominated to stand for parliament in Sussex Weald in the 2024 general election, but withdrew her candidacy in May 2024 out of concerns it would conflict with her role as council leader.[14]
On 10 June 2025, Millward stated her intention to run in the 2025 Green Party of England and Wales deputy leadership election to succeed incumbent Zack Polanski, who was standing down as deputy leader to run for party leader instead.[15][16]
Electoral performance
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Rachel Millward | 774 | 62.9 | +19.8 | |
| Conservative | Janie Robinson | 456 | 37.1 | –19.8 | |
| Majority | 318 | 25.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 1,230 | 43.23 | +7.35 | ||
| Registered electors | 2,937 | ||||
| Green gain from Conservative | Swing | 19.8 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Rachel Millward | 589 | 55.8 | +12.7 | |
| Conservative | Bruce Rainbow | 467 | 44.2 | –12.7 | |
| Majority | 122 | 11.6 | |||
| Turnout | 1,056 | ||||
| Green gain from Conservative | Swing |  25.4
|
|||
References
- ↑ "Deputy Leader". greenparty.org.uk. Green Party of England and Wales. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
- ↑ "History". Birds Eye View Film.
- ↑ Eberle, Kate (10 March 2011). "Rachel Millward". Screen Daily. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ Clouting, Lucy (2006-08-20). "Simply the best". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ "Women to watch:Rachel Millward". Cultural Leadership Programme.
- ↑ Bayes, Honour (16 February 2016). "Art and air: A community catches its breath". Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Rachel Millward". Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ "Meet the Board of Conservators". Ashdown Forest. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ "Our team". Friends of the River Medway. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ "Green co-leader of Wealden District Council, Sussex. Founder of Birds Eye View int'l women's film festival (now Reclaim the Frame). Friends of River Medway. Ashdown Forest conservator. Running for Deputy Leader of @greenparty.org.uk - #Rach4Deputy". Bluesky. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ Oxburgh, Huw (17 December 2021). "New Green councillor says concerns at overdevelopment helped spur 'historic' Wealden by-election win". SussexWorld. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ "The Green Party takes its turn for the leadership of Wealden District Council". The Heathfield News. 15 May 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ Brencher, Holly (17 December 2024). "Wealden District Council cabinet line-up announced". The Argus. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ Oxburgh, Huw (15 May 2024). "Wealden District Council elects new leader". SussexWorld. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ Oxburgh, Huw (11 June 2025). "Wealden councillor seeks election to national Green Party post". SussexWorld. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
- ↑ Name. "Wealden District Council". Wealden District Council. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
External links
This article "Rachel Millward" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Rachel Millward. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
