Vix Lowthion
Vix Lowthion is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales on the Isle of Wight and the party's national spokesperson on education. She has been a parish councillor for Freshwater since at least 2019.[1]
Biography[edit]
Lowthion qualified as a teacher in 1999 and went on to teach geology, geography, history and philosophy. Up to 2016 she taught at Isle of Wight College, but was made redundant due to cuts to funding for A-level teaching, which she publicly opposed.[2][3] She moved into teaching at a secondary school.[4]
Lowthion joined the Green Party in 2014, following study of geology and energy systems at the Open University,[5] and became the leader of the party on the Isle of Wight in 2015.[6] In her capacity as a parish councillor, Lowthion's campaigning has involved local schools (including seeking a new school in Freshwater).[7] She supported improved renewable energy infrastructure on the island,[8] and Isle of Wight Council's declaration of a climate emergency, while criticising what she saw as patchy and poorly informed support among councillors.[9] She also participated in the October 2019 Extinction Rebellion protests.[10]
Education spokesperson[edit]
Lowthion became the Green Party's national education spokesperson in February 2016.[11] As Green Party spokesperson for education, she criticised academisation;[12] pledged to abolish SATs and to increase education funding;[13][14] and criticised what she characterised as 'arbitrary' government intervention in primary and secondary education.[15][16] She was also prominent in criticism of David Hoare, the chairman of the UK's school inspection agency Ofsted, when, in 2016, he said that the Isle of Wight was 'a ghetto; there has been inbreeding', arguing that the improvement of the island's schools required investment, 'not name calling'.[17][18]
Elections[edit]
Lowthion was the Green Party parliamentary candidate for the Isle of Wight constituency in the general elections of 2015, 2017 and 2019. She was also third candidate on the Green party list for the South East constituency in the 2019 European Parliament elections but was not elected.[19][20]
Lowthion's 2015 general election campaign was noted in academic research on the Green Party's success that year for the prominence of its media profile and its sceptical attitude to the party's prevailing approach to winning elections.[21]
In the 2017 general election campaign, Lowthion was vocal in opposing homophobic comments made by the island's then MP, Andrew Turner, who stood down ahead of the general election.[22] Turner's disappearance from politics was seen as creating a rare opportunity for the Green Party to win a parliamentary seat,[23][5] and the election saw Lowthion winning more votes than any Green candidate other than the party's sole MP, Caroline Lucas.[24] Nevertheless, this left Lowthion placed third behind Labour and the Conservative Party.
In the 2019 general election campaign, Lowthion was the only female candidate for her constituency.[25] She in the Unite to Remain pact to promote the election of MPs who supported the UK remaining in the European Union, with the Liberal Democrats standing aside on the island; this made the constituency one of only ten in which the Unite to Remain candidate was Green.[26] Lowthion's campaign emphasised sustaining and improving public services, the protection of the countryside, investment in green industry, and reducing the cost of ferry transport to the island.[27][28]
References[edit]
- ↑ Megan Baynes, 'Huge plans unveiled for future of Freshwater and Yarmouth primary schools', Isle of Wight County Press (3 May 2019).
- ↑ Julian Clegg, 'Isle of Wight teacher Vix Lowthion faces losing her job after Isle of Wight College announced it's phasing out A-Levels', BBC Radio Solent (20 August 2015).
- ↑ 'Isle of Wight College criticised for ending A-levels', BBC News (20 August 2015).
- ↑ Hélène Mulholland, 'Why Sir and Miss are standing in the general election; Five teachers - Tory, Labour, Lib Dem and Green - explain why they have left the chalk face for the campaign trail', The Guardian (30 May 2017).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jim Edwards, 'A Tory MP's homophobia may have paved the way for this woman to become Britain's next Green Party MP', Business Insider (18 May 2017).
- ↑ 'Vix Lowthion', On the Wight.
- ↑ 'Isle of Wight Council sets out plans for future of West Wight primary schools', Wight County Press (4 July 2019).
- ↑ 'Kevin Wilson Talks To Vix Lowthion', Vectis Radio (14 December 2015).
- ↑ Anderson, David (25 July 2019). "Isle of Wight Council declares Climate Emergency — but many councillors did not support it". Isle of Wight County Press. Retrieved 10 November 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Lori Little, 'Isle of Wight activists taking to the streets of London with Extinction Rebellion', Isle of Wight County Press (8 October 2019).
- ↑ 'Green Party announces 2016-2017 spokespeople', European Union News (12 February 2016).
- ↑ Hélène Mulholland, 'Why Sir and Miss are standing in the general election; Five teachers - Tory, Labour, Lib Dem and Green - explain why they have left the chalk face for the campaign trail', The Guardian (30 May 2017).
- ↑ Lizzay Buchan, 'Green Party "to end pointless SATs"', The Independent (15 May 2017).
- ↑ 'Green Party pledges to abolish 'pointless' Sats'. Times Education Supplement (15 May 2017).
- ↑ 'Youngsters seeing hopes dashed by 'trial and error' education policy, say Greens', European Union News (27 August 2016).
- ↑ Lori Little, 'Isle of Wight Green Party's Vix Lowthion talks school cuts at London event - alongside Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan', Isle of Wight County Press (10 July 2019).
- ↑ Rachael Pells, ' "An inbred, ghetto": Ofsted chairman's description of the Isle of Wight', The Independent (6 August 2016).
- ↑ Javier Espinoza, 'Isle of Wight an "inbred ghetto", says education chief; Ofsted chairman faces call to resign after telling teachers that social ills are cause of low attainment', The Daily Telegraph (6 August 2016).
- ↑ 'Isle of Wight Green Party leader announces candidacy for EU elections', Isle of Wight County Press (26 April 2019).
- ↑ 'European Elections 2019 - full list of candidates', Oxford Mail (23 May 2019).
- ↑ James Dennison, The Greens in British Politics: Protest, Anti-Austerity and the Divided Left (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), pp. 47, 129-30; doi:10.1007/978-3-319-42673-0; ISBN 978-3-319-42672-3 Search this book on
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- ↑ Tom Peck, 'Tory MP to stand down after "calling homosexuality a danger to society"', The Independent (28 April 2017).
- ↑ Peter Walker, 'Caroline Lucas joins Green party's bid to snatch Isle of Wight seat', The Guardian (9 May 2017).
- ↑ Lucy Morgan, 'Election 2019, the Green Party: Vix Lowthion', Isle of Wight Radio (30 October 2019).
- ↑ 'Who do we fancy in the Parliament Stakes?', Isle of Wight County Press (9 November 2019).
- ↑ Emily Pearce, 'Isle of Wight Green Party to launch General Election campaign in Cowes', Isle of Wight County Press (12 November 2019).
- ↑ Lori Little, 'Green Party's Vix Lowthion on BBC1 Sunday Politics Show - wearing Isle of Wight badge', Isle of Wight County Press (5 November 2019).
- ↑ Joshua Silverwood, 'Isle of Wight Liberal Democrat candidate steps aside for Green Party', Isle of Wight County Press (7 November 2019).
External links[edit]
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