20 June 2008 - Martin Collins did brilliantly in the Monkseaton North by-election, gaining 4% of the vote! He was less than 100 votes away from beating the Lib Dems, whose vote share collapsed. Come on everyone, and lets have more candidates standing in 2010! Well done Martin!  2 May 2008 - Martin Collins made a great showing for the Greens in Riverside ward, gaining well over 7% of the vote and less than 200 votes away from beating the Tories into 3rd place! Nic Best lost his seat in Morpeth North Central ward on the new Northumberland Unitary Authority, but still represents the ward on Morpeth Town Council. In Norwich, the Greens became the official opposition to Labour after a gain of 3 seats and the Lib Dems losing 5. This means we are now just 3 seats short of becoming the largest party on the council. We also made gains in Cambridge, Camden, Liverpool, Sheffield, Solihull and Stroud! Well done to everyone!  January 2009 - The Green Party European parliamentary candidates selected for North East England are:  1. Shirley Ford  2. Iris Ryder  3. Nic Best  The above candidates are all standing for election to the European Parliament. The election is with the d'Hondt method (votes are allocated to parties as opposed to people, meaning it is more proportional than first-past-the-post). This election will take place on 4th. June 2009.  4 January 2008 - The Green Party parliamentary candidates selected so far for the North East are:  Jarrow - Bryan Atkinson  Newcastle upon Tyne Central - John Pearson  Newcastle upon Tyne East - Andrew Gray  North West Durham - Andie Harris  South Shields - Shirley Ford  Wansbeck - Nic Best  The above candidates are all standing for election to the House of Commons. The election is with the first-past-the-post system (the candidate with the most votes wins). This election must take place on or before 3 June 2010, however it is most likely that it will take place on 11 June 2009, as this will coincide with elections to the European Parliament and local council elections in England.