elected Greens

Greens have run for office since the first Green Parties were founded in Tasmania and New Zealand in 1972. The first Green elected was Helen Smith in 1973 when she won a seat on the Porirua City Council (New Zealand.) The first Green elected to a national parliament was Daniel Brelaz of Switzerland in 1979.

Since then, Greens have been elected to thousands of seats around the globe in local, regional, national and international parliaments. On the national level, Greens hold a total of at least 314 seats as of December 2013, up from 296 in July 2011. This includes 222 seats in 20 European nations and another 86 seats in Australia (10), Brazil (11), Canada (2), Colombia (8), Congo (1), Egypt (1) México (37), Mongolia (2), New Zealand (14) and Vanuatu (5).  There are also 46 Greens holding seats in the European Parliament.   Use the links below to find out about more about elected Greens around the world.

• Elected Greens – by federation
• Greens elected in national elections
• Greens elected in state/provincial elections
• Greens elected in local/county elections

Most Greens elected at the regional, national or international level have been elected in multi-seat electorates (districts/constituencies/ridings) through systems of proportional representation.  However Greens have increasingly been winning direct election in single-seat electorates, including Elizabeth May to the Canadian House of Commons in  2011 and Caroline Lucas to the British House of Commons in 2010.  For more information on individual such Green victories see:

• Greens elected in federal, single-seat elections
• Greens elected in state, single-seat elections