Ellie Chowns

Eleanor Elizabeth Chowns (born 7 March 1975) is a British Green Party politician, serving as the Member of Parliament for North Herefordshire since 2024. Since September 2025, she has served as the party's leader in the House of Commons, and previously served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands for the party from 2019 to 2020.

She was formerly a councillor on Herefordshire Council and leader of the council's Green group until stepping down following her election to Parliament.

Early life and education Chowns was born on 7 March 1975 in Chertsey. She is the daughter of Gillian and Stephen Chowns, who is a local Methodist preacher and worked as a lecturer in human resource management. The couple moved to Ledbury, Herefordshire, in Ellie Chowns's constituency, in 2013. In 2024, Stephen Chowns was elected mayor of Ledbury Town Council. Chowns has a brother, Jonathan.

She studied geography, environmental studies and development studies at the University of Sussex, graduating with a bachelor of arts (BA) degree in 1997. She then undertook a one-year master of professional studies (MProf) degree in sustainable development at Middlesex University, graduating in 1998. She later undertook doctoral research in international development at the University of Birmingham. She completed her doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree in 2014, with a doctoral thesis titled, The political economy of community management: A study of factors influencing sustainability in Malawi's rural water supply sector.

Career Chowns is a specialist in international development, having worked for charities such as Voluntary Service Overseas and Christian Aid and as a lecturer at the University of Birmingham. She was also a lecturer at the University of Bath and a research associate at the University of Sheffield.

Early political career

Herefordshire Council Chowns became involved in politics in 2015. In 2017, she was elected as a councillor on Herefordshire Council and became leader of the Green group. In the 2019 Herefordshire Council elections, Chowns was re-elected to the council with 78.6% of the vote. In 2023, while a councillor, she successfully proposed a motion requiring the council to consider the climate and environmental impact of all future decisions.

European Parliament

Chowns was elected as an MEP in the 2019 European elections, winning 10.66% of the vote share. In the same election, the Green Party won seven MEPs, up from three. In the Ninth European Parliament, she sat with the Greens–European Free Alliance and was a member of the International Trade Committee and the delegations to Cariforum and ASEAN. Chowns focused on climate action, biodiversity, sustainable trade, human rights and European cooperation, arguing that Europe had a "special responsibility" to lead on achieving zero carbon emissions and tackling global inequality.

She is an advocate of the re-accession of the United Kingdom to the European Union. On the tenth anniversary of the Brexit referendum, Chowns called for a roadmap for the UK to rejoin the EU, citing concerns over Brexit's economic impact, inequality and the need for closer European cooperation.

Whilst an MEP, Chowns was arrested on 14 October 2019 in Trafalgar Square defending the rights of Extinction Rebellion protesters to continue. She was released pending investigation, and was later one of the claimants to challenge the legality of the section 14 order under which she was arrested. On 6 November 2019, the High Court ruled this blanket use of section 14 by the Metropolitan Police was unlawful. Chowns declined to sue the police for unlawful arrest, but declared the ruling to be a "victory for the right to peaceful assembly and protest, two cornerstones of our democracy".

House of Commons Chowns stood as the Green candidate for North Herefordshire, a safe seat for the Conservatives, in the 2017 general election, securing 5.5% of the vote. In the 2019 general election, she won 9.3% of the vote, the sixth-highest Green vote share in the country and the highest of any seat where there was no Unite to Remain alliance.

In the 2024 general election, Chowns was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for North Herefordshire with 21,736 votes (43.2%) and a majority of 5,894 over the second-placed Conservative candidate, Bill Wiggin. She overturned a significant Conservative majority and unseated the incumbent Wiggin with a swing of +34.4% as compared to the 2019 election. She is the Midlands' first Green MP. Alongside Siân Berry and the then Green co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, she was one of the first five Green MPs in UK history; the first, Caroline Lucas, retired from the Commons in 2024.

Chowns stepped down as both a county councillor and leader of her party on Herefordshire Council when taking up her Commons seat. On 18 July 2024, she made her maiden speech in the House of Commons during a debate on foreign affairs and defence, stressing the need to restore rivers to good health. Her stated priorities included economic renewal, housing, public services and restoring polluted rivers, particularly the River Wye.

Roles On 4 September 2025, Chowns was elected by Green MPs to lead the Greens in Westminster. Since 4 July 2024, she has served as the party's foreign affairs and defence spokesperson in the Commons. On 1 June 2026, she became spokesperson for constitutional affairs and HM Treasury matters. She was previously spokesperson for business and trade, education, housing, communities and local government and social care.

She has served on the Environmental Audit Committee and on the public bill committees for the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and the Representation of the People Bill. She supported the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

Areas of focus Since being elected, Chowns has secured adjournment debates on the Warm Homes Plan in November 2025 and embodied carbon in buildings in July 2026. She has also introduced four private member's bills: the Water (Agricultural Pollution) Bill, the Carbon Emissions from Buildings (Net Zero) Bill, the Building Regulations (Swift Bricks) Bill, and the Armed Conflict (Requirements) Bill, addressing agricultural water pollution, carbon emissions from new buildings, biodiversity measures in housing developments, and parliamentary approval for the deployment of UK armed forces. presenting constituents' petitions to that effect in September 2024 and March 2026, though ministers have said only that the Environment Agency is considering the option. She has also linked local river pollution, which government figures attribute largely to agriculture, to a long-running nutrient neutrality "Lugg moratorium" on housebuilding in her constituency.

Chowns argued on Question Time in November 2024 that the UK should achieve net zero through incentives and by making low-carbon choices easier for people. She wrote in Politics Home in June 2026 that achieving net zero would bring economic and energy security benefits, advocating for greater investment in renewable energy and climate action. She also called on the Office for Budget Responsibility to place greater emphasis on meeting net zero targets in September 2024. She has been a supporter of the Climate and Nature Bill, and in July 2026, backed proposals to introduce maximum workplace temperatures.

She secured a Westminster Hall debate on the UK's compliance with the Genocide Convention in June 2025, has repeatedly questioned ministers on the war in Gaza, and has called for a full arms embargo on Israel. In March 2026, Chowns urged the UK government to prevent energy companies from profiting from rising energy prices during the Iran war. She has also criticised the UK government's investment in nuclear weapons, arguing that billions of pounds would be better spent on other priorities.

On social care, she has pressed for cross-party action on reform, saying that "we need social care to work much more like the NHS, so that whether you get cancer or dementia, you get the care you need regardless of ability to pay". She has also campaigned for proportional representation, votes for 16-year-olds, and has advocated modernising the Commons by introducing electronic voting, reforming procedures and reducing the adversarial nature of Westminster – including by introducing a European Parliament-style hemicycle.

In 2025, Chowns criticised the UK government's proposed asylum reforms, describing them as "inhumane". She has also raised concerns in Parliament about inadequate public transport links in Herefordshire, after students were forced to leave college courses due to unreliable and costly services.

Green Party leadership bid On 11 May 2025, incumbent co-leader Adrian Ramsay launched a joint leadership bid alongside Chowns for the 2025 party leadership election. Their supporters included Caroline Lucas, Jenny Jones, Molly Scott Cato, Jonathon Porritt and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. The results of the leadership were announced on 2 September 2025, with Chowns and Ramsay being defeated by Zack Polanski.

Recognition In 2025, Chowns received the "Rivers and Seas Prize" at Nature 2030's Political Purpose Awards for her work as founder of the Water Pollution APPG and for her advocacy for the River Wye. In March 2026, Politics Home included her among its 100 "Influential Women in Westminster" list. Earlier, in 2015, she received the University of Birmingham "Teaching Academy Award" for educational enhancement and innovation.

Personal life Chowns has two adult sons and is a member of Giving What We Can, a community of people who have pledged to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities.

Selected works