Mike Woodin

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Mike Woodin

Cllr Dr Michael Edward Woodin (6 November 1965 - 8 July 2004) was the Principal Speaker of the Green Party of England and Wales and a city councillor for Oxford from 1994 to 2004. He was Principal Speaker for 6 of the 8 years between 1998 and 2004, firstly alongside Jean Lambert before her election as an MEP, then alongside Margaret Wright, and lastly with Caroline Lucas MEP.

He was educated at Gravesend Grammar School, Victoria University of Manchester, and Wolfson College, Oxford. He was Fellow and Tutor in psychology at Balliol.

He was one of the first Green Party city councillors elected in England and was Leader of the Green Party Group on Oxford City Council. He stood for the Green party in Oxford West and Abingdon in the 1992, 1997, and 2001 general elections. He was listed as Green Party's second candidate in South East England for the European Parliament elections in 1999 and 2004 after Caroline Lucas.

A mulberry tree commemorating Mike Woodin near Grandpont, Oxford, planted by fellow councillors and activists in the Oxfordshire Green Party.

He and Lucas co-authored the book Green Alternatives to Globalisation: A Manifesto (paperback ISBN 0-7453-1932-7, hardcover ISBN 0-7453-1933-5), published in 2004 by Pluto Press and a booklet against the single currency euro: The Euro or a Sustainable Future for Britain? (2000).

Cllr Sushila Dhall in Woodin’s Way near Oxford Castle, named after her friend the late councillor Mike Woodin.

He died in 2004 of secondary cancer of the lungs, in spite of being a lifelong non-smoker and keen observant of healthy living. At his funeral, his coffin was towed by bicycle through the streets of Oxford, in accordance with his wishes for the event to be car-free. His early and untimely death was regarded as a tragedy for the resurgent Green movement in the United Kingdom. (image)

[edit] External links

• Green Party: Mike Woodin, obituary press release
• Guardian Politics: Dr Mike Woodin
• obituary of Mike Woodin by Caroline Lucas in the Guardian