Matt Wootton

Matt Wootton is a prominent member of the Green Party of England and Wales. As Publications Co-ordinator on the Party's Executive he rebranded the party as the party of "Real progress" employing the design skills of graphic designer [http://jim.killock.org.uk/ Jim Killock] . The next year in 2005 as External Communications Co-ordinator he led the party through its most successful General Election, achieving record media coverage and using research and advertising agencies for the first time, according to his [http://www.mattwootton.com/Green%20Party%20photos.html homepage] . From 2005-8 he was a member of the party's Standing Orders Committee, which deals with interpreting and upholding the party's Constitution and internal processes [http://www.greenparty.org.uk/individual/81 according to Individual Page on Green website] , and served as convener from 2006-7.

As a member of the party's Conferences Committee in 2008 he was also responsible for finding the venue of [http://www.soas.ac.uk/ SOAS] for the party's first London conference in over a decade, the conference which elected [http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk Dr Caroline Lucas MEP] as the party's first ever Leader and resulted in record media coverage.

Wootton's background - having studied Sociology, Music and Philosophy at university - was as an activist, and even as Wales Green Party's media officer, and leader of the media and communications campaign for the Green Party's Welsh Assembly campaign in 2003, was responsible for and led a protest that involved invading a runway at Swansea airport [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2004/jan/29/cheapflights.theairlineindustry Guardian comment] ] to protest at the first day of flights between Swansea and London [ [http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/504 Green Party press release] and [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/backbencher/story/0,,946762,00.html Guardian story] ] .

As a member of the [http://www.zenatode.org.uk/g8bikeride2005/main.html G8 bike ride] he cycled from Lancaster to Scotland and then protested in Edinburgh, Faslane and Auchterarder, while taking part in a documentary for BBC4 entitled [http://www.archive.org/details/G8CanYouHearUs G8 Can You Hear Us] .

He currently works for Lancaster-based media arts organisation [http://www.folly.co.uk folly] as Communications Manager whilst still being active in the Green Party at national level.

He writes a personal blog called [http://www.dailyplanet.org.uk Daily Planet] which concentrates on "“reframing” Green issues, with an emphasis on professionalising and popularising the green message".

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