A rising young member of the Greens has pulled out of the race to become the party’s deputy leader after her father, who was previously her election agent, was jailed for abusing and raping a child.
Aimee Challenor,
the Greens’ equalities spokeswoman and among the frontrunners to become deputy leader, said she had had no idea about the crimes but was withdrawing from the race to prevent the election process becoming “dominated by what my father has done”.
David Challenor, 50, was jailed for 22 years last week after being convicted of torturing and raping a 10-year-old girl in the attic of the family home in Coventry. He had served as Aimee Challenor’s election agent when she stood in the 2017 general election and in the local elections in May this year – after his arrest.
In
a statement announcing her withdrawal from the contest Challenor, 20, said she was horrified and saddened by her father’s crimes, and only learned the full details of them very recently, despite living at the family home.
“That might be hard for you to understand, or to believe, but it is the truth,” she said. “I was taken into care a few years ago and have also lived in independent supported housing. There were sustained periods where I did not live in the family home.”
Challenor added: “Yes, he was my election agent. This was one of a number of ways I was seeking to reconcile my relationship with my father after coming out of care. On reflection, I can understand that it was unacceptable for me to appoint my dad as my election agent when he had been arrested.”
Challenor joined the Greens in 2015, and became the party’s equalities spokeswoman a year later, with a particular focus on LGBT issues – she is a trans woman.
In a statement
the Greens said the party did not know anything about the allegations against David Challenor before he was sentenced.
It added: “There is no place for this abhorrent criminal behaviour in the
Green party. Mr Challenor is no longer a member, having had his membership removed with immediate effect.”
The Green party, which reselects its top lineup every two years, is
currently choosing replacements for the leadership team of Caroline Lucas, the party’s sole MP, and Jonathan Bartley.
With Lucas opting to step back from the leadership, Bartley is standing on a joint ticket with Siân Berry, a councillor in Camden, north London, and a member of the London assembly. They are seen as the favourites in the race.
Five candidates stood for deputy leader, among them Challenor and Amelia Womack, who has filled the role for four years. Party members have the month of August to vote, with the results to be announced in the autumn.
