Ashley Gunstock

Ashley Gunstock (born 1956 or 1957) is a British Green Party politician and actor. He unsuccessfully ran against Caroline Lucas to become the first leader of the Green Party in 2008 and was a candidate in the 2021 Green Party of England and Wales leadership election.

Ashley Gunstock
Personal details
Born1956 or 1957 (age 66–67)
Political partyGreen Party of England and Wales
ResidenceLondon

Acting career

Gunstock played the role of Robin Frank in The Bill from 1984–1989.[1][2] In 2016, he collaborated on a translation into English of the Dario Niccodemi play Scampolo.[3] He played Shylock in his own adaptation of The Merchant of Venice in 2019.[4]

Political career

Gunstock is a member of the Green Party of England and Wales. He was previously a member of the UK Green Party before it separated, running for the party in the 1990 Barnet London Borough Council election. He ran for the successor party in every London Borough Council election until 2014. He stood as the Green parliamentary election candidate in Finchley in 1992, Finchley and Golders Green in 1997 and in Leyton and Wanstead for every election since 2001.

He stood for the London Assembly for the Havering and Redbridge constituency in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections.

Leadership campaigns

In 2007 Gunstock stood to be the male Principal Speaker of the Green Party, a public spokesperson role the party had instead of leaders until 2008.[5] He came in third place with 9.1% of the vote.[6] He was a candidate in the 2008 Green Party of England and Wales leadership election. Caroline Lucas, the other candidate, was considered much better-known in the party.[7] She won the election by 2,559 votes to Gunstock's 210.[8]

On 17 August 2021, Gunstock announced he was running in the party's 2021 leadership election. He said that he wanted to get more Green Party candidates elected in order to address climate change.[9]

Elections contested

House of Commons
Date Constituency Votes  % votes Place
1992 Finchley 564 1.4 4th
1997 Finchley and Golders Green 576 1.1 5th
2001 Leyton and Wanstead 1,030 3.1 4th
2005 Leyton and Wanstead 1,522 4.6 4th
2010 Leyton and Wanstead 562 1.4 5th
2015 Leyton and Wanstead 2,974 7.3 3rd
2017 Leyton and Wanstead 1,351 2.9 4th
2019 Leyton and Wanstead 1,805 4.1 4th

London Assembly (constituency)
Date Constituency Votes  % votes Place
2000 Havering and Redbridge 6,803 6.2 5th
2004 Havering and Redbridge 6,009 4.7 6th
2008 Havering and Redbridge 9,126 5.4 5th

Council
Date Council Ward Votes Place
1990 Barnet London Borough Council Childs Hill 267 10th
1994 Barnet London Borough Council St Paul's 314 11th
1998 Barnet London Borough Council Finchley 365 8th
2002 Redbridge London Borough Council Snaresbrook 368 8th
2003 by-election Redbridge London Borough Council Valentines 86 5th
2006 Redbridge London Borough Council Wanstead 810 7th
2009 by-election Redbridge London Borough Council Wanstead 256 4th
2010 Redbridge London Borough Council Wanstead 810 7th
2014 Redbridge London Borough Council Wanstead 484 10th

Green Party leadership
Date Votes  % votes Place
2008 210 7.6 2nd
2021 212 1.8 5th

References
  1. "thebillbios.co.uk". thebillbios.co.uk.
  2. Jarvis, Chris (17 August 2021). "Former actor in The Bill to contest Green Party leadership | Chris Jarvis". Bright Green. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  3. "Trio translate Italian play after five years' work". East London and West Essex Guardian Series. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  4. Braddick, Imogen (25 September 2019). "Wanstead actor to star in modern-day adaptation of The Merchant of Venice". Ilford Recorder. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  5. "Greens elect new leader". The Guardian. 24 November 2006. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  6. "Greens elect new leader | Green politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  7. "Green party to elect leader for first time today". The Guardian. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  8. Henry Deedes, "Pandora: Leadership election takes a nasty turn for the Green Party", The Independent, 1 August 2008
  9. Jarvis, Chris (17 August 2021). "Former actor in The Bill to contest Green Party leadership | Chris Jarvis". Bright Green. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
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