the RESPECT party

We are saddened, upset and rather stunned to learn of the death of Gayle O’Donovan on Saturday, 21st January 2012 in Norwich. It is a fitting measure of her character that we have all been left feeling helpless and lost at her passing.

Gayle was admired by the Respect Party and more widely throughout the environmental and anti-capitalist movements in Britain. She was a popular and excellent choice as the Green Party council candidate for Manchester Hulme where she worked. Her positive and constructive engagement with events such as the Convention of the Left and the Free Gaza movement typified the qualities she brought to a British body politic in desperate need of overhaul, even overthrow.

Gayle was possessed of powerful principles that governed her life. She found a political home in the Green Party as she sought to find a suitable mechanism for taking leftwing, anti-imperialist, socialist, feminist and environmental ideas to a wider world. Her easygoing manner on the doorstep alongside her fierce determination proved an excellent forge for spreading such messages.


In her articulate, funny, sarcastic and witty manner, Gayle gave full vent to her belief that women should not be driven from politics by the intimidating, ‘boys club’ mentality of much of its culture. She refused to be silenced or embarrassed, retaining a keen, passionate sense of the value of standing up for equality in all fields of life. Her hatred of poverty, privation and lack of social justice dominated her activism with her dedication to preventing environmental catastrophe.

When Gayle stood as the Green Party’s general election candidate for Manchester Central in 2010, she made little secret of her contempt for parliamentary politics. While a strong advocate of progressive policies, earning the best electoral performance by a Green Party candidate in Manchester, Gayle wanted more direct action. In the manifestations of the anti-capitalist movement over the last ten years, Gayle was centrally involved, whether at the front row at Kingsnorth Power Station protests, the campaign against the expansion of Manchester Airport or the emergence of UK Uncut. Gayle was fearless, brave and believed that action was a vehicle for social change.

At the 2010 general election, Gayle and her comrades in the Green Party campaigned with the Respect Party to support and help each other’s candidates, reflecting our common goals and policy in many areas. After the upset of the result, Gayle was elected to the Green Party Executive Committee, reflecting her status as one of the major left voices in the party and more widely. She moved to Norwich to become the Green Party organizer in a city with 15 Green councillors. She sought to shape the Green Party in an anti-capitalist direction as a party committed to progressive causes. She wanted a progressive political voice that reached millions and we are proud to say that we share her political aspirations and stood alongside her in her convictions.

Gayle was and remains a firm friend. She will be honoured as a dedicated, passionate, intelligent and articulate advocate for a different world based on social and climate justice, with a love of good music as well. If the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, Gayle burned very brightly indeed. The world is a darker place for her absence.

Chris Chilvers.

Dear Gayle,
So sorry to hear this terrible news, and my brain is struggling to accept the information. You have always been an inspiring and motivating person; warm, bubbly and determined. We’ve campaigned over many issues together and your support, along with David’s, in fighting the general election 2010 made a real difference to me. You always stayed optimistic in terms of will as well as intellect, and I personally found it a great comfort to know you were there.
To Gayle’s family and loved ones, I cannot even start to think of how you will cope with your pain and loss, but you should know that Gayle was much loved and admired by many of us here in Manchester. We will miss her.
To my friends and comrades in the Green Party, we appreciated Gayle’s work in uniting and teaching those of us from different traditions about how much we have in common and how we can work together. We have lost a good one this week, and she cannot be replaced.
With deepest sympathy,
Kay Phillips,
Manchester Respect Party