In May 2019, Mark Goacher became the first Green Party Councillor in Colchester, having been elected to Castle Ward. Mark states:

“I was born in Leicester and grew up in Leicestershire before reading History at Lancaster University. I moved to Colchester in 1990 and have worked as a History teacher at Colchester Sixth Form College since then.
I first joined the Green Party around 1993, inspired by the anti-roads campaigns at the time and the rising interest in environmental issues at that time. Although I was not an active member indeed I never expected to be active in politics after a brief dalliance as a student. However I rejoined again in 2012 as I was angry at cuts to the funding of public services by the coalition and livid at a range of environmental issues, both global and very close to home.
I didn’t want to just be an angry keyboard warrior ; I’d done that and was looking to channel that into something more positive I suppose. I wanted a political brand that had ‘Green’ at the core of it but which would also be opposing the cuts to pensions and education funding. The Green Party was the only choice I felt comfortable with.
I received a nice welcome email from Colchester Green Party inviting me to their AGM. I went and was inspired to keep going to meetings and to get more involved. The rest, appropriately, is History.”