Chris Southall trained as an engineer at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, and has worked variously as a, potter, computer engineer, drummer and self development workshop leader. He has two children and three grandchildren and lives in Clacton with his partner, where they are converting their Thirties bungalow into an ecohouse which they sometimes open to the public. Southall has stood for the Green Party many times, and been both a parish councilor and a parent governor. He campaigns on renewable energy and the environment.