John (known as Bill) Hughes joined the Green Party in 1983. He has stood regularly in Swindon council elections as well as for the European Elections in 1989 (when the Green Party famously won 22 per cent of the vote) and in the general elections of 1992 and 2005. Bill Hughes has worked in a variety of different fields, including forestry, the civil service and careers advice. He is now retired and spends a lot of time renovating old property in France. Over the years he has been involved in many campaigns to protect the local environment and in support of Friends of the Earth, CND and the Stop the War Coalition. He is married with two grown-up sons.