He was educated at Gravesend Grammar School, Victoria University of Manchester, and Wolfson College, Oxford. He was Fellow and Tutor in psychology at Balliol. He was one of the first Green Party city councillors elected in England and was Leader of the Green Party Group on Oxford City Council. He stood for the Green party in Oxford West and Abingdon in the 1992, 1997, and 2001 general elections. He was listed as Green Party's second candidate in South East England for the European Parliament elections in 1999 and 2004 after Caroline Lucas.