Ms Bennett said that she intended to remain "fully engaged" in Green Party politics.
Who is Natalie Bennett?
- Formed leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
- Originally from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Previously worked as a journalist
- Moved to Britain in 1999
Speaking to Premier, she claimed the Green Party has a "political philosophy that fits very well within Christian values, if you look at stewardship of the earth and caring for the poor and the disadvantaged, and I'm very proud of the fact that, for example, the Green Party's been at the forefront in supporting the refugees welcome movement.
"I was on the marches speaking there, and I saw many Christians on that and I think that many people are seeing in desperate straits.
"We should be providing our fair share welcoming them to Britain.
"So I think we've got the policies and we understand that we live within our environmental limits and I think that squares very much with our Christian philosophy."
Born and raised in Australia, Bennett took over the running of the party in 2012 from Caroline Lucas despite not holding any political office.
Addressing her concern of the state of UK politics, she said: "I think we have a real problem with our media, and one of the things the Green Party really backs is the media reform's coalition call for restricted ownership so that no one could own more than 15% of the media market.
"That would mean there's more voices in there, we wouldn't see literally a couple of voices having a dominant force in our politics, voices with politics of their own that I consider very destructive."
Party membership rose from 13,000 to 60,000 under her leadership, but it failed to make the hoped electoral breakthrough - just holding its single parliamentary seat.
Ms Bennett's calling for more to be done to better-engage women in politics.
She said: "Politics is something you should do, not have done to you."
"I don't think women are essentially any different from men, but I do believe that we have different life experiences.
"If you take just one example from Fawcett Society figures, the average woman over her lifetime a fifth of her income comes from benefits, for men it's a tenth. So benefits is very much a women's issue."
She said today's politics has become too media focused and Americanised, where people look at person and not a policy.
"We need the kind of politics that scrutinises policies, that questions rigorously but that doesn't make it personal and that doesn't turn out to attack what shoes you're wearing, your haircut, or your voice doesn't sound like what most of the other politicians sound like," she said.
Nominations for Ms Bennett's successor will open on June 1st and close on June 30th.
A one-month balloting period will begin on July 24th with the result to be announced at the party's autumn conference in September.
Listen to Premier's Hannah Tooley speak to Natalie Bennett here:
