Greens Unveil a Slate of Candidates to Offer a New Kind of Politics.

 

North Staffs Green Party are standing in nine wards in the Newcastle-under-Lyme area at Staffordshire county council elections.

 

Today they have released statements by all nine candidates on their website [1]. The party also recently published its manifesto for Staffordshire [2].

 

A spokesperson said “this is the strongest and most diverse list of candidates we have put forward at a local election in the county. They bring with them a wide range of skills and life experience; this would make any one of them an invaluable addition to the county council”.

 

The candidates include Steve Jones (Newcastle Rural), a former member of the Royal Navy and disability rights campaigner. He wants to see improvements to public transport and more action on social justice, he says he wants to be a voice for those in the community who are rarely heard including “the elderly, the disabled and the isolated”.

 

Protecting green spaces is high on the campaign agenda for candidates with Roz Powell (Newcastle South) saying she wants to see the ‘beauty’ Lyme Valley extended into the nearby town centre to enhance the wellbeing of residents, adding that her priority is “the physical and mental wellbeing of every single person”.

 

Leon Hughes (Bradwell, Porthill and Wolstanton) also wants to see green spaces protected including Keele Golf Course and Bradwell Crematorium. Marie Powell (Audley & Chesterton) and Nikki Brough (Keele, Knutton & Silverdale) are calling for action to be taken on the ‘stink’ from Walley’s Quarry.

 

Marie Powell questions why it is considered acceptable for “people to breathe in fumes caused by a landfill that has been created next to a residential area?” Adding that the impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of local people has been ignored.

 

Nikki Brough describes the impact living with the ‘stink’ has had on her family as the motivation for standing as a candidate saying she is a “human with a normal life wanting to make a difference and a better future for my family and community”.

 

The North Staffs Green Party spokesperson said “the strong message locally and nationally is that after a time of hardship for many people we need a new and fairer kind of politics. This is a group of candidates committed to making that a reality”.

 

[1] https://northstaffordshiregreenparty.blogspot.com/2021/04/election-candidates-2021.html

[2] https://northstaffordshiregreenparty.blogspot.com/2021/04/manifesto-2021.html