Green Party hopefuls: Chris Petts, left, Andrea Needham and Al Dixon.

Greens field full slate in by-elections

Buoyed by their performance in the general election, Hastings and Rye Green Party have decided to contest the by-elections for the three seats which have recently become vacant on the local and country councils, as they explain in this statement. Nick Terdre reports.

Hastings and Rye Green Party has announced that it will be fielding three candidates for the by-elections resulting from the death of Hastings Borough Council leader Jeremy Birch, who held a town council seat (Central St Leonards) and a county council seat (Old Hastings and Tressell) and Matthew Lock’s decision to stand down as town councillor for St Helens. Voting will be on Thursday 9 July.

The Green Party candidate for Central St Leonards is Al Dixon, a carpenter and public speaker from St Leonards, while Chris Petts, a graphic designer from St Leonards, will be standing in St Helens. The county council seat for Old Hastings and Tressell will be contested by Andrea Needham, a writer and school governor.

Speaking for Hastings and Rye Green Party, Al Dixon said, “We ran a tremendous campaign in the run-up to the general election, and hugely increased our membership locally. We know that many people are fed up with the major parties, and are looking for a party with policies they can really believe in. We want to build on the momentum from the general election in this and future local elections, and show people that the Green Party offers a real political alternative.”

The environment and planning issues naturally feature high among the candidates’ priorities. In her election statement Andrea Needham says that her greatest concerns are climate change and the impact of austerity on the most vulnerable in our society. She says she will demand accountability for the tens of millions of pounds of public money that East Sussex County Council has poured into wasteful road-building schemes and campaign for future funds to be used to support sustainable transport projects in Hastings.

Al Dixon says he joined the Green Party because it offers a vision of the future with clear alternatives to our present economic and political structures, and advocates for communities to have the power to shape their own futures. He promises to work with individuals, groups and organisations who are directly intervening to help some of the most disadvantaged youth in the area.

Chris Petts says decent, affordable public transport is vital for the residents of St Helens and he will campaign to protect existing bus and dial-a-ride services and increase their frequency. On planning he believes that development must take into account both the needs of people and the environment – he will work to preserve existing green spaces, to ensure future developments include new green spaces and to protect sites of special conservation importance.

To contact Hastings and Rye Green Party, ring 07494 360801 or write to hastingsgreenparty@gmail.com.

Other by-election candidates

Central St Leonards: Terri Dowling (Labour), Clive Gross (independent), Kevin Hill (Ukip), John Rankin (Conservative) and Sue Tait (Liberal Democrat).

St Helens: Martin Clarke (Conservative), Graham Crane (Labour), Ken Pankhurst (Ukip) and Gary Spencer-Holmes (Liberal Democrat).

Old Hastings and Tressell: Tania Charman (Labour), Robert Cooke (Conservative), Sebastian Norton (Ukip) and Stewart Rayment (Liberal Democrat).

Also in: Campaigns