Becca Horn selected as Greens’ parliamentary candidate

Hastings Green Party backs Becca Horn as their prospective parliamentary candidate for the next general election. Chris Connelley breaks the story.

On the eve of their party’s national conference, possibly the last before the next general election, Hastings Green Party have announced that Becca Horn will be their prospective parliamentary candidate for the Hastings & Rye constituency, a seat currently held by Conservative Sally-Ann Hart, with a majority of just over 4,000 votes.

This will be the first time the Greens have stood a candidate for parliament since 2015, when their man, Jake Bowers, obtained 1,951 votes, representing 3.8% of the total votes cast.

The Greens decided not to run candidates in the general elections of 2017 and 2019, in the former case having come to a progressive agreement to stand down in favour of the local Labour Party in a bid to unseat A-list former MP, Amber Rudd.

Alternative

Four years on, and with five Green councillors on Hastings Borough Council, the party has decided to return to the fray, arguing that they offer “a fresh and energetic alternative to the current two-party race”.

New candidate Becca Horn is an actor and yoga teacher who has lived in Hastings since 2017.  She narrowly missed being elected as the Green councillor for her home Castle Ward in last year’s local elections, when she was pipped at the post by Labour’s Judy Rogers by just five votes.

She has also been an active campaigner with Hastings and St Leonards Clean Water Action Group (CWAG), which pressures Southern Water to improve its performance, as well as helping raise funds for all-year-round independent sea water testing.

In her professional role as a performer, she has been playing the character of ‘Climate Nan in a Caravan’, campaigning to give local communities a stronger voice in planning issues and community issues related to their local environment and within the broader picture of the climate emergency.

Commenting on her selection, she said, ” I am delighted and honoured to be selected to represent Hastings & Rye Green Party in the next General Election. I stood because I’m so disillusioned by our political system that leaves us with a choice of the least bad option between Conservative and Labour, and I want to give our community an alternative”.

“Let’s ask voters to consider what one more Green voice could do in parliament compared to just another Labour or just another Conservative who will invariably toe the party line”.

Democracy needs diversity

She goes on to say that she will be “an independent voice who can speak truth to power, and hold both major players to account. Just as our soil needs diversity to grow resilient crops, so our democracy needs diversity to grow resilient, lasting policy that will shore us up against a rapidly destabilising climate and economic system.”

Julia Hilton, Green group leader at Hastings Borough Council, endorsed her party’s choice. “We had a very strong field of candidates standing to be our parliamentary candidate and I am delighted that Becca has been selected so local people have the chance to vote for a strong Green voice in parliament at the General Election,” she said.

The Greens will be hoping to build on their modest 2015 general election performance, but will not be expecting to win the seat. Hastings & Rye may be a recent Green hotspot at local government level but is not one of the party’s four national target seats.

Most local effort will be invested in holding Brighton Pavilion, the party’s only parliamentary seat, represented by Caroline Lucas since 2010. Ms Lucas is standing down at the end of this parliament and her successor, Sian Berry, can expect a tough fight from Labour, where comedian Suzy Izzard has thrown her hat in the ring as their potential candidate.

The Greens’ decision to stand in Hastings and Rye will be a disappointment to Labour, who will have been hoping for another clear run against the Conservatives. Their candidate, international charity worker Helena Dollimore, was selected earlier this year, and has been actively campaigning to defend local fire services and holding Southern Water to account.

Following a vote by members of the Conservatives’ local association, Ms Hart has been endorsed to stand again.

The date of the next general election is unknown, but will need to happen before January 2025. Most commentators favour an autumn 2024 contest.

 

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