Prospective Parliamentary Candidate #Fylde

Honoured this evening to have accepted our local Blackpool & Fylde Green Party party nomination to run in the election for the Fylde constituency... challenging the current Conservative MP Mark Menzies who has let down our community and left us vulnerable not only to fracking but is a compliant member of this government that as Caroline Lucas pointed out in The Guardian yesterday:

"...is a government hellbent on some of the most extreme policies in a generation: a crumbling NHS, a jilted generation of young people being let down and the pursuit of a hardline extreme Brexit. For us, proportional representation must be central to this project, because our hugely undemocratic electoral system is so stacked in the establishment’s favour that the Tories can win a majority on just 24% of the eligible vote. It’s abundantly clear that to crack open our politics we must hack the system – and respect the fact that no single party has a monopoly on wisdom."

We stand a strong chance in Fylde of presenting a good challenge to Menzies who won with 22,000 votes in 2015 - but a further 21,000 votes were cast for all the other candidates; so IF the choices of those running against Menzies are limited by other parties *not running or agreeing to work toward shared goals... then this could be the change the Fylde urgently needs. (*some parties are focusing attention on key winnable seats and not wasting energy and money where there is little chance of success or where it would split the vote and guarantee Tory victory).

This government is dangerous and reckless and needs to be out of office or we will be stuck for a further five years and the damage will be immeasurable. With this key requirement in mind, we will be looking to ensure that this election meets the express message of our party:

[On election day we’ll be urging people to vote for us because ours is the only policy platform that offers the bold changes so desperately needed to transform this country for the better. But to beat the Tories, and to increase the chances of mending our broken politics, we need to be realistic about what’s needed to form a progressive government. That’s why, in just a handful of places, if we see reciprocal action from the other parties, our members will consider brave decisions for the common good.

Greens will be standing for election across this country and putting across our unique vision. Where we disagree with any party we will not hold back in making our feelings known. We’ll never sign up to the Lib Dems’ laissez-faire attitude on our economy, nor forgive some of their decisions in the coalition, neither do we back Labour’s attitude(s) to Europe or its commitment to Trident, Heathrow and Hinkley.]

I'll make some changes to the Green Party candidate 2015: Tina Louise Rothery page to reflect the new situation and update there. Busy times ahead but every reason to seize the opportunity and do the best we can to ensure that we do not have to suffer at the hands of an undemocratic Conservative Party after 8 June 2017.