Election campaign begins...

Sorry I have been so quiet lately. I have been getting http://sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk ready for the election. I am pleased to say it's nearly ready. Please have a look and give Sam and I some feedback. All we need now is for Gordon Brown to give us a date! I have also been officially accepted as the local election candidate for Manor Castle Ward. We know this election is on May 6th which is why everyone thinks Gordon Brown will call the General Election on the same day. So you are likely to have 2 votes on May 6th. Please vote for Jillian Creasy in the General Election and Graham Wroe in the local election.

If you would like to help with the election campaign there are many different ways you can do this- here are a few ideas.
*Join the Facebook group and tell all your friends about us.
*Put up a poster- you can print one off here or contact me for a ready printed one.
*Make a donation to help us compete with the massive resources of the 3 main parties.
*Volunteer to leaflet your street or area- contact me very soon if you would like to do this.
*Help us canvass- we are constantly out and about knocking on peoples doors, talking to them about problems in their area and asking them to vote Green. If you are interested in doing this we can give you "on the job" training, and you can work with an experienced canvasser until you feel confident to have a go by yourself.
But probably the best way you can help is to talk to your friends and neighbours about why you are voting Green. Help us to overcome our stereotype of being a "single issue party" and tell people "I'm voting Green because I don't want the creeping privatisation of the NHS to continue" or "I'm voting Green because I want our troops brought home as soon as possible" or "I'm voting Green because we need to create a million new jobs to build a sustainable future".

Sheffield City College is now graced with 3 wind turbines, to go with the pv solar panels on the tower that have been working for a while. The next stage of the development is now underway with the demolition of D and E blocks and the old bridge across Granville Road, that will create space for the landscaping and new pond. Further details about the new building here.

Candidates announced

The list of candidates has been announced. In Manor Castle my opponents are Jenny Armstrong (Lab), Dave Croft (Lib Dem) and Christina Stark (Con). Apart from Christina, who lives on my road, I don't know the other candidates. It will be interesting to see where they live. Fortunately there are no BNP candidates in this ward- the election will be much better without their politics of hate. Jan Fiore, the sitting Labour Councillor, must be retiring.

Today's Sheffield Telegraph letters page was great, with 4 letters supporting the Green viewpoint on waste policy. I have been influential in pushing our new policy forward- you can see the report we wrote at http://www.sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk/downloads/wastestrategy230307.pdf
The new manifesto will be on the website soon.
The other parties have really got to understand that to combat global warming we need to reduce the waste we produce in the first place. The council should be doing far more to help people start home composting, promote re-useable nappies and challenge local businesses to use less packaging and fewer plastic bags.

I spent most of yesterday organising the leaflet delivery for Manor Castle ward. If you'd like to help the campaign by putting up a poster or delivering some leaflets for me please let me know.

Welcome to my blog

Hello and welcome to Manor Castle Green Party! Over the next 4 weeks I will be sharing my thoughts on the local election campaign in this blog. If you live in Manor Castle Ward, please get in touch and tell me what you think the most important issues should be. The two Green Councillors have made a terrific difference to Sheffield politics and it is time they were joined by a larger group, who can really start to green the city. Last year I came second in the local election, and with the Labour Party continuing to fall in popularity I hope to do even better this time!