On why i've gone Green

Firstly, let me be crystal clear, all my fellow Liberal Democrat councillors and friends (both at town council and county council) are fantastic individuals who are in the role for the right reasons. Equally, there is little within the Liberal Democrat manifesto that I could not find consensus around. So it is not for reasons of unhappiness, or a poor experience, that I have come to this decision.

I have also frequently said that party politics should have very little to do with town council matters, if anything at all. How much do Kier, Kemi, Ed & Zack have to say on the matter of charging a few pence to use a public toilet or putting a water fountain in Monkton Park? Nigel would be unavailable for comment because he's busy in Mar-a-lago being shadow PM, and Rupert would just use the toilet to lock immigrants in. Your values, yes, are shaped by your politics, but the distinction between Liberal Democrats and Greens on those values is, I suspect, marginal at most. And matter even less if what you are about is showing up in your capacity as a caring resident of Chippenham.

I also understand that some of the several hundred people who voted for me may feel cheated, misled, or even angry at this news, and I am very aware of that, and would respect it. It's not a decision I took lightly, and without loss of sleep. I hope, though, that what follows will explain why I felt I needed to make this switch.

When I stood last spring, it was with a wave of enthusiasm to try and make a difference. I was hoping that the years of political toxicity the country had endured were behind us, and that it would be a period of relative “peacetime”. Unfortunately, this has not proven to be the case. Global polarisation, an American President I honestly never thought would be possible (especially twice) and an inability for Kier Starmer to lead with emotional as well as intellectual intelligence, have just taken us further down this road. The rules of political engagement continue to change, and darker voices seem to be rising more frequently because being the worst of humanity is being normalised (Restore Britain).

During this time, I have found myself becoming more and more impatient with the Liberal Democrats. Ed Davey, for all his positives (and there are many), seems wedded to being a 'traditional' politician, and with that style the whole party appears to be following a “the old way is the right way” approach, both in terms of policy and communication strategy.

There is a reason that when the media look for an opposition soundbite, you very rarely hear from a Liberal Democrat, despite their 80 seats in Parliament (and you would be right to challenge the BBC on this). That reason, I believe, is that they are deemed simply unremarkable. I hoped and hoped that something was going to click — that it is no longer acceptable not to be bold, not to think differently, and not to play Reform and others at their own game. With so much to play for in the political world right now, I have unfortunately grown tired of waiting.

There is also something about the timing. Standing for a parliamentary seat is not something I had on my career plan, but for the same reasons of why I stood as a town councillor, I now also feel I might need to move in that space too. I cannot satisfy myself with sitting at home, looking at things around me sliding in a direction I really dislike, and not being seen to try and do something about it. When today is documented as a moment of history, I want to be able to tell my two Sons, that even if it did not go the way I wanted, I always tried to stand on what I believed was the compassionate, common sense side of the debate. So even if it's all a waste of time and money, better to be in the fight than not. And selections for parliamentary seats for 2029 will be taking place now in all political parties (I know, seems a long way out!).

I am passionate about politics. I want the 95% of compassionate, common-sense people in our society to wake up and understand that they have to engage and take notice of what is going on. “I don’t do politics” is no longer acceptable; otherwise the very thing they would never want could become their reality.

Right now, I feel that my energy and desire to see something radical is only being met by the Green Party. They are the only party delivering a message of hope, and that is exactly what I want to be about.

In a word or two, what is the message elsewhere?

Restore Britain — Evil

Reform UK — Hate

Conservatives — Bitterness and mudslinging*

Labour — Chaos (and honestly, they couldn’t have had an easier job)

Lib Dems — erm…*

*This is not a blanket assertion - I have wonderful friends and role-models operating in all these political groupings who are not delivering this message.

So nowhere else is there someone speaking in terms that are neither backwards-looking, absent nor aimed at pitting person against person. The Green Party, under Zack Polanski’s leadership, seem to understand how you need to communicate to cut through in today’s soundbite/meme world, and to stop Reform UK being left unchallenged and appearing as the only alternative. You only have to look at data of political funding to realise that money and donors are not the be all, and end of all, of political success. Engaging people with something they can buy into, take energy from and speaks to their views of solutions, comes largely free of charge, and will carry you the rest of the way.

Data sourced from: Timeline of political party donations in United Kingdom for 2025 | DonationWatch

I don’t like that this is where political discourse has gone, but we don’t get to choose whether we like it or not.

I am under no illusions that the Green Party is far from the finished product. But that is also what excites me, because I could potentially play a part in shaping it. They have made the right moves in more clearly an agenda for government, not being a one policy party, but what comes next is crucial. Those policies on health, education, economy, security need to be credible and believable. For me that comes by tapping into subject-matter experts in those fields who happen to also be energised members. I for one would happily give up my own free time to help shape a health agenda that will actually address our gaps (and some of those decisions are not necessarily the popular ones).

I hope people understand that putting myself where I feel most aligned is the right thing to do. None of us should feel wedded to a political party without question, through family tradition or otherwise. Political parties change, but your core values probably do not.

I set out wanting to be a proactive and vocal representative for my area of our town, and I hope I have delivered on that so far. This change does not affect that drive — not one bit. If anything, feeling more enthused may even take it up a gear.

Watch this space!