GREEN PARTY SUCCESS in Local Elections – 2 May 2024
There were no local elections in the Canterbury District in May 2024 but nationally the Green Party recorded stunning successes, securing its highest ever amount of elected councillors. Going into Thursday’s local elections in England, the Green Party started with 738 councillors on 167 councils, but now have over 800 councillors across the country.
Results from Thursday mean that the Green Party have become the largest party on Bristol City Council and Hastings Borough Council, as well as making gains on other councils including Norwich, Oxford, Cambridge and St. Albans. The Green Party also won their first ever councillors on Newcastle, Sefton and Redditch councils.
Closer to home, the Green Party have increased their number of councillors on Maidstone Borough Council from 3 to 10 councillors.
A full breakdown of the 2024 election results can be found here.
Carla Denyer, Co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and Zack Polanski, Deputy leader, with Green Party activists ahead of the May 2024 local elections.
Local Election Success – 4 May 2023
Canterbury District Green Party was delighted with local election results in May 2023 which saw them quadrupling their Councillors (from one to four) and scoring the highest single vote for any candidate in the district when Green Group Leader, Clare Turnbull, retained her seat in Gorrell Ward, Whitstable with 2,045 votes. Greens also secured a second seat in Gorrell and won for the first time in West Bay and Swalecliffe.
“The results show a continued growth in support for hard working Green Councillors and big support for our key issues like tackling sewage pollution, excessive luxury housing development and better control of Airbnbs,” said Councillor Turnbull.
“We are now ready to get on with the big job of delivering on those issues for the benefit of the people of the local district and we are happy to collaborate and consider any coalition proposal that allows us to do that,” she says.
“In the meantime we will be getting on with working hard for local people and on Friday 19th May we are holding a public meeting on the impact of Airbnbs and holiday lets at the Umbrella Centre Whitstable as part of a wider government consultation,” she added.
Our four Councillors at the election count at Westgate Hall, Canterbury on Friday 5th May 2023.
From left to right:
- Councillor Keith Bothwell (Swalecliffe)
- Councillor Andrew Harvey (West Bay)
- Councillor Clare Turnbull (Gorrell)
- Councillor Steven Wheeler (Gorrell)
Canterbury City Council Elections 2023 – THE GREEN PARTY CANDIDATES
Clare Turnbull – Gorrell (Whitstable)
Clare Turnbull became the district’s first Green councillor in November 2021 when she scooped a massive majority in a by-election victory in Gorrell Ward, Whitstable. Clare has proved to be an excellent councillor, working hard for the community, and collaborating effectively with other groups. Since she was elected, Clare has led a citizen-science programme to test for sewage pollution in local bathing waters, held Southern Water to account for pollution, surveyed residents on the impact of Airbnb and holiday lets and initiated public meetings on local green energy networks. She was a vocal critic of the proposed Local Plan in 2022 and the excessive luxury housing development. She has also supported the call for a ban on large-scale housing developments until the sewage pollution issue is properly addressed. Clare has lived in Whitstable with her family for more than a decade. She was a local school governor and now works part-time in educational research.
Steven Wheeler – Gorrell (Whitstable)
Steven Wheeler has been part of the Whitstable community for more than 17 years and works as a writer, artist, and teacher. He is a long-standing campaigner for environmental and social justice and is one of the original group of four who initiated the local bill payment boycott of Southern Water, protesting the company’s persistent sewage pollution in local waters. Steven is a qualified teacher and lecturer and has taught art and design in Further and Higher Education, schools and, more recently, in prisons.
Tom Sharp – Gorrell (Whitstable)
Tom Sharp grew up in the Canterbury District and after secondary school moved to Leeds and then London for work, before returning to the area in 1997. Since that time, he has worked as a volunteer in local organisations, been a local school governor and been involved in coaching and managing teams for both Tankerton and Whitstable football clubs. He has been a Green Party member for about ten years and until recently worked at the University of Kent.
Andrew Harvey – West Bay (Herne Bay)
Andrew Harvey is a seasoned community campaigner who has lived in the local area for 20 years, helping to raise three children, two of whom still live and work locally. Andrew has been a key member of the Green Party water quality testing team, fighting sewage pollution by Southern Water. A former London bus driver and long-term parish councillor, Andrew is well known in Herne Bay and has been working hard for the local community for many years, fighting to save local community assets, such as pubs, playgrounds, and sports facilities.
Keith Bothwell – Swalecliffe
Keith Bothwell is a veteran Green Party campaigner who has lived in the district for many years and only narrowly missed out on victory in the 2021 by-election in Swalecliffe, after increasing the Green vote share by about 150%. Keith is widely known for his local community work and for running the Canterbury Repair Cafe. He has recently campaigned on water quality and on the future of Children’s Centres in the area.
Michael Vince – Heron (Herne Bay)
Michael Vince has lived in Kent for more than 20 years and worked as a nurse in the National Health Service for most of his working life, ending up at the RCN Institute as a senior lecturer in both Nurse Education and in Industrial Relations. Later, he became the Chair of Governors at St Alphege Infant School and active in the Canterbury Branch of the United Nations Association. Michael was also a founder member of the Canterbury Sustainable Development Goals Forum (SDG) and is an active campaigner in the Herne Bay area. He recently challenged a local developer for failing to deliver green landscaping at a key town centre development in Herne Bay.
Peter Campbell – Sturry
Peter Campbell has lived in Sturry with his wife and four cats for about five years. He has been a Green Party member for almost a decade but has only recently become an active campaigner. Peter is passionate about public transport, having worked within the industry for over 30 years in project management and commercial management roles. Peter currently undertakes several voluntary roles, including support work for the Canterbury & District Samaritans. After many years living in London, Peter loves being in the countryside and is passionate about preserving and improving the natural environment in the Sturry area, including the wonderful River Stour, which has been subject to sewage pollution.
Nicole David – Sturry
Nicole David was born in Kent and has lived in the Canterbury District for almost ten years. An active member of the local community, her work experience is in the voluntary sector, currently working on food and sustainability, and having previously worked at the Citizens’ Advice Bureau. She joined the Green Party because she believes no other party is taking the climate emergency seriously enough, in a way which also tackles social injustice.
Alex Stevens – Herne & Broomfield
Alex Stevens works as a Professor at the University of Kent. He has lived in Canterbury District since 1998 and was a volunteer on the Whitstable lifeboat for about 14 years. He has been a member of the Green Party since 2001. He developed Canterbury District Green Party’s programme of citizen science testing for water pollution, which has revealed unsafe levels of bacteria in our waters.
Tom Williams – Herne & Broomfield
Tom Williams grew up in Whitstable and went to school in Canterbury. He spent his formative years in the East Kent countryside and still feels very much at home here. Tom worked in London as a Parks Ranger after graduating in Environmental Management and he then spent some time living in France. Since his return to the Canterbury area, he has been working hard installing domestic renewable energy in homes. Tom is passionate about local democracy and believes all tiers of government can affect people’s lives.
Greg Lawrence – Chartham & Stone Street
Greg Lawrence has lived in the District since 2004. He works as a writer and lecturer at Canterbury College and has been a member of the Green Party for about fifteen years. Greg joined to make a difference and to help bring climate change to the fore, as well as to oppose inequality and injustice connected to environmental issues. Greg is passionate about housing in the district and the impact of unregulated second homes and holiday lets, seeing the need for sustainable future-proofed development and good-quality social housing.
Ben Grillet – Westgate (Canterbury)
Ben Grillet has lived and worked in the Canterbury area for more than 30 years and has raised two sons with his wife in their home on the Kent Downs AONB, where he serves on the local parish council. He joined the Green Party in 2014, frustrated by the other parties’ lack of vision in confronting the climate crisis and the energy transition. He is passionate about tackling rising inequality, social care, affordable transport, and housing in the area.
Julie Ellis – Wincheap (Canterbury)
Born in Kent, Julie (Jules) Ellis has lived in the Canterbury District for more than 25 years and has been a Green Party member for about ten years. She graduated in Environmental Science and has also studied Social Work. She currently teaches sustainable food growing, and manages and develops community gardens. She also volunteers as a local Tree Warden. Her work combines her passions for both social and environmental justice, working with marginalised groups, and teaching care for the natural environment, biodiversity, and sustainability.
Gillian Everatt – St Stephen’s (Canterbury)
Gillian Everatt and her husband have lived in the district for more than 30 years and Gillian has been a Green Party member since 2015. She worked for the L’Arche Kent Community, an organisation where people with and without learning disabilities live and work alongside one another, and later for Canterbury Wholefoods, until she retired in 2016. Gillian joined the Green Party because she became disillusioned with the main political parties and she sees the Green Party as having values which align with her own, such as investing in green renewable energy, making public transport cheaper and more accessible, and the re-nationalisation of the water companies.
Alex Hilton – Blean
Alex Hilton has lived in Blean for about two years, but grew up in the Canterbury District, moving away for work before returning to start a family. Alex is a Chartered Engineer, working in the construction industry as a mechanical engineer specialising in low carbon and Net Zero buildings. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling, playing 5-a-side football and knitting, as well as spending time with his wife and young son. He joined the Green Party two years ago because he wanted to help combat climate change and protect the local area in which we are lucky enough to live.
Stephen Peckham – Reculver
Stephen Peckham has lived in the Canterbury District for more than a decade. He works as the Director of the Centre for Health Services Studies at the University of Kent and a region-wide organisation supporting health and social care research in the NHS, local government, voluntary and private sectors. Stephen joined the local Green Party about ten years ago and works closely with local health and social care organisations. Stephen has also been very active supporting a local community and residents’ group highlight air pollution problems and challenging planning developments to ensure environmental issues are adequately addressed.
Roger Everatt – Beltinge
Roger Everatt has lived in Whitstable for about forty years since moving there in 1983 to do postgraduate studies at the University of Kent in Canterbury. He has been retired since 2016, prior to which he was part of a workers’ co-operative running a wholefoods business in Canterbury. He has been married to Gillian (also a Green Party member) for thirty-two years. Roger committed to the Greens a few years ago despite a life-long aversion to joining organisations of any description, after finally accepting that other parties were not serious about adopting policies necessary to the survival of life on our planet. His hobbies include watercolour painting, playing music with friends and gardening. He is also a sincere admirer of cats.
Delia Hazrati – Barton
Delia Hazrati has been a professional radiographer for 35 years and in her spare time plays the saxophone in a local band. She also works as a Grief Companion and is an active supporter of the mental health charity, East Kent Mind. She joined the Green Party because she found it aligned with her core values and beliefs and she admires the actions Green campaigners were taking on key issues in her community.
Delia Hazrati – Barton
Mary Claire Smith – Barton
Nicholas Gadsby – Beltinge
Martin Baker – Northgate (Canterbury)
Clare Turnbull – Gorrell Ward (Whitstable) By-Election 2021
Clare has been a Whitstable resident for the past 10 years and has played an active role in the local community, particularly as a school governor at The Whitstable School, during that time. She currently works part-time in educational research and has a Master’s degree in Psychology from Canterbury Christ Church University.
Clare is passionate about environmental issues in Whitstable and the surrounding area, and has been involved with local campaigns such as the Whitstable SOS march which took place on Saturday 9th October to protest ongoing water pollution along the Kent coast. She aims to prioritise protecting the open environmental spaces of Whitstable through sustainable development in the local area. Furthermore, Clare will work to preserve the life and spirit of Whitstable by supporting a local, environmentally sustainable economy.
Clare says that she would like to be “the kind of councillor who reaches out to people, a councillor who listens to people’s worries and tackles the issues that affect us day to day, a councillor who, unlike the other party candidates, does not have to toe a party line.”
Local Elections – 6th May 2021
We are pleased to announce our candidate list for the upcoming Kent County Council Elections. To find out which ward you are in, please use the following link: Find Your Ward
Canterbury City Council By-Elections
We are pleased to announce that we will be standing candidates for the by-elections in both Swalecliffe (Keith Bothwell) and Westgate (Terry Thompson).
Kent County Council Elections
Keith Bothwell – Whitstable East & Herne Bay West
Keith is a retired architect and senior lecturer, mostly working as deputy head at Kent School of Architecture, University of Kent. He specialised in teaching low-energy sustainable architectural design. He has taken a keen interest in environmental issues since he was a student in the early 1970s, when he worked as a volunteer at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales. Keith has lived in the area for over 30 years, and has been a member of the Green Party for most of that time. He often contributes to local organisations improving the quality of our surroundings, raising design quality in towns, and protecting the natural environment. He continues working with local groups, including the Canterbury Society and the Canterbury Climate Action Partnership (CCAP), to improve the quality of the environment in and around our towns. Most recently he started the Canterbury Repair Cafe project which helps people to repair their broken household items and clothes, rather than throwing them away. This not only saves money but also reduces the huge environmental damage caused by waste and by making unnecessary new things.
Terry Thompson – Westgate By-Election
Terry’s background is in agricultural engineering and he has a keen interest (and skill) in green engineering and building, including renewable systems and transport. He has a passion for non-centralised renewable energy generation and off-grid living, and became vegan in 2003. In 2000, Terry and his wife Jo co-founded Skillnet Group CIC (now Bemix CIC), a social enterprise which supports those with and without learning disabilities to work together and challenge inequality. Following this, they bought and converted an old yard in St Dunstans which they converted into a low impact working hub for small businesses. In 2010, Terry and his wife founded the Abbot’s Mill Project CIC in Canterbury, creating an urban hub which will be an example of earth-friendly living. In 2016, Terry partnered with Longleys Taxis to get the first all-electric cab in Canterbury. Over the past few years, Terry has been managing various areas of ancient woodland alongside involvement with various vegan groups in Canterbury, including Kent Vegan Events and Vegan Organics Kent.
Andy Harvey – Herne Village & Sturry
Andy Harvey has lived in Broomfield for nearly 20 years, raising numerous chickens, several pigs and three children. He has sat as an independent Councillor on Herne & Broomfield Parish Council for around ten years and, as a Green Party member and keen environmentalist, he feels the tme is right for change and to push forward the aims of the Green Party. He has a keen interest in community led housing and his local dream is to see Herne Mill turning and producing energy for the village.
Brian Shelley – Herne Bay East
Brian spent his early years in Kent, returning to live in Herne Bay 10 years ago. His family were involved in green issues and he has written a play on green politics. His focus now is on the party’s push to create, especially post-COVID, new jobs in the green economy,
Nicole David – Whitstable West
Nicole was born in Kent, moved away and has been in Whitstable for 7 years. An active member of the local community, she is a member of the Plastic Free Whitstable working group, has volunteered at Age UK Whitstable, Stream Walk community garden, and regularly joins the beach cleans as well as being a keen supporter of local shops and businesses. Her work experience is in the voluntary sector, currently working on food and sustainability, and having previously worked at the Citizens’ Advice Bureau. She joined the Green Party as she believes no other party is taking the climate emergency seriously enough, in a way which also tackles social injustice. If elected she would work for a Green Recovery here in Kent, where we put people and planet before profit.
Anna Peckham – Canterbury North
Anna has lived in Canterbury for a number of years and has been active in campaigns to improve the local environment. She joined the Green Party because it has led the way on climate change, air quality, environmental and social issues. Anna is an advocate for libraries, trees, hedges, and the protection of green spaces. Other areas of particular interest include electoral reform and more sustainable building developments.
Henry Stanton – Canterbury City North
Henry has lived in the district since he was 6, and has previously worked as a teacher in Faversham for 14 years. He joined the party to campaign for climate change action, electoral reform and a closer relationship for all of us with nature. He has been a strong voice for clean air across the district.
Pat Marsh – Canterbury City South
Pat Marsh is Coordinator of Canterbury District Green Party and Secretary of Kent Greens. It was the Green Party’s slogan, ‘fair is worth fighting for’, which drew her in over a decade ago, and it is the current one, ‘for the common good’, which inspires her. Now, more than ever, it is vital to have more than one Green voice in the room at the County Council to work with you to get things done.