It has been the same two-horse political race in Cheltenham for too long.
You can change that on July 4th.
History has shown us this can happen. In 1997, the Green Party polled 2.7% of the vote in Brighton Pavilion. 13 years later Caroline Lucas was elected as the first Green MP to an area which had historically been a Labour-Conservative battleground.
The change has already started to happen in Cheltenham. The Greens last month won more councillors than the Conservatives in the local elections, polling a record 10,000 votes – or 16%. And we have been the only party to beat the Lib Dems in recent council ward elections in the town, making us the official opposition.
You do not need to vote tactically. If ever there was a time to go with your heart, this is it.
The Tories and the Lib Dems have failed Cheltenham.
We cannot forget it was the Lib Dems in coalition with the Tories who introduced the policy of austerity, devastating our public services. Before 2010, Cheltenham didn’t have food banks. We had a functioning A&E and a booming high street.
The town has also been let down on the environment. Last year there was the equivalent to 186 days’ worth of sewage discharges in the rivers around Cheltenham – the biggest being in Andoversford which recorded an outrageous 87 days alone. This cannot go on.
Only the Greens have the courage to be honest about the environment and the failings of Brexit, while the other parties simply bury their heads in the sand.
We have a plan for ambitious action on the issues you care about, such as the NHS, housing and education. To fund this change, we will ask the very richest in society to pay a little more. Britain is the fifth richest country in the world, it is time everyone felt the benefits of that.
For the first time in 14 years, you don’t need to choose the lesser of two evils. Vote for a party you actually believe in.
Vote Daniel Wilson on the 4th July.
Key Pledges from The Green Party Manifesto
The NHS:
With an additional £30bn per year funding commitment, only the Green party is putting forward the levels of money required to ensure the NHS, its doctors and nurses and the building they work in can provide a world-class, free at the point of delivery service.
Social Care:
We are committing an additional £20bn funding per year to provide free personal care for all and to ensure care workers are paid fairly for their important work.
Housing:
We would spend £12bn on social housing and provide an additional £17bn in grants to private homeowners to better insulate Britain’s homes, reducing energy use and bills. We would also commit to building 150,000 social homes per year, every year. We would ban no fault evictions and introduce rent price controls.
Schools:
We would provide free school meals for all children because no one can learn when they are hungry. We would also fund breakfast clubs for all primary school children. We would correct the below-inflation pay awards for teachers by allocating £2bn of funding to stop the staff churn currently negatively affecting schools.
Universities:
The Green Party would abolish tuition fees and restore grants. Education should be free for all.
The Environment:
We want a net-zero society before 2040. We would invest in green energy, aiming for wind farms to provide 70% of our power by 2030, up from 20% in 2023. We would introduce Rights to Nature Act to protect the environment from being exploited for economic gain. We would nationalise the water companies.
Brexit:
Starting with the customs union, we would rejoin the EU as quickly as possible.
Transport:
We would invest in the bus infrastructure and nationalise the train network to ensure our public transport is affordable and delivers the service needed to tempt people out of their cars.
Defence:
We would stop Britain’s nuclear programme, saving £2bn per year.
Benefits:
We would scrap the two-child benefit cap, which would help lift 250,000 children out of poverty.
Immigration:
We would scrap the Rwanda scheme and re-establish safe routes for those fleeing persecution or environmental catastrophe.
Taxation:
We would introduce taxes on the wealthiest in society, raising unprecedented levels of money to pay for all the above.