Local Council By-Elections: Why Vote Green

Mon 31 Aug, 2015

There are two local council by-elections coming up and we asked our candidates to give us a little quote on why people should think about voting for them and voting Green. First up, we have Boyd Murdoch who is standing in Ayr East on Thursday 17th September. "I grew up in Tarbolton and apart from a brief spell in Glasgow while I was at Art School I have lived in South Ayrshire all my life. I currently live in Troon but work in Ayr as a barista for a national coffee shop chain. I became active in politics during the independence referendum last year where I campaigned for the green vision of what Scotland could be." "I believe in protecting the local environment and health and well being of local people so I will oppose any attempt to introduce fracking and unconventional gas extraction into South Ayrshire for the potential pollution and public health risks far outweigh any possible benefit to the local community.  I will oppose any attempt to close Ayr Hospital  because South Ayrshire residents shouldn't have to travel outwith the county to access accident and emergency treatment or healthcare." "There are too many shops sitting empty in the town and I believe the council should be encouraging small businesses to open up I the town rather than large multinationals to open up stores outside of town taking business away from our already beleaguered town center. It is our policy to introduce differential rates of local business taxation with lower charges for small shops and independents." Next up is Jen Broadhurst who is standing in the Irvine Valley on Thursday 1st October. "I am proud to stand as a candidate for the Ayrshire branch of the Scottish Greens in the by-election in East Ayrshire’s Irvine Valley on Oct 1^st." "It feels a natural progression at this stage in my political life to take the next step by representing our party at elections. It’s not always easy as a busy mum, full time student and researcher to find the time to be active in a political party, but the old adage of finding something you love to work at means never having to work again."

"Most of you know me as Jen the secretary, sending out minutes and agenda or through one of the many stalls we’ve begun to organise over the last two years or so.

The stalls are an integral part of our campaign strategy, through increasing our public visibility and information provision to interested voters. They have been hugely successful and have supported many of our activists (including myself) to become more confident in ‘Green’ policy and speaking to the public. And I think it’s safe to say that had I not been involved in the stalls I probably would not be standing for election as a councillor today." "I am realistic about our chances of being elected in October, as the SNP is hugely popular and has a finely tuned election machine (as well as oodles of money – which we don’t have) but running as a candidate is not only about winning at this stage, it is about raising our profile at a local level. As members of a political party, we each are advocates of a set of principles that we are selling to the electorate either through just being one of the thousands of members or by saying to others via social media or in person why we joined, and why they should vote for us." "We need more ‘ordinary’ people representing our interests at local and national levels, we as Greens are focused on local empowerment and decision making, therefore this should begin at home as they say. That’s why I am standing as a candidate in October, to not only further the aspirations and profile of the Scottish Greens but also break down the barriers that stand in the way of ordinary people, ordinary parents, ordinary workers, ordinary students in building a society that represents all of us and not just the privileged few. I am not the best the Ayrshire Green party has to offer [Ed: we think she is amazing], but I am ready and willing to represent the best of our party and community." If you have any questions for our candidates please do get in touch with them as they would love to hear from you. Their contact details are in their photo captions.