They’re off!
It’s election time again and the candidates have been announced. This year on May 22nd you have 2 votes. Please vote for me in the local elections and the slate of Green Party candidates in the Euro Elections. Many thanks to those of you who have already put up a poster in your window or garden. If you would like one please get in touch.
I am proud to be standing for the Green Party again. We have realistic hopes of doubling our number of Councillors in the Town Hall this year and of getting Andrew Cooper elected to the European Parliament. You can read our local mini manifesto here, and our European mini manifesto here. There is lots of other interesting information at archive.sheffieldgreenparty.org.uk.
Here is our local election broadcast.
Who are my opponents this year? The sitting Labour Councillor who is up for re-election is Terry Fox. Terry is a nice guy but it has to be said that Terry does not live in the ward and he is not often seen at local meetings such as the campaigns to “Save Park Library” or “Residents against Station Closure”. As a Labour Councillor he supported the budget which now means that if Park Library is to survive it will have to be run by volunteers. This despite the Green Parties proposal that would have saved all the libraries and stopped the most serious cuts to social care for just a 48p increase in Council Tax and cuts in pay to the Council executives that can most afford it. Terry is a Governor at Sheffield Park Academy.
The Liberal Democrat candidate is Michael Shaw, who again lives outside the ward, and I have never heard of him before. He does not appear on the Sheffield Liberal Democrats website and internet searches have not come up with anything. (Please let me know if you know more.)
The Conservative candidate is Jack McGill. If it is the same person Jack has a Twitter account here, but most of his tweets are about Leeds FC and I can’t find anything relevant to our area. He also lives outside the ward.
The other candidate is Alistair Tice who is representing the Socialist Party and lives on the Manor. Alistair does have credibility as he is often seen on local demonstrations and picket lines and works hard for his Party. He describes himself here as a Marxist with one of his most influential books the Communist Manifesto.
The good news is that there are no far right candidates in Manor Castle this time. Both UKIP and the BNP have failed to stand.