You decide who will be the next MP for Hastings & Rye

The Hastings & St Leonards Observer asked Green candidate Jake Bowers why the residents of Hastings and Rye should vote for him.

Here is Mr Bowers statement:

Hastings is a funky irreverent town that needs a radical MP to represent its interests.

For all of my life I’ve been a campaigner on human rights and environmental issues which has made me very distrustful of politicians. But this year I’ve thrown my hat into the ring because the much-needed breakdown in two party politics at this election represents a golden opportunity to change the way we are governed forever.

It’s a once in a generation opportunity to create a peaceful political revolution.

We are heading for a hung parliament, with that comes an opportunity for the voice of Hastings to be heard above the ruthlessly enforced blandness of our established political parties.

By electing a Green MP, Hastings will join Brighton as a beacon of progressive thinking.

No party whip, deal with big business or corporate lobbyist will ever dictate how I vote.

I’m a journalist, a local businessman, a father and a husband.

But I’m also a white van owning blacksmith with callused hands.

My family has been directly affected by the way its schools and hospital have been devastated by the introduction of market forces and privatisation into local public services.

With enough Green MPs we can raise the minimum wage to £10 an hour, get rid of tuition fees, end the privatisation of our NHS and schools and end the austerity that’s destroying so many in our society.

Our challenge on May 7 is turning that desire for country that works for the common good into a reality.

There will be those that say a Green vote is a wasted vote and that you should only vote tactically.

But suffragettes and soldiers didn’t die for your right to vote for things you didn’t believe in.

On May 7, I’ve decided to take a stand for that ideal and I need you to join me.

PHOTO BY JOHN COLE