Originally from the East Midlands, James has lived in Hull since 1997 when he came to study for a degree in British Politics at the University of Hull, and now lives in the Avenues area with his partner. He works for the Environment Agency.
James was an active volunteer in his local Covid Support Group, and as well as helping run Hull Independent Cinema, where he is the Chair of Trustees, he is also a regular volunteer with the Youth Hostels Association.
Minster & Woodmansey – Jonathan Stephenson
I was born and raised in Manchester, and have recently moved to the Beverley area to be closer to my wife’s family and her childhood home. While new to the Green Party and to the party political scene in general, I have long been a firm believer in the power of politics to shape our day to day lives and most importantly, the future. It’s not taken long for me to recognise that this area has an incredible community spirit and not a day goes by where I do not feel incredibly fortunate to be living in such a miraculous part of the world. My belief is that the greatest societies are built on the foundations of its people, the communities we build and the future we demand. Representing the people of Minster & Woodmansey would be an honour, to fight for your interests, all the time keeping people, the community and a bright future at the heart of every decision.
I am standing as the Green Party candidate because there is nothing more important to me than the environment.
At COP 28 they have only just agreed to transition away from fossil fuels – whilst in the UK we are commissioning new oil and gas sites which will dramatically increase our emissions and further damage the climate. We have a duty to cut our emissions for global benefits. We need to pressurise our government to act responsibly. People all over the world need us to act now.
So how do we mitigate this at a local level?
We will do this by: improving public transport; reducing the number of cars on the road and increasing the number of safe bike lanes; protecting trees and hedgerows improving biodiversity; cleaning our rivers so that nature can thrive in them again; developing Green Energy initiatives so we can start to move away from fossil fuels; insulating our homes so we can cut our energy usage; promoting plant-based alternatives to farming animals thus freeing up huge areas of land which is used to feed animals.
In Tranby Ward we are still using glyphosate to spray round our trees and kill weeds in the grass verges. This is harmful to people, children included and birds and insects. We don’t need to use it. I’d like to see this practice stopped. There are a few areas with good shrubbery cover locally which are very important for wildlife but frequently we see these reduced in size by a machine which damages the plants but is very quick to use. Trees are constantly being ‘trimmed’ for no apparent good reason or removed entirely. We need more trees and shrubs in parks and public places not fewer.
Our politicians must work together to improve lives locally which is where everything starts
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