'I was born and raised in Manchester, but now call Beverley my home. I am an ardent believer in the power of politics to shape our day to day lives and most importantly, the future.
‘Politics is supposed to be something we can trust and believe is on our side, fighting for our interests and making the world around us a better place. In recent years we have seen how damaging political mismanagement can be, and the detrimental impact party politics has had on constituencies the country over. The political landscape has become a tribal mess where we’ve pitted against one another in a bid to win votes and headlines. There’s only one loser in all of this, the people, and it’s beyond time we brought people back to the heart of politics. No matter who you vote for, all constituents deserve to be represented, have their interests heard and enjoy living in a world where their most basic needs are met.
‘It’s taken no time at all for me to recognise that this constituency is full of fantastic people, incredible communities, astonishing scenery and I feel incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to call it home. My belief is that the greatest societies are built on the foundations of its people, the communities we build and the future we demand. I will make it my mission to make Beverley & Holderness a constituency that works for the people of today, the children of tomorrow and long into the future.
‘Representing the people of Beverley & Holderness would be an honour, fighting for your interests, all the time keeping people, our communities and a bright, green future at the heart of every decision.'
Generally
Election reform is my number one priority, I will fight for proportional representation on the national level and also to ensure local election formats best serve the peoples interest.
1. Transport
Improve public transport availability and accessibility to between connect the constituency. We want leaving the car at home to be an easy choice.
2. Green Spaces
Prioritise the use, maintenance and preservation of green spaces across the constituency, we need new housing, we need new greener infrastructure, but this cannot come at the wholesale expense of green space.
3. Community
Ensure our communities have everything they need to be strong, flourishing and functioning. No communities should be left behind, if one of our communities is failing then we all are.
Kevin lived in New Zealand until he was 25, then came to the UK to work in the Meteorological Office. He went on to gain a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Oxford Brookes and worked as Senior Lecturer in Telecommunication Engineering at the University of Hull. Until his retirement in 2020, he was an active climate change researcher and worked on telehealth systems for people living with dementia. He has authored several reports for the Committee on Climate Change that were presented to the UK parliament. Kevin is active in his community, being a member of the TimeBank, coordinating Hull Carbon Neutral 2030, a front-rider in Beech Holme Tandem Club, and previously Branch Secretary for the UCU union. He has been Secretary and Co-coordinator of the Hull & East Riding Green Party.
Priorities
The cost of living crisis effects everyone in the constituency. We all need warm houses, affordable food, and to get around. A range of Green initiatives will address these including: higher quality new-build homes and cheaper upgrading of existing homes, ensuring fresh and nutritious food is available in all areas, and improving public transport with £1 bus fares and reducing congestion by encouraging active travel.
Flooding from the sea is a serious threat to the constituency. The recently raised sea-wall is only designed to be effective until 2040, and may be over-topped before then. Residents and businesses in the constituency need clarity on the future flood risks and to be involved in the planning of sea defences.
The UK and this constituency have a historical duty to lead by example. This means reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in line with the UK's 2050 net-zero legal obligation an Hull's 2030 commitment. We need to protect the biodiversity in our environment by controlling pesticide use and improving the water quality in the tributaries to the Humber. We need to show moral leadership by condemning genocide and not aiding aggressors.
James grew up in the East Midlands and his interest in environmental and political issues began early – he joined the Green Party at the age of sixteen. He moved to Hull in 1997 to study for the well-regarded British Politics and Legislative Studies degree at Hull University, including a year spent working at the House of Commons. Like so many Hull Uni students, he loved the city so much that he never left! He has lived in the Hull North constituency since graduating in 2001 and has lived on Ella Street with his partner since 2006.
Since 2018 James has worked as an Environment Officer at the Environment Agency. Prior to that most of his career was spent in community development work with roles at Community First Yorkshire near York, and as a Community Warden and Neighbourhood Manager at the Goodwin Development Trust in Hull.
James holds a Level 3 Diploma in Countryside Management and spent a year volunteering for The Conservation Volunteers and the National Trust while studying for this. He and his partner also volunteer as hostel managers for the Youth Hostel Association and for a while James was the Chair of Directors at the Yorkshire Wolds Railway. In 2014 he helped establish Hull Independent Cinema of which is the Chair of Trustees, in which role he helped deliver the organisation’s contribution to Hull’s successful 2017 UK City of Culture programme. He is also a Trustee of the recently established Unthinkable Short Film Festival.
In Parliament, James would seek to work with what will hopefully be a significant Green Group of MPs to hold a probable Labour government to account, in particular on its promises on making UK energy supply net zero carbon by 2030 and tackling sewage pollution in our rivers and seas. Labour has recently gone back on some of its previous policy in this area, such as the now scrapped promise to invest £28bn on its Green Prosperity Plan, and we must be vigilant in ensuring there is no further backsliding once they are in office. The climate crisis is the greatest emergency we face and James would focus on seeking to amend government legislation wherever possible so that the UK Government tackles it with the urgency it demands.
James will also use his voice in Parliament to call for a change to the current Government’s policy of continuing to license new oil and gas exploration and extraction. Existing fossil fuel supplies should only be used to enable the transition to a genuinely net zero society; oil and gas not already licensed must be left in the ground.
Locally, James is keen to secure investment in electrifying the railway line into Hull, regardless of whether or not the proposed Hull and East Yorkshire devolution deal goes ahead. Vital investment in making Hull’s rail link greener and more reliable should not be offered only as a bribe to accept a devolution offer which in its current form does not meet the needs of the local area and which may in fact remove power further from citizens than the current arrangements.
Julia has been a teacher for 20 years and is involved in the NEU education union.
She believes passionately in equality and joined the Green Party to make the UK a fairer place to live. She has taken training in Equality and Diversity, to help form Green policy in this area. Nationally, Julia has campaigned for a better voting system and an end to the outdated First Past the Post system.
Locally, Julia has been a City of Culture and women’s sport volunteer. She has stood for local and national election for the Green Party and is involved in local campaigns such as community gardening spaces and safe cycling.
Priorities are: fully funded schools and more school places for pupils with an EHCP, safer active travel and an improved public transport network for Hull and the East Riding, and investment in Green energy in East Yorkshire.
In Angela’s own words:
I’m Angela, Angela Stone and I’m proudly standing up to be counted on behalf of the Green Party for the General Election this year.
Why on earth would anyone stick their head above the parapet at a time when the integrity of our elected representatives in Westminster is possibly at the lowest point in our lifetime? In short, because I care. I have HOPE, a deep desire for change and I genuinely believe that there has never been more urgency in demanding truth, social justice and a committed (not lip service) responsibility for the future of this planet.
Why the Green Party though? Again, another simple answer – I don’t believe there is a credible or authentic alternative.
I’m a working Mum fortunate enough to have a job I care passionately about that offers the opportunity to make a real grass roots difference in a community I want my family, friends and neighbours to thrive in. My contribution is small. The people I work alongside, the volunteers and the people who believe in the power of connection, who give their time and their hearts so selflessly are the everyday heroes in my eyes. THEY are making a difference and remind me every day that where there is a spark of humanity, there is HOPE.
The word HOPE represents so much. It offers an alternative to the sickening realities of social injustice, War, corruption, and the mindless destruction of our planet.
I have two daughters just ready to fledge the nest as adults and I carry anxiety and guilt for the World they have all their dreams pinned on. They share the sense of purpose, responsibility, and urgency that the time is NOW to demand real change – not just another predictable changing of the Guard. The time is NOW to prioritise the climate emergency, humanity, and rebuilding community.
Biography
Angela Stone (she/her) lives in a Howdenshire Village with a very patient and supportive husband, Matt, and their two daughters. Their youngest daughter is in her final A level year at Wyke College with her sights on “what next?”, their eldest in her final year at Newcastle University studying Human Geography. They have a very energetic dog and an extremely laid-back cat.
Angela represented the Green Party in the 2019 Election to contest the seat for the Haltemprice & Howden constituency – the small but mighty Green Army team returned a respectable 3.5% of the vote share. In May 2019, Angela had given the Conservatives a very close fought run for their money coming within only 44 votes for the local Election. She was delighted to support local Independent candidate David Howard to ultimately defeat the Conservative stronghold in Howden in 2023. In 2024, she will stand again in the newly drawn boundary for Goole and Pocklington against the incumbent Conservative MP David Davis. Interestingly, it is likely that David Davis and Angela Stone will be the only two names to appear on both ballot papers – they both live in the Constituency but only one of them is a visible and active part of the community.
Angela has many local connections having worked, volunteered and been an ardent supporter of local causes in and around Howden. She has worked for Castaway in Goole and - as an advocate for the Arts - currently sits as Chair of the Advisory Board for Goole Junction and was appointed Director of the not-for-profit venue, Pocklington Arts Centre, in 2022.
Angela is originally from East Kilbride in Scotland but Yorkshire is home. She has lived in the same family home near Howden since 2002 and has established strong roots and connections to the area through various voluntary roles and as General Manager of beloved local Venue Howden Shire Hall from 2014-2021. She is known to many as a Yoga Teacher - and continues to make time to share her practice once a week online which she says helps to keep her grounded, connected and offers a welcome decompression from balancing a full-time job and the pressures of funding cuts and limited resources in the Arts.
I have been a member of The Green Party for over 20 years and a supporter for much longer.
I stood as a paper candidate in the local elections in 2005 and 2007 (on Hayling Island.) More recently I stood in Wolds Weighton Ward in the East Riding where I gained 17% of the vote. I have also supported other candidates over the years with leaflet drops and canvassing in Brighton and Gosport in the early 2000s and, most recently, in Beverley.
I feel it is important that people have the opportunity to select a Green Party Candidate to enable the electorate to understand that the Green Party has an extensive manifesto. Education is the key and some people still think of the party as ‘just another pressure group and only interested in banning things!’.
In my many years of life on planet earth I have survived fifteen Prime Ministers, eleven of them Conservative. I have learnt many lessons on how not to govern a country & I feel the only way forward is with some form of proportional representation. Many of the people I have spoken to believe that a vote for the Green Party is a wasted vote. This is solely due to our present voting system of First Past the Post.
It is frustrating to watch the country sink into greater decline with every successive Government and to have to listen to their empty promises. There are very few honest politicians and most seem to be driven by greed and a lust for power.
I am mainly interested in trying to ensure a healthy future for my Grandchildren to secure the future of this beautiful planet.
We cannot continue to plunder what remains of the earth’s resources. For instance: farming on an industrial scale is not sustainable. We should be promoting organic farming and encouraging people to grow their own fruit and vegetables (where possible.) Community orchards, food forests and of course allotments are (I believe) the way forward.
As an allotment holder myself I can vouch for the health benefits of “growing your own” in terms of promoting both mental and physical health. I grow as much of my own produce as possible on my allotment. I keep my garden wild to support a wide variety of wildlife, including hedgehogs, squirrels (sadly no Red Squirrels), the occasional fox and a large number of bird species. I have two wildlife ponds and I am in the process of constructing a third in the hope of attracting bats again to the area. They vanished along with Tawny Owls due to the excessive house building locally. I am also a member of Market Weighton Wildlife Group and Greener Pocklington. When I’m not outside, I enjoy listening to music and reading a wide range of books from novels to biographies and poetry. I don’t own a car, so rely on public transport, walk or occasionally cycle everywhere.
These are some of my reasons for wanting to be involved in the General Election. It would be a pleasure to promote green values and hopefully increase the number of people who vote for the Green Party.
