From Wales Green Party June 2017

Message from Grenville Ham, Leader

"I’m incredibly proud of everyones efforts throughout a general election that came immediately after our largest ever local election campaign. From our candidates standing for election for the first time, through to the seasoned campaigners, your efforts and determination did us proud. Thank you to everyone involved. We didn’t make the gains many would have hoped for but the trend of all smaller parties losing ground was clear to see. I’m acutely aware that many of the local parties made the difficult decision to not stand candidates and I’m pleased that for some this resulted in the removal of poor MPs but for most I guess you’re still reeling from the fact that this had no effect at all."   "The political future for the UK is now looking very uncertain and we may feel disheartened seeing a continued cuts to our local services and the lack of action on our ecological crisis, but our voice is needed more than ever. Watching four hours of the Welsh Leaders TV debates -where no one mentioned the environment, climate change or the vice like grip that corporations have over our society- left me convinced that our radical and bold vision for Wales is needed more than ever. Over the coming weeks our local parties will need to start thinking about strategies for the Welsh Assembly and local elections whilst dovetailing this with the possibility of a further snap general election. Let’s make sure that we’re prepared."   "But let’s not forget to celebrate the fact that we now have an exceptionally talented County Councillor in Emily Durrant and a coming by election in less than 2 weeks. We have a genuine chance to elect a second County Councillor in Powys and start making some real noise. Let’s keep moving forwards. Let’s stand together."   Keep up with Gren on Facebook and Twitter.

Message from Pippa Bartolotti, Deputy Leader   “The loss of Theresa May’s clear Conservative majority has already rocked conventional assumptions, agendas and elites. The realm of the politically possible has been blasted open – because the electoral support for Corbyn has allowed a publicly popular discussion about a whole different political economy. Importantly fewer and fewer people are taking notice of the blatant newspaper propaganda being spewed out by the gutter press. This is good news for Greens. “Yes the results of the GE were disappointing, but truly they could not have been any other way given the work being done with ‘Progressive Alliances’. Now we can start to stamp out our agenda clearly. Our work on anti nuclear, farming, the Citizens Income, and small businesses can once again take centre stage. “So it’s a big thank you to all our candidates, teams and helpers who have been solid in their support and work over the last gruelling months. 2 elections in a row is nobody’s idea of a picnic. Looking forward we will need more active members to help spread the word. The Assembly elections might seem a long way away, but this is where we start doing the groundwork. “There are so many people I want to thank – Mirka for working the press office from a beach on ‘holiday’, Ian Chandler for his excellent campaign in Monmouthshire and who achieved our best vote share (despite his internet provider going bust and having to run his excellent social media campaign from public places), Lauren for stepping in as Newsletter Editor at short notice, Pippa P and David for keeping the  information flowing and guiding us through the campaign launch postponement (poor Manchester) and setting up a new launch event in the blink of an eye, and of course Gren for doing so many interviews so very well. Everyone has been incredible. We might be a small team, but we are very effective. “Money is our ever present problem, so I’d especially like to give a huge thanks to all those who donated so much, and enabled us to stand in the election in the first place. Please keep fundraising everyone. Another snap election may not be far away.” Yscir By-election - another Green councillor in Powys?   Hot on the heels of the local elections across Wales in May, we have another local election happening in Yscir in Powys on June 22nd.  Yscir hit the headlines as the only place in Wales where no nominations were received for the local elections, and so a by-election was called as soon as possible. Through our Leader, Grenville Ham, Wales Green Party has long-standing links with local farmers and the wider community in rural Yscir, and we have a great local candidate in Bethan Irwin.  Bethan was born and raised in Brecon and has lived in Yscir for 12 years, where her kids also go to school.  She's qualified in Biological Science and in Healthcare Studies, and has worked in the NHS.   Just down the road from Yscir is Llangors where Wales Green Party had our historic first Powys Council win in May, electing Councillor Emily Durrant.  Emily is the first Wales Green Party councillor in Wales for 10 years.  And we now hope we can double our win, and get Bethan elected to join her. There's a busy ballot paper in Yscir with Greens, Plaid, Conservatives and 3 Independents all standing. We need all the help we can get from across Wales Green Party to get Bethan elected, so Yscir can get a strong Green voice in Powys County Council and so Emily can have a Green colleague to work with!  There's an action day on the 17th June: meet at Brecon Long Stay Car park (next to the bus station) at 10am. Please contact Grenville Ham to confirm your attendance on either gren@walesgreenparty or 07921 385344.