Who are the Green Party candidates in this year’s election?
- Mancroft – Martin Schmierer
Mancroft – Martin Schmierer
Martin grew up in Norwich and has lived here since 1994. In 2015 he was elected as councillor for Mancroft Ward and has represented the city centre since then. As a councillor, he has worked to make streets safer by working with the police to tackle anti-social behaviour and drug use. He also led the Green Party’s campaign to stop the spread of gambling venues in deprived areas of the city and has a proven track record of standing up to certain big developers whose proposals could have ruined parts of Norwich’s historic centre.
Before getting involved in party politics, Martin researched the role local government played on public health in Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow.
In his free time, Martin enjoys going to the cinema, cooking and taking walks in the Norfolk countryside. He is an avid Norwich City fan.
- Thorpe Hamlet – Ash Haynes
Thorpe Hamlet – Ash Haynes
Since her election in 2021, Ash has been working on important local issues in Thorpe Hamlet, including saving trees, asking for improved standards in housing, and dealing with anti-social behaviour and traffic issues. She was previously a councillor representing Town Close from 2010 to 2018. During this time, she sat on the scrutiny and licensing committees.
She now sits on the audit committee and is the shadow portfolio holder for housing.
As a parent of two young children, Ash is passionate about safer streets and improving air quality, as well as proper community resources like spaces for children to play. During her time as a councillor, she has also campaigned to improve safety for pedestrians, improve parking problems, and for inappropriate planning applications to be turned down.
- Nelson lucy galvin
Nelson – Lucy Galvin
Councillor Lucy Galvin Lucy Galvin is a trained journalist and specialist in public engagement in nature protection. Having worked in newspapers and magazines in Devon, Hong Kong, London and Zimbabwe she settled in Norwich 28 years ago and raised a family here as well as working as media and communications manager at the Broads Authority. Alongside this, as a consultant in communications for protected areas such as national parks and nature parks, she led a number of publications and studies for the Europarc Federation in areas ranging from the Carpathian mountains in Ukraine to the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland, focussing on topics including sustainable tourism, communications and public engagement.
Currently she works for the Norfolk Coast Partnership, an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB), and is a founder member of national working groups on protected landscape action on climate change and arts in the landscape. A strong believer in equality of access and the importance of urban nature, she is chair of a thriving Norwich community centre, and a founder member of community group Friends of Train Wood and Marriott’s Way.
She was drawn to the Green party by the need to take action on austerity and the climate crisis. Lucy served one term as a councillor for Wensum from 2011 to 2015 and was elected as a councillor for Nelson in 2021. She is currently the leader of the Green Group on Norwich City Council.
- Sewell -Gary Champion
Sewell – Gary Champion
Councillor Gary Champion Gary is a proponent of leaving a sustainable legacy for our children and working locally to build a resilient city that works for all its citizens. He has worked as a teacher for over a decade and during this time campaigned to reform education, both as a parent and as a school governor.
As a teacher Gary campaigned for his school to install solar panels, promoted litter picking and raised the agenda of environmental stewardship.
He is concerned with local issues, such as the state of our parks and streets, but he also knows that the solution to many of our global ills, such as climate change and the extinction crisis, need to be addressed locally too.
Gary believes that Norwich City Council’s concentration of political power in the hands of one party ill-serves our fine city. Gary has not run for any political office before, but has an articulate and passionate voice, which he intends to use to hold the local administration to account.
Living in Sewell ward, Gary stands by his convictions and believes that there is nowhere better to create the change we want to see in the world than in our own neighbourhoods. He considers it important that neighbourhoods are represented by people who live in them.
- Tony Park
Catton Park – Tony Park
Tony has lived in Norwich since 2009 and has been a member of the Green Party for nearly 30 years. He has previously been a Green Party councillor in Dereham, having been elected to Dereham Town Council three times and to Breckland District Council for one four-year term.
Tony ran a wholefood shop in Dereham for 17 years until 2002. He was chairman of Dereham Chamber of Trade for two years. He also co-wrote the proposal that brought the local “Nipper” bus service to Dereham. He now runs an organic veg-box scheme based here in Norwich.
He has chosen to stand to represent the Green Party because he feels impressed by the caring and responsive manner with which it tackles issues facing our community today. He is particularly interested in supporting local businesses and shops to help make our local community more vibrant. He believes that the old saying ‘think global, act local’ is still relevant today and his actions are a testament to that.
He has been pleased to champion a more holistic, sustainable way of life and would be proud to represent the Green Party again on a local council. When not campaigning, Tony can be found playing table tennis, performing music, or out trying to learn birdsongs on the meadows by the River Wensum.
- James Killbery
Crome – James Killbery
I have had a career in community work, and then in IT, in both public sector and commercial organisations, and then I ran an antiques centre for ten years. I’ve retired now, and before lockdown was volunteering with FareShares. I moved to Norwich in 2021 to be nearer friends and family.
I think the pandemic has taught us that when we want people to do the right thing, it has to be made affordable for everyone to do it. And moving to a carbon zero economy will not be cheap (otherwise we’d be there already) This is why I support the Green Party’s commitment to a Universal Basic Income. Locally we should only allow the building houses that meet PassivHouse standards with carbon free heating systems. and solar power generation. We should be using the councils economic position to develop schemes that make it affordable and cost effective for people in existing houses to fully insulate their homes and install solar panels.
- Candidate Sean Gough
University Ward – Sean Gough
Sean lives in University Ward, where he also works as a writer about technology. He believes there is much more Norwich could be doing to create a more sustainable and fairer community and is keen to see change.
Sean is actively involved in various local environmental and community projects. He is a member of the Sustainable Living Initiative in University Ward, which provides allotment space for people wanting to grow their own food. He has been a voluntary English teacher for refugees and asylum seekers coming to Norwich at English+ for about 4 years. He is also a trustee of Globally Onward, which helps professionally qualified migrants into work and is a board member for Norwich Community Solar.
Before moving to Norwich in 2017 he was chairman of his community’s Neighbourhood Plan steering group and was elected as a Parish Councillor. In the arts, he was founder and chairman of a community cinema group. He has also been a Prince’s Trust mentor.
- Charlie Caine
Mile Cross – Charlie Caine
I am passionate about my home town of Norwich, the estate of Mile Cross and trying to make the lives of the people there better in the small ways I can. I believe that under a Conservative Government, local politics is where you can make the biggest difference. We can’t build all the housing we would like, fund the NHS or implement all our Green policies on a national scale, but we can push the Labour led Council to be better on dealing with black mould, or not give huge tax breaks to multi-million pound companies. I want to make sure that those living in council run housing get the best quality homes we can give them, that we build what we can when we can for those that don’t, with green thinking at the heart. I want the people of Mile Cross to have as clean and safe streets as possible and for the Green Spaces and Parks around them to be maintained and renovated with environmentalism as a core concern – such as the upcoming renovation of Sloughbottom Park.
I love the estate of Mile Cross – the community reminds me of the one I grew up on in Old
Lakenham. It has its problems, as everywhere does, but the majority of people who live there care about making it as safe and comfortable as possible – and I want to help with this as much as I can.
I don’t believe that the current Labour administration is doing all it can for the people of Mile Cross and I think it’s important to have a hard working, passionate and vocal opposition.I would look forward to joining the other Green representatives in holding the Labour administration to account
and pushing for our policies to be adopted. - Ell Folan
Lakenham – Ell Folan
I have lived in Lakenham for the past three years, and have developed a strong attachment to the local community. But with that attachment has come frustrations over poor council policies and inaction. Fly-tipping problems, an emphasis on cars over pedestrians and poor public transport links are all local problems that we deal with every day in Lakenham. The Greens are the only party standing up for ordinary people who just want clean air and reliable transport – Lakenham needs a Green voice on the council, and with your help I can be that voice! - Eaton – Jane Saunders
Easton – Jane Saunders
I belong to the Green Party because I believe that Climate Change is the most important issue that
needs to be accepted and tackled by us all. All levels of government need to be involved. My chief
interest is in transport and as a regular cyclist I would like our city to be more cycle and pedestrian
friendly and for our bus services to be more frequent, regular and cheaper. I believe we need to
spend more rather than less on public services so that our City is a safe, pleasant and attractive place
in which to live. - Oliver Springate-Baginski
Bowthorpe – Oliver Springate -Baginski
I feel increasingly frustrated by the dire political mismanagement and missed opportunities to improve the lot of our communities and environment, and sick of complaining I want to do something to change it.
I used to think British society was moving in the right direction and I should devote my motivation for social improvement towards the most deprived communities abroad and have spent 25 years working with rights-deprived communities in Asia. I work as a Associate Professor of Global Development at UEA, teaching, as well as researching and working on environmental policy and rural development (primarily India, Nepal, Burma).
Now, living in a relatively deprived part of Norwich I see there is increasingly urgent need to help here – with child and adult poverty, and consequent distress, environmental deterioration, and a loss of hope at the same time as rapidly growing inequality and wealth for a few – these are
unforgivable and demand urgent redress. Handing out leaflets a few weeks ago I was struck by the despair – a glum looking couple smoking fags first thing in the morning at their front doors declined – ‘no thanks, whoever wins we are always going to get screwed’. I tried to motivate them, but in vain. I want to help these sorts of
people, by being the sort of councillor that they and those like them might find some hope in, not to despair or give up the fight. - Toby Bolton
Wensum – Toby Bolton
As a prospective Green Party councillor, my commitment stems from a profound recognition of the urgent challenges we face as a society. The climate and ecological emergencies demand immediate and decisive action, and the Norwich Green Party stands at the forefront of advocating for tackling the required meaningful changes.
As a councillor, I would aspire to champion policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions, prioritising those that support the Wensum community with multifaceted co-benefits to help address fuel poverty, the cost of living crisis and other locally important issues. Another aspiration is to hold the current sitting administration to account when it comes to making decisions towards a low-carbon, biodiversity supporting future.
As a Wensum ward representative I would aim to be a proactive force for positive change,
advocating for policies that represent, serve and benefit the Wensum ward area residents. - Town Close – No Candidate
Town Close – No Candidate
In Town Close ward all the sitting councillors have left the Labour party, and are standing as Independents. As a consequence of this change it means Labour no longer have overall control of the City Council. After a considered debate between party members, we decided to not stand a Green candidate in Town Close in this year’s election.
A win for the independents increases the chance that greener policies get adopted for the City
