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Green Party to set out solutions to cost-of-living crisis, housing, and the NHS

Launching its General Election campaign from Bristol later, the party is expected to commit to ‘offering real hope and real change’.

Rhiannon James
Thursday 30 May 2024 09:28 BST
A person wearing a Green Party rosette (PA)
A person wearing a Green Party rosette (PA) (PA Archive)

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The Green Party is expected to set out “practical solutions” to the cost-of-living crisis, housing, and the NHS, in addition to plans to clean up the UK’s toxic rivers and seas.

Launching its General Election campaign from Bristol later, the party will commit to “offering real hope and real change”.

Following success at the local elections, where the number of Green councillors was boosted to 812, the party said it hopes to elect four Members of Parliament on July 4.

Co-leader Adrian Ramsay said: “After so much damage by the outgoing Conservative government, we need more than a few tweaks from a new Labour government.

“Green MPs will push the next government for bold action to achieve the real changes that are needed to confront the big challenges our country faces.”

Mr Ramsay, who is standing in the new Waveney Valley constituency, added: “Over the past five years, we have increased the number of councillors five-fold.

“Greens have dramatically increased our number of councillors elected, from here in Bristol, to councils across Waveney Valley and from Newcastle to Hastings.

“Over the next few weeks, we will build on that success and on July 4 ask voters to elect at least four Green MPs in our target seats and support our candidates standing across England and Wales.

“We are offering real hope and real change.”

The case for change is obvious, but it has to be real change that offers real hope. Half measures and broken pledges will not do. The Conservatives are clearly on their way out of government, but Labour is failing to offer the real change needed

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer

Opinion polls published on May 22 show the Greens polling at 6%.

Carla Denyer, fellow co-leader and parliamentary candidate for Bristol Central, said the party has the “practical solutions to the cost-of- living crisis, building new affordable homes, protecting our NHS from creeping privatisation and cleaning up our toxic rivers and seas”.

She added: “Across the country, people now have the chance to vote for real hope and real change.

“Our politics is broken, our public services are on their knees and people are worse off now than when the Conservatives came to power 14 years ago.

“The case for change is obvious, but it has to be real change that offers real hope. Half measures and broken pledges will not do. The Conservatives are clearly on their way out of government, but Labour is failing to offer the real change needed.”

Caroline Lucas, who was the Green Party’s only MP and was first elected in 2010, is not standing for re-election.

Former co-leader of the Green Party Sian Berry will stand in Ms Lucas’s Brighton Pavillion constituency, after she won 71% of first preference votes.

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