A LEADING Green Party councillor has claimed Parliament is in chaos after he was chosen as the party’s candiate to fight the next General Election.
Coun Louis Stephen was handed the honour for the fourth time by local Green Party members for the next election which is scheduled for 2022 but could be held as early as March if the current Brexit impasse in the House of Commons continues.
An early General Election is among the solutions on offer for Prime Minister Theresa May and speaking after his nomination, Coun Stephen launched a blistering attack on MPs.
“Parliament is in chaos and MPs are hopelessly divided and putting the interests of their own parties ahead of the national interest. If elected, I would be another Green voice at the heart of Westminster to back up the fantastic work already being done by Caroline Lucas MP,” he said.
If elected, he revealed his priority would be to give voters a final say on Europe alongisde climate change, poverty elimination, proper funding of schools and hospitals, as well as changing the political culture by introducing a fairer more proportional voting system for all levels of government.
The influential Green councillor moved to Worcester with his wife and children more than 20 years ago and previously worked at Worcester Bosch as a senior engineering manager.
He now works full time as a city councillor in the Battenhall ward and currently chairs the influential cross-party Policy and Resources committee at Worcester City Council.
Coun Stephen finished sixth in the 2010 election, fourth ahead of the Liberal Democrats in the 2015 poll before finishing fifth behind them and UKIP in a 2017 vote dominated by the Conservatives and Labour.
“The Green Party is firmly established as Worcester’s third party and the only party which is able to challenge both Labour and the Conservatives on the city council,” he said.
“We now have three Green city councillors and one county councillor. We hold the balance of power on Worcester City Council and work cooperatively and responsibly with all the political groups to help run the council in the best interests of local city residents.”
