A WORCESTER college teacher has been named the city’s Green Party candidate to fight the next General Election.
Members of Worcester Green Party members selected Tor Pingree to stand in the poll which must be held by January 2025, the end of the current five-year term of this parliament.
Tor (pictured) was born in Worcester and works as a teacher at Worcester Sixth Form College. Outside of work and politics, she is a keen musician and can often be found playing at Worcester’s live music venues.
Her priorities are tackling climate change, eliminating poverty, re-joining the European Union, funding schools and hospitals properly and changing the political culture by introducing a fairer more proportional voting system for all levels of government.
“The country is facing a cost-of-living crisis. We know creating warm secure homes with better insulation and providing good public transport will tackle both the cost-of-living crisis and the climate emergency we face,” she said.
“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.”
“The Green Party is firmly established in Worcester and we use our position to promote fair, green schemes for the benefit of residents.
“We now have six Green city councillors and one county councillor and we are committed to working cooperatively and responsibly with all the political groups to help run the councils in the best interests of those we represent.
“We need to extend our ethos and approach to Westminster,” she added.
Tor will take over from long-standing Green Party leader Coun Louis Stephen who has fought the seat for the party at the past four elections in 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Coun Stephen achieved the party’s best result at a General Election in the 2015 poll with 2,024 votes, just over four per cent of all votes cast on the night.
Her selection comes as preparations for the next election continue in the city.
Labour members will soon cast their votes to decide on one of five candidates to represent the party at the poll as the party bids to regain the seat held by Mike Foster from 1997 to 2010.
Roh Yakobi, Mark Williams, Coun Jabba Riaz, Mike Crofts and Tom Collins are the five names so far who have confirmed their intention to stand.
Worcester’s Conservative MP Robjn Walker has yet to confirm whether he intends to stand for re-election while no candidate has yet been named by the city’s Liberal Democrats.
