Greens pick parliamentary candidates for Brighton and Hove seats

The Green Party has chosen candidates for all three parliamentary seats in Brighton and Hove.

Councillor Christopher Hawtree, a member of Brighton and Hove City Council and chairman of the council’s Planning Committee, has been selected to stand in Hove at the next general election.

Davy Jones, a consultation expert and part-time yoga teacher, has been chosen to fight for a House of Commons seat in Brighton Kemptown.

And last month Caroline Lucas was reselected to contest Brighton Pavilion where she made history by becoming Britain’s first Green MP at the general election in May 2010.

The Green Party is the first of the main parties in Brighton and Hove to have announced candidates for all three constituencies.

Councillor Hawtree, who is a freelance writer and edited the letters of Graham Greene, said: “I am hugely honoured that the Greens have entrusted me with our banner in Hove, a bellwether constituency for national election trends.

“With its changing demographics and as many as 11,000 disillusioned Lib Dem voters wondering who to support, Hove could become a three-way race.

“I have some history in causing electoral surprises, having topped the May 2011 council elections, to the consternation of most election-watchers, in the formerly safe Tory seat of Central Hove.

“I enjoy campaigning, meeting and listening to my fellow Hove and Portslade residents, speaking up for them and generally providing a helping hand – showing what Green politics means on the street.

“That will be my style in this campaign: to provide a voice for the many who have been ignored by the political establishment.”

Mr Jones, a former Labour supporter who lives in Brighton, said: “I’m thrilled to stand for Parliament in Brighton Kemptown, having grown up in Saltdean as a teenager, attending the local youth club, playing pitch and putt and, as a student, teaching English to Italian students in Saltdean Lido.

“My parents lived in Saltdean for 40 years and it’s where I first voted and attended a political meeting, heckling Tory MP Julian Amery.

“I am a passionate believer in democracy and citizen involvement in public life.

“I do not believe that Simon Kirby in any way represents the people of his constituency when he votes for damaging cuts in local government and benefits.

“His support for government welfare reforms will bring nothing but hardship and deprivation for so many of his own constituents.

“Indeed, under the Tories, we are witnessing nothing less than the destruction of local government and the welfare state: something that makes even the Thatcher years look benign.

“I believe huge numbers of Kemptown voters will respond positively to my campaign as they view the damage to our society from austerity and the looming environmental, social and economic disaster of climate change.

“I have a duty to speak out and am not afraid to.”