What motivated you to stand as a candidate?
I’d been working as a caseworker for my county councillor predecessor, Rachel Smith, for six months while she took some time out for family reasons. I was inspired by what she’d already been able to achieve locally and in the council chamber, and I just really enjoyed the work – meeting people, solving problems, holding the council to account and helping get the best for residents.
I liked the fact that my rather random career experience (chartered accountant, writer and project manager) all seemed to have a place somewhere in this new role. Then during the pandemic, when I was making welfare calls on Rachel’s behalf, I realised just how much people valued that kind of contact, and how much potential there was to do more in and for this community.
It was really satisfying work, so when Rachel decided not to stand again, I volunteered to stand in her place. Initially it was just for the county council, but as the district elections were running alongside due to the Covid delay, we decided I’d have a crack at both, and before I knew it, I’d been elected to both!
In the run up to your election, what did you find most surprising on the campaign trail and was there anything that you learned that perhaps changed the way you campaigned?
That first door is always really tough, but I was taken aback by how much positivity there was, and how surprised people were to have a candidate turn up at their door – we’re a very rural ward, with a long Tory history, and many people had never been canvassed before.
My confidence grew as the campaign went on, and it became apparent that there was a lot of goodwill towards someone who was prepared to work hard on behalf of the community. People responded really well to personal touches – when canvassing, I took out a stack of pre-handwritten ‘Sorry I missed you’ cards, so that people knew I’d tried to meet them.
And the final piece of literature, the night before the vote, went down really well – it was a really pretty postcard with a handwriting font note that thanked everyone for their support. I still get compliments about that now (thanks to our elections coordinator Helen Heathfield for the idea!)
At what stage did you think… ‘’wow, I might actually win here’’? Was there a pivotal moment?
Minchinhampton is a small town, and I started to get a few people approaching me on the street to tell me I’d got their vote. That felt good. But I didn’t really think I could win until I attended the vote count and saw the papers piling up. My son (then 12) had come with me as my election agent, and it was amazing to stand with him and see all those crosses against my name.
Are there any tips you would give to someone who is about to start their own election campaign?
Get the literature sorted early, because the short campaign is all-consuming and there’s very little downtime. And be kind to yourself. Especially if you’re quite a private person, like me, it’s a big deal to put your head above the parapet.
The result is worth it, but prioritise your mental health as you go through the campaign. Especially as the job starts the day after the election, so you need to have something left in the tank for that!
You were elected in 2021. What has been your experience so far of the Councillor role?
Joining two councils as a newbie at the same time (and becoming Chair of a committee at one of them), it has been a VERY rapid learning curve! The training was really intense in the first few months, and with over half of the council in both cases being new faces, there was a great deal of political work to do to establish the plan for the rest of the term.
I’ve loved working with my Green colleagues – 13 of us in Stroud and four at the county council – and have learnt so much from them.
My county colleagues are quite dispersed geographically and unlike those in Stroud, we didn’t know each other before the election. We’ve made a point of meeting weekly and visiting each others’ divisions (along with other interesting and diverse locations, from a local homeless shelter to a trip to the House of Lords with Green peer Jenny Jones), and now councillors from other parties comment on how strong we are as a team.
Could you tell us a bit about which Green policies you’ve already implemented in Stroud, and work that you’re most proud of since being elected?
As part of the administration in Stroud (and now with the Leader role held by Catherine Braun), we’ve been able to implement a Council Plan for the period to 2026 that enshrines our Carbon Neutral 2030 goals in council policy.
In my role as Chair of the Environment Committee, it’s been great to initiate a task group for active travel, which has helped commit the majority of a £400k budget for local walking and cycling infrastructure, and to be part of the council’s new Community Engagement Board, which is grappling with the question of how to influence the vast majority of carbon emissions that are outside the council’s direct control.
At county, as an opposition councillor, we’ve secured a “tip shop” at one of our HRCs, a biodiversity officer, and a whole host of tiny wins gained through careful scrutiny and deploying the small budgets given to us for use in our local divisions.
My district ward has been represented by Conservatives for decades and people have been really receptive to kinder, hard-working politics. I’ve got involved in lots of cost-of-living work and use my county council funding to support this and other Green initiatives such as community gardening projects, youth club support, climate action group funding and road safety projects.
What big plans do you have for Stroud and are there any Green policies that you are still keen to implement?
With some Green and non-political colleagues, we are about to launch a Universal Basic Income Lab for Stroud, following the UBI motion passed by the council in 2020. We’ve got a launch event in January and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes of it.
What do you need from local members and supporters to achieve your goals?
The support the local party provides – practical and moral – is invaluable. There are 5000 people in my district ward alone, so there’s no way I can get my newsletter out without the support of my brilliant volunteers, for example.
But it’s also about being a sounding board – as councillors we report back to our monthly party meetings, and I really value the input from those meetings. It could be lonely as a councillor, particularly if you’re one of few Greens on a council, so having the reassurance and backup of your local party is really important.
Would you like to send a message to Green Party members here?
It’s a privilege to be working on your behalf, and thanks for all you do.
Finally, where would you like to see a Green win next?
In Stroud we’d love to be the largest group on the council – we could do it, there’s so much appetite for what we do. And I’m excited for all the target seats (and non-target, you never know…) in the next election. Caroline Lucas has paved the way and it’s high time she had a Green team around her in Westminster.
You can follow Chloe on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/chloeminchchalfordbrimscthrupp) and Twitter @MinchChloe