The Severn ward by-election yesterday (June 11) saw Moya Shannon becoming the 24^th Green Party councillor on Stroud District Council.

Moya won with 439 votes, ahead of the nearest rival, the Conservative candidate, who got 425 votes. The other candidates were from Reform (421), Labour (177), the Liberal Democrats (112) and UKIP (5).

Moya will take the seat previously occupied by Labour councillor Richard Maisey, whose death in April sadly triggered the by-election.

Moya said: “I am very grateful to the voters of this ward for putting their faith in me and the Green Party to represent them and I look forward to working for the best interests of the many voices in our community.

“I come to this job with my own particular set of values and goals. The healthy and sustainable use of our local environment and the agricultural, business, wildlife, and living spaces within it, are all very important to me, as are local transport solutions and community energy production. I hope to support people and make a positive difference in these important aspects of our lives.”

She added: “Having lived in this ward and raised my family here I have a deep connection to the place and the people, and it is both for the place and for the people that I intend to work. 

“Many people have approached me with their ideas and with issues that need resolving and I aim to listen to and work on the concerns that have been brought up during this campaign. I will expect to hear many more and I will do whatever I can within my role to address these for all the people of the Severn ward.”

Cllr Chloe Turner, leader of the SDC Green group, said: “We’re delighted with this result, which reflects the strength of Moya as a local candidate and champion for her community, and wider support for our Green administration at Stroud District Council.

“We were always in a strong position, given feedback from residents showing that there was a local appetite for the Green ethos of fairer, greener politics. Richard Maisey was a very popular councillor and the people of Severn clearly wanted a community focused, green-thinking and warm person to replace him.

“I look forward to working with Moya as part of the newly enlarged Green group; she will be an asset to our friendly, dedicated and collaborative team.”

The official results can be seen here:

Read more about Moya here:

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1. Preventative-led Public Health & Care at a community scale – providing improved Social Care for the most vulnerable;greater prominence for preventative work, including social prescribing
2. Education for the Future – raising attainment for all young people, embedding sustainability and nature recovery into Gloucestershire’s educational system; investing in youth programmes
3. Safe Streets and Better Public Transport – prioritising maintenance and safety of the road network; improving public transport and active travel opportunities; strategic planning for effective, low-carbon transport infrastructure
4. Nature & Green Spaces – properly funding and delivering the Gloucestershire Local Nature Strategy, alongside the new National Forest, and continually increasing the area under nature protection; supporting the county’s growing expertise in natural flood management, and pushing for all County Council-owned land, including farms and verges, to be managed for nature and climate
5. A Thriving Local Economy– supporting local businesses of all sizes; maximising public procurement from the county’s sustainable businesses;
6. Clean, green jobs – further developing the low carbon economy, to bring jobs and income to the county
7. Buildings Fit for the Future – working to convert homes and public buildings to low-carbon heating systems: boosting jobs, reducing bills; ensuring all new county buildings meet the Building With Nature standard
8. Waste Less, Pollute Less – making ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ central to the Council’s planning in all areas; supporting the reduction of single use, promoting and funding community-led initiatives such as composting schemes, and minimising the residual waste sent to the incinerator, including securing any possible changes to the contract to incentivise this
9. Food & Farming – lobbying for proper funding for farmers, including the restoration of the Sustainable Farming Incentive; supporting farmers including in relation to the Government’s new Land Use Strategy, the 25-Year Farming Roadmap and its Food Strategy; recognising the role good, local food has to play in public health; promoting community food projects; halting the sell-off of the county farms
10. Local government reorganisation – engaging fully with the process and considering all the options for new unitary councils, while consulting residents, and supporting the option that gives the best future for local communities. Supporting Town and Parish councils as they prepare for the new Unitary arrangements.

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In 2017, at the time of the incident, Dr Dean was closely involved with helping refugees in Bristol. A patient came to see him and during their consultation, they briefly talked about his work with refugees. After the consultation, Dr Dean texted the patient to ask if she might be interested in helping female African refugees in Bristol. This contact was referred to the General Medical Council by the senior partner at the practice. 

At the tribunal, Dr Dean acknowledged that he breached professional boundary standards by contacting the patient – and he subsequently attended a course to firm up his knowledge of these guidelines. 

The Tribunal concluded that Dr Dean’s conduct “was remediable, has been remedied and is unlikely to be repeated”. The Tribunal was “particularly impressed with the positive testimonials from clinical colleagues”.

It said that Dr Dean’s misconduct was “at the lower end of the scale of misconduct… there is no suggestion… that his actions were … anything other than well-intentioned”.

It referred to his “exemplary humanitarian work” and his “excellent testimonials”.

It concluded: “The Tribunal has therefore determined that, in the particular circumstances of this case, Dr Dean’s fitness to practise is not impaired.”

He was free to continue working as a GP, which he has continued to do locally.

Dr Dean is kind, compassionate, enthusiastic and committed to serving the local community. He has the Green Party’s full support, and we believe that he will be the best person to represent the Dursley Division as their county councillor.

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This is untrue.

What actually happened during the Budget setting was this:

Greens asked for amendments to the budget to give £420,000 to social and environmental projects. The Tories accepted our amendments.

Labour also asked for an amendment – to have £550,000 made available for councillor funding (which could have been used – as David Drew has done in the past – for community hubs).

The Tories rejected this amendment, and the Greens abstained as there was by then no money available for the amendment, because all of the pot had been allocated (to Green and jointly agreed amendments).

As there was no alternative budget on the table, Greens voted for the budget, since we’d got everything we’d asked for.

Since then, the Tories have found a spare £20,000 per councillor, and reinstated the councillor funding scheme anyway.

To repeat, Greens did NOT vote against the Labour amendment and we certainly did not vote to cut hub funding.

Click here to read the relevant minutes, where the relevant pages are 15-22.

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Stroud District Green Party has named its candidates for the Gloucestershire County Council elections on May 1.

The party is standing candidates in all 11 divisions in Stroud District, and is confident that it can increase the number of Green seats on GCC (currently four).

The Green candidates are as follows:

Bisley & Painswick: Cllr Gary Luff, district councillor for Painswick;

Haresfield & Upton: John Patient;

Stroud Central: Cllr Natalie Rothwell-Warn, district councillor for Stroud Slade;

Stonehouse: Tom Jarman;

Rodborough & Cainscross: Cllr Craig Horrocks, town councillor for Farmhill & Paganhill;

Minchinhampton: Cllr Chloe Turner, county and district councillor for Minchinhampton;

Nailsworth: Cllr Gill Thomas, district councillor for Minchinhampton;

Dursley: Dr Richard Dean;

Hardwicke & Severn: Kerri Tyler;

Cam Valley: Cllr Liz Hillary, town councillor for Stroud Central;

Wotton: Cllr Sue Fenton, town councillor for Stroud Trinity.

More details about each Green candidate can be found here: https://stroud.greenparty.org.uk/your-green-candidates-cc/

In addition, there will be at least seven Greens standing in other parts of the county.

The list of candidates from all parties: https://www.stroud.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/elections/gloucestershire-county-council-elections-and-stroud-central-district-ward-by-election-thursday-1-may-2025/other-notices

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Gerald was a significant figure in SDGP’s elections successes over a number of years in the 2010s, serving as both Elections Agent and Campaign Manager, as well as standing as a candidate at District, County and Parliamentary level. He introduced EARS (Election Agents Record System) to the local party, spending many hours slaving over the computer, while also being out and about organising campaigns.

He managed the Party’s first successful County campaign, when Sarah Lunnon was elected, and worked for Sarah through her two terms of term of office as a Green County Councillor. Gerald was also a passionate campaigner against the incinerator (commissioned by the Tory County Council) and chaired the GlosVAIN campaign group. 

Gerald would have loved to see more Greens elected to the County Council and Sue, his wife, hopes that this donation will go a small way towards helping to achieve that result in 2025.

The post Generous donation in memory aids our election campaign appeared first on Stroud District Green Party.

Gloucestershire Greens are delighted to have it confirmed that the Gloucestershire County Council elections are to go ahead, despite the council’s Conservative leader trying to have them cancelled.

Adrian Oldman, coordinator of Stroud District Green Party, said: “Around the country, people are being denied a vote at local elections in May because the Labour government wants to do away with many local councils and replace them with more unaccountable bodies.

“Cllr Stephen Davies, Conservative leader of Gloucestershire County Council, jumped on this move and tried to have these elections cancelled, because the county’s Conservatives were scared to face the voters with their painfully slim control of the council. Thankfully his request was turned down by the government yesterday, but the local Conservatives have forfeited their right to represent the county as we face an uncertain future for local decision-making.

“Now the government has confirmed that elections are being held here, let’s make sure the government hears from local people.”

Beki Hoyland, coordinator of the Forest of Dean Green Party, said: “The big parties in Westminster claim they want to devolve more power to local councils, but Labour’s latest plans will see this year’s election cancelled in eight counties. Our fragile democracy can’t afford to ignore the people’s right to vote.”

There are already five Green county councillors in Gloucestershire and the party believes it can increase that number significantly in May.

Adrian Oldman added: “We will have candidates standing so that people’s views on what happens in the place they live are heard in the council chamber.”

National Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay MP said: “It’s hard to think of anything more anti-democratic than cancelling elections ahead of a significant change in local democracy. It’s straight out of an authoritarian playbook. How can politicians claim an electoral mandate for major local government changes if those most impacted see their elections cancelled? 

“The Green Party is urging the government to save our democracy, allow these long-planned elections to take place and get around the table to discuss how to make devolution work for people in local areas across the country.

“We want decisions made closest to where they have the greatest impact with significant devolution of powers and funding from Westminster. Without that, people will grow ever more cynical about politics.”

The government’s plans are outlined here:
16 Dec 2024 Local government reorganisation: letter to two-tier areas – GOV.UK
5 Feb 2025 Devolution revolution: six areas to elect Mayors for first time – GOV.UK

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Gloucestershire Greens say the Gloucestershire County Council elections in May must go ahead, for the sake of public trust in local democracy.

The county’s Green parties – Stroud District, Forest of Dean, Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Cotswold and Gloucester – say the Conservative administration’s proposal to postpone the elections for a year is “undemocratic” and “must be resisted”.

The Conservatives want to postpone the elections to focus on fast-tracking the government’s plans for ‘devolution’ – the abolition of 164 district councils and 21 county councils across the country, with power moved to new and larger local authorities.

Adrian Oldman, joint coordinator of Stroud District Green Party, said: “Given the Conservatives’ current wafer-thin majority on GCC, they are likely to lose control in May. Their attempt to postpone the elections seems opportunistic, manipulating the system so they can cling on to power for another year.

“It is undemocratic, unnecessary and totally unacceptable. If the elections are postponed, or maybe, cancelled, these seemingly inevitable proposals for supersized councils will be pushed through by councillors whose terms will have expired. The elections must go ahead for the sake of democracy.”

Cheltenham Borough councillor Tabi Joy commented: “Even though this reorganisation would have profound effects on our communities, neither residents nor councils have been consulted. There has been no opportunity for any formal debate or vote on the matter. But if councils refuse to cooperate, the changes will be forced on us by the government. We have no choice but to engage with the process and try to get the best possible outcome for our residents, businesses and local democracy.”

Adam Shearing, coordinator of Gloucester Green Party, added that postponement of the elections would unfairly delay the election of the two additional Gloucestershire county councillors proposed almost two years ago (March 2023) by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. “The LGBCE deemed that people in Gloucestershire are already under-represented in terms of the number of county councillors. A postponement would be unfair in that it continues the democratic deficit for yet another year.”

Greens support genuine devolution, but say the proposed reforms would take power away from local communities. Dr Clare Turner of the Cotswold Green Party said: “Everything points to ‘devolution’ being forced through. It will steal decision-making power away from local people by placing power in the hands of vast councils, remote from our communities and controlled by central government. This can only undermine local democracy, leaving communities feeling even more powerless, further eroding trust and confidence in politics.”

At Tewkesbury Green Party, coordinator Matt Dimond-Brown called the reorganisation “an outright attack on local democracy”, saying: “Middle-sized towns will be wiped from the political map in this gerrymandering exercise, and rural areas will see power moved further away, held by fewer locally elected representatives.

“This isn’t about genuine devolution or even increased efficiency; Labour’s primary purpose is to remove ‘the blockers’ and drive growth. They want to take power from elected councillors and give it to developers.”

Tim Rickard, joint coordinator of the Forest of Dean Green Party, pointed out that the Government’s proposals face opposition even from inside the Labour Party. The belief that they were about “destroying local democracy” and imposing “nothing short of a dictatorship” was among the issues that led to 20 councillors at Broxtowe borough council in Nottinghamshire resigning from Labour to form a new Independent group.

He said: “The local elections in May must go ahead so that voters can choose who represents them as these massive changes go through. Instead of colluding with the Labour government to scrap the elections, the Conservative County Council must allow voters to exercise their fundamental democratic rights.”

The county’s Green leaders will be writing to their MPs to ask them to ensure May’s elections go ahead as planned.  Greens believe in bottom-up politics, informed by those directly involved, and will do their utmost to protect our communities and local democracy through this process.

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Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski came to Stroud recently to meet councillors and supporters. He talked about – among other things – the national party’s growth, its successes locally, and our prospects in the Gloucestershire County Council elections next May. Interview by Sue Fenton.

Q. Why do you like to visit local parties?

A. It’s one of the most enjoyable parts of my job. I love going to see what local councillors are up to and what’s happening in communities.

It’s not always positive – sometimes things are under threat in certain communities – but there are always good news stories.

Often it helps me spot patterns in what happens in different areas and that can help inform the way the national party thinks. It helps with strategic thinking, away from the siloes that can develop on the ground within local parties as they focus on the local issues.

It’s a privilege to use my platform to amplify local voices of local people at a national level.

Q. The Greens in Stroud now have 22 councillors on SDC and have formed a minority leadership. To what do you attribute the Greens’ strength in the area?

A. Our success here shows the importance of local campaigning. We know what it’s like to have Greens in this area and how effective they can be. There’s arguably nothing more important than local representation.

Stroud Greens aren’t people seeking power for its own sake, people who want a ‘career’ in politics; they are people who like to really get their hands in the soil and represent the community. They come into politics to make a difference. Some people in other parties are like that but what’s unique to the Greens that they’re all like that. There’s a philosophy of people getting involved because they want to see positive change in the community.

We don’t have big corporate backers; funding is from members and individual donations. Greens have only two vested interests: the people and the planet. When these are your only principles you make the best decisions.

All the best council groups have had real-world experience and that’s really important too. In Stroud, we have teachers, small business owners, scientists, health care workers, waste and recycling experts, parents.

Q. How has the Green Party changed since you joined in 2017? 

A. It’s grown phenomenally. We’re more confident, more professional. Some 1.9m people voted for the GP at the ballot box in the General Election, considerably more than ever before. And a lot more wanted to but thought we couldn’t win. But we showed that we can and do win.

There’s also an increasing sense of the party’s importance; it’s not a nice-to-have, it’s not a luxury. No other party is stepping up to protect the planet, tackle inequality, protect human rights, rejoin the EU, tax the super-rich, ensure people have access to green spaces. To achieve all these things, our society requires a party that has these values at its core.

The Green Party offers that real hope and real change, an alternative to the two-party system.

Q. What’s the biggest challenge for the Party?

A. The most special thing about the Greens is that we’re a grass roots democratic party. We’ll always support the one-member-one-vote principle.

But that can be a challenge too, when fighting elections, as there needs to be a clear message. There’s a creative tension when it comes to balancing local autonomy and clear national guidelines. But that can be resolved through listening, genuine deep listening that takes time. You should always know what you think about something but also be willing to listen to other arguments and be willing to change. And that goes for how councillors interact with other parties and with residents, too.

Q. How can we make it easier to find good council candidates?

A. We need to give those people who might be interested in standing, confidence that they can do it. There’s a really interesting difference between men and women in this respect. If you ask a man to stand they will give it a go. If you ask a woman they need to be asked six or seven times; they tend to give you reasons why they will not be good at it. This is why the #AskHerToStand campaign is so important; it’s about giving women the confidence that they can do the job well.

Whether it’s women or others who might not have been traditionally involved in politics, such as ethnic minorities and disabled people, we all have a responsibility to encourage people to get involved.

Arguably those who have doubts about whether they can do it are the perfect candidates because they’re not arrogant.

My message to potential candidates would be: yes, it’s a lot of work however you won’t be alone; there will be a team to support you. And you will get training in things like public speaking.

If you have doubts, think about the unique contribution you can make and how much we need the particular skills you do have, which could be writing speeches, being able to talk to people, understanding policy and data. The skills you see on TV that people think of as ‘politics’ are not the only skills the party needs.

If you don’t get involved because you’re not ready, you’re denying your community your unique contribution. Recognise the urgency of this moment; we have a climate crisis, a poverty crisis; we don’t have time to mess about. Just do it.

Finding people willing to support and organise is really important too. You don’t necessarily need to get elected. We need to explain to people what they will get out of being involved with the party. When people realise that leafletting can get councillors or MPs elected, for example, they realise their part in the bigger picture.

Q. Politicians have to speak in public; is this a challenge to potential councillors?

A. I came to politics from a background in theatre acting so I was used to public speaking; what was more of an issue for me was the policy and data aspect of politics, and I had a rapid learning curve in that respect.

For most people it’s the other way around: councillors typically understand the policy side but struggle with the public speaking. But it’s a skill that can be learned and I’ve seen some quite shy people blossom into confident speakers. So I’d say don’t let lack of experience in speaking put you off; there will be lots of support and training in that side of things.

Q. Some people say that the Greens are now the only socialist party; would you agree? And is this a facet we should be promoting more widely?

A. We don’t need labels as the word ‘Green’ demonstrates our values. And I know that ex-Tories will vote for ‘Green’ values but not ‘socialist’ values.

But we are very clear about our left-wing progressive values. We think the rich should pay their fair share and we stand for social justice, climate justice, racial justice, because there’s no environmental justice without them.

And the word ‘socialism’ doesn’t scare people like it used to. There’s a lot of merit in owning our values and I’m very interested in having conversations around this question.

Q. We have a lot of local campaigns around community access and ownership in Stroud District. What are your thoughts on this?

A. The pandemic really highlighted the importance of access to the outdoors. People appreciated green spaces more and those who don’t have gardens had a much harder time.

Biodiversity and green spaces are the most important thing we have. We’re in a biodiversity crisis, and having public space where the priority is people and wildlife is really important.

The challenge is providing community ownership – of land and buildings – in a world run by corporations. We should have emerged from a feudal system a long time ago, we need a more equal society that has property owned in common. That goes for public utilities and other shared assets. Everyone has a right to breathe clean air and drink clean water and have access to green space without feeling like they owe anything to anyone.

Something that really concerns me is the term ‘public/private space’: places where there are lots of rules like no photography, no ball games, no eating. It’s corporatisation of space and it sets a precedent for parks to go into private ownership. That’s the opposite of where we should be going, which is making land ownership more egalitarian, introducing common ownership of the land we walk in.

When I visited Stroud I had the chance to visit the Heavens Valley, which is a perfect example of a successful community campaign that aims to create public space where the priority is people and wildlife.

Q. How can Greens best fight the far right with its racist rhetoric?

A. We’re in a dangerous place where politics has never been more polarised. After 14 years of Conservative government it feels like we’re a broken country where nothing works. We talk about a cost of living crisis but actually it’s an equality crisis. 

We have a Labour government that promises change but that has continued austerity, appeasing racist rhetoric and fanning the flames by scapegoating the vulnerable when people’s worst instincts are appealed to.

We need to show that the threat often arrives by private jet, not dinghy. We need to offer the vision of a world where everyone is included and everyone has a stake.

We need to occupy the vacuum that Labour has left by not showing leadership, or we will see Reform get more successful. And you can’t challenge the right wing by calling them stupid; we have seen in the US what happens when we laugh at megalomaniacs.

There are tensions and legitimate concerns around things like housing shortages and the NHS and we need to have honest discussions around that. But these are from 14 years of under investment.

Q. What’s next for Stroud District Greens?

A. The party needs to grow quickly and the way to do that is at local level, where we represent local communities. We can be too humble; we need to know our strengths. We need to grow our belief that we can do it. We can and must be a huge force in British politics. We already know how unpopular the Tories are; and there is dissatisfaction with Labour, not least the belief that their MPs can become lobby fodder, told what to do and vote by party whips. That’s part of the reason we won in Bristol against a popular Labour MP.

This is the moment for Stroud. We have demonstrated that we can do it at a district level so the next stage starts with the GCC elections.

We have a slate of great candidates and every chance of growing the Green group of councillors significantly.

Zack is pictured with local councillors and supporters during his visit to Stroud.

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The Green parliamentary candidate for Stroud, Pete Kennedy, took part in a debate on BBC Radio Gloucestershire last week along with candidates from Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

They all responded to questions sent in on a variety of subjects by members of the public. Click here to listen to the debate:

Here’s a summary of what Pete had to say.

The impact on businesses of the high cost of imported goods

Small and medium businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and our communities. The Greens will ensure they get the support they need to thrive.

Our unstable economy means we rely on imports of pretty much everything. Some products will still need to come from Europe but we should produce at home what we can.

The Green Party is focused on supporting local economies, including reducing energy bills. To address the cost of oil and gas, we will bring the Big 5 energy companies into public ownership and invest in renewable energy.

Ways to address the housing problem

We need rent controls and a ban on no-fault evictions so that people know how much their rent will be instead of facing yearly increases. The Green Party will build 150,000 new social homes every year under our Right Homes, Right Place, Right Price charter. Housing shouldn’t be left to the private sector for profit. Homes will have the right infrastructure and be built to passiv haus standards so that energy bills are low.

Locally, large sections of Stroud are in the AONB or on the flood plain so there are not many options for where housing can go. Stroud District Council is bound by national planning policy, so development can’t necessarily be spread over a wide area, but we will push to change that so that housing can be built in the right places.

Road capacity needs to be upgraded as part of this. This is not necessarily what you’d expect Greens to do but we have to make tough decisions rather than taking the Conservative line of ‘just don’t build here’. Stroud needs an MP who will work with the council to fix the motorway junction capacity issues.

The need for affordable activities for children

Greens are focused on families. The Green-led district council spent £500,000 on upgrading parks and play areas in Stroud area, and the Green Party’s manifesto pledges an extra £5billion for councils to spend on arts and culture, including libraries and museums. We will also increase out-of-school activities such as sports.

Health care

The NHS is on its knees after 14 years of Conservative privatisation and underfunding. Both the Conservatives and Labour propose real-term spending cuts in the NHS.

The Greens are the only party with a plan to reverse these cuts. The Greens would invest £1.5billion a year to fix issues with seeing GPs and enhanced screening to detect 75% of cancers at Stage 1 or 2.

To fund this we will raise £30billion per year from a wealth tax of 1% on people with more than £10million in assets and 2% on people with more than £1billion in assets. The people with the broadest shoulders will pay for the health support that everyone needs.

Some people’s wealth has been growing exponentially while most people have been struggling with a massive reduction in their living standards.

A lot of this wealth is in offshore accounts. The wealth is there – we just need the political courage to go and get it.

The climate crisis

The Green Party exists to solve the climate crisis. Our manifesto has solutions from roads to aviation, education, food and farming. It’s fundamentally about reducing our impact so we can have a long-term sustainable future and a healthy life. We’re the only party with this focus, and without it we cannot fix the problems.

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