Peter Varley and Steven Jenkins have been chosen as the Wales Green Party's Welsh Assembly candidates for the Newport East and Torfaen constituencies respectively.
Newport East candidate, Peter Varley said, “I joined the Green Party because I believe that the environment comes first and cannot be taken for granted. We need clean air, clean water and healthy food, and we must work to preserve them.”
“I believe in Green politics. This isn't my first election - I was the Green Party's lead candidate for South-East Wales in the 2003 Assembly Election. I stand for election because I believe that politics should work for the common good.
“We don't do politics properly in Wales. Too many issues are decided without any public discussion, none more so than the M4 Relief Road. I don't want the "black route". I don't want the "blue route" either. I want more investment in public transport - if freight and passengers travelled by rail, we wouldn't need these new roads.
“Newport is threatened by climate change. Parts of the city centre are already at high-tide level. Sea levels will rise ten or fifteen feet in our lifetimes, and the city centre will be flooded. We have to take action to defend our city against this threat.
“Planning for the future, we need an education system which develops our different talents, whether at work or outside, whether our talents are for words, for music, or practical, or on the sports field. In a Green community, we would use our different talents to make things better for everyone. The conveyor-belt schools we have are not fit for purpose and betray our future."
Wales Green Party Leader, Pippa Bartolotti said: "Peter Varley is a thoughtful and intelligent man who will be fantastic at scrutinizing the laws and papers which go through the Senedd. Scrutiny is a vital part of Assembly business, and not enough of it is done well. Having Peter Varley in the Senedd would not only give Wales a much needed Green voice, it would stimulate all Assembly members to 'up their game' in the crucial area of detail in law making."
Torfaen candidate, Steven Jenkins, who described himself as a husband, carer, musician, socialist, activist and a Green Party member, said, “Since 2010 we have been watching the mental health services being decimated. Some of my best friends are physically disabled and we have seen care packages being shaken up and squeezed resulting in unworkable solutions. None of the main three parties have listened to the concerned public voices.
“I am disturbed by the amount of money being spent on privatised vanity projects such as fracking, HS2 and Trident. Watching corporate bosses awarding themselves huge pay-rises and bonuses whilst nearly 10 per cent of the UK population helplessly and needlessly live in persistent poverty, inspired me to wake up and find my voice. More importantly, I found my political home in the Wales Green Party. I became a member a few days after the opportunity to take aim at the Welsh Lib Dem, Labour and Tory leaders on BBC Question Time in Cardiff in December 2014.
“Although I was born in Southampton, I grew up in Wales from the age of two. I am from a working class family and have been brought up to work hard and look after those in need. I believe we have a moral responsibility to help others who might not be as fortunate as us. Since leaving school most of my work has been based around looking after people or in customer service. Becoming a carer to my then soon-to-be wife woke me up to the disdain that the current powers in Westminster have for people like me and my partner. If you aren't making money, they have no time for you.”
Wales Green Party Leader, Pippa Bartolotti said:
"Steven Jenkins is standing in Torfaen because he understands the need for Green voices in the Senedd. We need a political shake-up in Wales. We need fresh voices and fresh ideas. With a background in caring, Stephen will prioritize the 'Cinderella' service of social care. With an aging population, Wales and Torfaen will find they have a champion for our elderly parents and less abled citizens."
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Green Party announces two Assembly candidates in Gwent
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