A Strong Voice for Kidlington - A Green Voice for OUR Green Belt

Ian is a local independent businessman, and a writer and campaigner for independent retail. He moved to Yarnton with his partner Fiona in 1993, and a year later opened his first small shop in central Oxford.

A long time environmental campaigner, he joined the Green Party in 2012 after becoming disillusioned with the other main parties, and stood in the 2015 and 2017 General Elections in the Banbury constituency. He believes local issues are always better dealt with by local people with local resources, and is an avid believer of local enterprise and businesses putting back as much into society as they take out.

“I've been campaigning to protect green spaces and wildlife habitat since I moved to Oxfordshire in 1993," he says. "I’d only lived here for a year before I led a campaign to stop a massive tarmac factory being built in Yarnton - a campaign we won!”

Ian is standing in Kidlington East as he is firmly of the view that it is time for political change there. “With a Conservative-dominated district council, a Conservative-dominated county council and a Conservative-led central government, it’s little wonder that nothing ever changes," he says. "Funding cuts are handed down through every layer of government in Oxfordshire without being challenged. We need a more diverse and representative local government for a healthier national democracy."

As a writer and activist I find it hard to keep quiet when I know there’s an injustice being done or a bad decision being made. I believe strongly in local representation and engaging with local issues. I’ve lived in Yarnton for 25 years and I’m deeply concerned about the future of our way of life here. If we don’t make a stand to protect rural communities and green spaces now, they’ll be lost forever.