Kate Robinson, Green Party Candidate for Headington Hill & Northway

This is a call for candidates to stand for the Green Party at the next elections to Parliament and to councils in Oxfordshire.

Given the turmoil in the Conservative party, there may be a General Election in the next 6 months. In November, we will select our candidates for the 6 constituencies: Banbury, Henley, Oxford East, Oxford West and Abingdon, Wantage, and Witney. If you are interested, fill in the form below.

We need more Green councillors in Oxfordshire. Could you follow in the footsteps of our Green Party councillors in Oxford, and stand for election? You could improve the quality of our councils by representing the people and views that the governing parties ignore.

Or you could help organise events and campaigns in your ward. Could you get local people to come out and join the campaign?

In May 2019 there will be elections for evrery councillor in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of the White Horse and 1/3 of the counclllors in Cherwell and West Oxfordshire district councils. Then in 2020 there will be elections for 2 councillors in each of the new Oxford City wards.

We need candidates to start right now, preparing for the elections in 2019 and 2020. Voters like to vote for people they have heard from over time, rather than those who just turn up in the last few weeks.

We will arrange meets the councillors sessions, where you can find out what Green city, town and parish councillors do and how they got elected. To find out more, fill in the form at the bottom of the page.

What you need to do to stand as a candidate

Do you want to win, or just to stand? If you just want to give people in your area a chance to vote Green, rather than being forced to vote for a worse party, you just need to get your name on the ballot paper. On the other hand, if you want to help people as an elected councillor, you need to run a serious campaign as a candidate in a target seat.

Non-target candidates

There are places where we cannot win in the next election. It takes time to grow the Green Party in a ward until there are enough local supporters to run a campaign to win. In those areas we need a candidate to stand, while a ward organiser can run a few events and campaigns on local issues until the Green Party and the candidate are better known.

All you need to do as a non-target candidate is:

1. Get nominated. You need to get 10 voters in your ward to sign a form saying they think you should be allowed to stand. They don't need to vote for you, or be Green supporters. They can be friends, family, or just neighbours.
2. Supply a photograph suitable for the web site.
3. Write a short election statement for the web site. A bit about yourself, and a bit about what you would do if elected.

If you are interested, fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

Target candidates

There are a number of seats where we have won, or came close to winning in the past. If you don't know what a councillor does, take at look at this councillor role description.

Obviously, such a campaign needs more work than just getting nominated. Candidates are expected to take an active role in their election campaign, including:

• join or build a campaign team, including a campaign manager, and senior roles to manage volunteers, publicity, data and fundraising,
• work with your team to produce a campaign plan,
• talk to hundreds of voters on the doorstep and at other events,
• taking part in campaign team decisions, including campaign messages,
• respond to voters questions and concerns.

Candidates selected for target seats who commit to work hard enough to win will get support from the Oxfordshire Green Party, including guidance, opportunities for training and mentoring, technical support and funding.

We are committed to supporting people stand for election. If you have support needs to allow you to stand for election—from childcare to disability support needs—please discuss these with us soon so we can arrange support. Being in the Green Party means we are committed to work as a team, no one has to do anything alone, we will find a way to help in any aspect of campaigning and when people become Councillors.

Act now

If you are at all interested in standing as a candidate, or helping organise a campaign for a candidate, please complete the form below, and the Elections Committee will get back to you with more details.

If you want any more information on what is involved in standing as candidate, please contact the Elections Co-ordinator, David Newman.

Would you like to help welcome newly-joined members into your area? Not everyone feels confident enough to immediately come to a big meeting or join in a campaign team. So we are looking for members who can talk to them about local issues and the things we are doing as a party.

If you are willing to be a local link person who will make that extra bit of effort to get to know new local members, please let me know and I will ensure you are provided with details of people who join in your area. In cities this area might be a few streets, in the countryside a village. I will divide up the areas once all the volunteers have signed up. Let me know which area you would like to handle.

How you welcome new members and supporters is up to you. Below are some suggestions. Tick the ones that you think might work in your area. Some are more suited to a rural village, other in towns. Or you may have better ideas.

The Labour-run City Council have seized direct control of East Oxford Community Centre (EOCC) on the Cowley Road) and plan to sell off half the Community Centre site and 'improve' the rest (funded by further sell-offs; East Oxford Games Hall and the Film Oxford building).

The Centre was run by the East Oxford Community Association before the Council power-grab. The Centre is home to many local groups (including Fusion Arts & Oxford Action Resource Centre) and most nights all available rooms are booked out. Both the Games Hall and Film Oxford are also well used.

The Greens are contesting claims by Labour that they can re-provide 'improved' facilities on a site half the current size whilst incorporating those activities previously carried out in the Film Oxford building and East Oxford Games Hall. 

The Greens have put forward an alternative solution - to instead develop land in nearby Cave Street for housing and instead redevelop the Community Centre land for use by social and community enterprises.  This will provide MORE housing and retain the integrity of the EOCC site.