3 April 2022
St Albans District Greens are fielding their biggest ever list of candidates, for 37 seats on St Albans Distrct Council, in every ward. Buoyed by national opinion polls that put the Greens ahead of the Lib Dems, and a surge of interest in environmental issues including the climate crisis, local Greens are working hard to target a number of seats. They hope to get Green councillor Simon Grover re-elected and build on that with other wins.
Three other Green candidates going all out for a win this year are Nadia Bishara in Bernards Heath, Matt Fisher in Clarence and Kyle Riley in Harpenden West.
As residents have two or three votes for their councillors this year, local Greens are reporting residents telling them that they feel happy to use at least one of their votes to vote Green. Councillor Grover said “We are looking at a huge surge in Green votes this year, as so many people are prepared to split their votes between us and another party – as well as the many people who are using all their votes for us.”
Lots of local issues are natural territory for the Greens: from traffic congestion and air pollution to demand for electric charging points, the state of the parks and the growing interest in tree preservation. Greens argue that measures to tackle the climate crisis can also save taxpayers’ money. Green councillor Simon Grover points to his success in getting hundreds of solar panels fitted to leisure centres, insulation installed in leaky council buildings and special glazing for the new museum. Such measures reduce overall carbon emissions and reduce energy bills too.
Simon Grover said “Residents are really keen to have Green voices on the Council, bringing in fresh thinking, saving money, and holding the administration to account on its environmental policies.” Green councillors across the country (there are 447 of them) are also proud to say they are not ‘whipped’ like other parties – they are not told by the party what to say or how to vote, but are free to act independently according to their conscience, and so able to speak up for residents in a way that other councillors cannot.
Privacy: The local party and Cllr Simon Grover are both registered with the Information Commissioner's Office
