Candidates For North Wales

The below candidates are standing for election in the Welsh Parliament Elections in 2021 for North Wales

Cllr Iolo Jones

First Candidate

Duncan Rees

Second Candidate

Adam Turner

Third Candidate

Linda Rogers

Fourth Candidate

Iolo Jones

Yn gyntaf oll, dwi’n un o’r unig bobl yn y blaid sy’n ddigon cyfforddus yn siarad Cymraeg i wneud y mwyaf o gyfleoedd gyda’r wasg. Being able to engage with Welsh-language media is an essential component in legitimising the Greens as a serious political party in Wales, and has the potential to reach audiences otherwise unreceptive to our message. I’ve previously contributed to Radio Cymru and S4C on behalf of the party during the 2019 General Election campaign and would be willing to do so again. I’m an experienced campaigner with the party, having contributed to the 2017 GE effort in Ceredigion, Alyn & Deeside WA by-election in February 2018, European Parliament elections last year and of course the General Election in December. In addition I’ve played an integral role in rejuvenating our local party so as to be able to contest a good handful of community council by-elections, including successful election to my own town council. This activity has brought the North West Wales Green Party attention from other parties in Conwy, few of whom can claim to have been as active or able to stand as many candidates as we have. Door-knocking, leafletting, hosting street stalls and engaging with the broadcast media are all methods I’ve used and comfortable with.

We have a keen group of activists in Llanfairfechan and I’d love to help make the space for future green campaigning in the town. At the moment we have no legitimate reason to canvass the majority of the local authority ward which is outside my town council ward, and which I believe we have a real chance of taking come 2022. Being a candidate would allow us to campaign in our target ward without treading on the toes of my fellow town councillors, one of whom is also the current county councillor. The canvassing data we’d obtain would be very useful in targeting our efforts in the year until the local authority elections, which are realistically where the Green party will make its breakthrough in Wales. Having said that, I’m not necessarily pessimistic about us gaining our first Green member of the Senedd – an opinion poll last year had us gaining five!

Were I to be elected I’d have two main priorities, namely securing a more sustainable future for Wales and encouraging the rejuvenation of local democracy. We have world-leading legislation on protecting the rights of future generations in Wales, but somebody needs to hold to the Labour government’s feet to the fire and ensure they deliver on their fine rhetoric. To me, the singular most effective way to effect such change is through a change in the community, as exemplified by ‘think global, act local’. Reform of council tax to correspond to contemporary land value would allow for progressive tax and spend policies at a local level. Combined with more inclusive decision-making such as citizen’s assemblies and participatory budgeting, this could encourage radical empowerment of local communities and allow them to take climate action where centralised systems fail.

 

Duncan Rees

Duncan first Stood for the Wales Green Party in the General Election (2015, Clwyd South). Since then he has had further experience as a candidate and in campaigning for Wales Green party policies:

  • Wales National assembly elections 2016 – Lead candidate on N Wales regional list and constituency candidate, Clwyd South.
  • Wrexham County Borough Council 2017 – candidate in New Broughton ward.
  • Wales National assembly By-Election 2018 -  candidate in Alyn & Deeside
  • National (Westminster) General Election 2019 – Candidate in Wrexham
  • Wrexham County Borough Council by-election 2020 – candidate in Gwersyllt North
  • Also; member of Wales Green party council since 2017, and Wales Green Party Deputy Leader since 2018.

  Duncan is Cardiff born and now lives in Wrexham. He worked for the Co-operative Group in its membership and community team in Wales for 21 years. A former educational campaigner for Oxfam, Duncan is also active in the Fairtrade movement, and was Chair of Fairtrade Wales at the time Wales achieved Fairtrade nation status in 2008.

Next year's Welsh Parliament elections mark a new era for Wales, as our country gains new devolved powers over a range of issues. This happens at a time when all countries are confronted by the need for urgent action on the growing climate emergency, and now of course by the terrible human and economic cost of the Covid19 crisis.There is a huge need for Wales to take a lead in tackling these issues. Our Green Party in Wales is ready to offer new solutions, and also to confront the other parties in the Welsh Parliament (formerly Welsh Assembly) with their failure to offer the policies and vision that voters have a right to expect.

Action Wales needs:

  • Our combined economic, social and economic crises need green solutions such as comfortable, affordable to heat homes that end fuel poverty, reduce illness, create jobs and cut carbon emissions. We need an energy supply built on community-owned renewables, and greater investment in renewable energy.
  • The expansion of renewable energy projects and urgent steps needed to cut carbon emissions are vital measures- if we are to stand any chance of avoiding catastrophic global warming and climate change.  In Wales, this climate change, and consequent rising sea levels, would mean the wholesale abandonment of many of our existing major coastal communities.
  • Key policies I would campaign for include more resources for the health & social care sector and massive investment in a sustainable and integrated system of public transport – including better provision for pedestrians and cyclists, electrification of all major rail routes, and bringing our railway system back into public ownership.
  •  "The Green Party in Wales has a manifesto which promises, and would deliver the “real Green Deal”. I believe we are now at a critical point – and that we could be on the verge of electing our first Greens to the Welsh parliament via the regional lists. This would be a critical step in creating the political direction and vision Wales needs in order to embrace a Green future!

Adam Turner

Helo pawb and thanks for considering my candidacy for the Senedd elections. I’m Adam, the big, gay, vegan-ish powerlifter you might have seen throwing my weight into demonstrations across north Wales and beyond. An unconventional candidate, yes—but the last thing the Senedd needs is more-of-the-same, business-as-usual politics. In 2021, we will need to ‘build back better’, and I would like to explain why I think I’m the best candidate to drive that message all the way from Colwyn Bay to Cardiff Bay.

In my work as a planning enforcement officer for a county council, I have daily experience of how flawed our politics, laws and democratic institutions are. The Welsh Parliament talks a good talk when it comes to green issues, but we need Green representation within the Senedd to make sure the rhetoric is translated into action—just one Green in the room who knows how to inspire others, change our flawed systems and achieve meaningful change. I hope to demonstrate that I am that candidate.

In March of this year, I was elected to the role of Chair of the North West Wales Green Party, to complement my ongoing job shares as the party’s Issue Campaign Manager and Media Officer. Those of you who already know me will know that my passion for green politics matches my outsized frame, and I hope to use my time as Chair to ready the party for electoral success at the 2022 local elections. My track record of inspiring local activists to take part in local campaigning, such as the “Trashtag” litter picks which I have organised within and around our ‘Target to Win’ ward, will help with this effort.

During my time as Issue Campaign Manager, I’ve organised and attended numerous protests, litter picks and community events. I successfully campaigned to pressurise Denbighshire County Council to declare a climate emergency. I have also provided vocal support to the School Strike for Climate movement in Colwyn Bay, pressuring the Chief Executive of Conwy County Borough Council to accept the movement’s demands. My recent campaigning has extended beyond environmental causes, reflecting the political turbulence of the last few years. I was present at both of the People’s Vote marches in London, and I have recently used my expertise in town planning assist the Black Lives Matter movement in demanding Cadw to ‘de-list’ monuments which celebrate slave traders.

In the Welsh Parliament, I will always fight for a socially just, outward-looking, environmentally resilient Wales. My active membership of the Wales Green Party’s Policy Development Committee ensures that I have a good knowledge of the party’s policy platform, and I can’t wait to put those policies into action. Just one Green in the room would make all the difference—and I hope, with your vote, to become that Green. Diolch yn fawr.

Linda Rogers

I have been the convener of the Bangor and Ynys Mon Peace and Justice Group since 2002, campaigning for civil and human rights here and internationally, and working with other groups in the area, forming strong links with the community. As part of this group, I have helped organise peace festivals, rallies and conferences, and election hustings.

I have also been an active campaigner since I moved to Ynys Mon, 23 years ago, against Wylfa B., the new nuclear plant proposed for the island. I have organised and spoken at many conferences and campaign meetings and been part of delegations to Japan, where we were campaigning with Friends of the Earth Japan, and to France, representing PAWB (Pobl Atal Wylfa B.; People Against Wylfa B). I have been party to the drawing up of alternative manifestoes, produced by PAWB and another by People’s Assemblies that I have hosted in Bangor, with the Peace Group. These manifestos have been for the creation of alternative, sustainable ways of developing community-owned, renewable energy strategies and alternative structures for regional development and democratic accountability. I am a member of CND Cymru’s organising committee and recently attended the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) conference in Paris, working to implement the UN nuclear weapon ban treaty.

I have been a teacher since 1989, working as a class teacher of English and Drama in a comprehensive school in South London, before moving to Ynys Mon. I have worked here and in Gwynedd as a peripatetic teacher of children with special needs and supported students in Bangor University, as part of the university Dyslexia Unit. I have more recently worked as a class teacher in Ysgol David Hughes and supported the students with special needs. I have been an active member of the National Education Union, and union rep and officer when I worked in London. Issues relating to social justice and the needs of minority groups have always been important to me.

I am a Welsh learner and see our need for independence in Wales as an increasingly urgent question, particularly following the vote to leave Europe. Lack of transparency and accountability around trade negotiations, and the removal of rights under legislation introduced by UK government under Covid-19, mean that we are entering a period of deep depression, without the means to even assess the impacts on us, let alone counter them. We need to join forces, across parties and nations, to protect our democracy and international law. As members of the Green Party we are part of the growing movements worldwide, linking climate change, peace, ecological sustainability and human rights.