Thanet resident Thea Barrett has been selected to stand for the Green Party as the parliamentary candidate for the Herne Bay and Sandwich constituency.
At the next Parliamentary General Election, the current South Thanet and North Thanet constituencies will no longer exist; the boundaries were updated by the Boundary Commission and the new constituencies will be known as the East Thanet constituency and the Herne Bay and Sandwich constituency.
Westbrook, Birchington, Garlinge, Thanet villages wards and Westgate form part of a Herne Bay and Sandwich County Constituency while East Thanet takes in Ramsgate, Broadstairs and most of Margate.
Canterbury District, Thanet and Dover & Deal Green Parties jointly selected hospitality manager Thea as their candidate for the constituency which takes in parts of the three district council areas.
Thea said: “I am delighted to have been selected as the Green Party’s candidate for Herne Bay and Sandwich. I was born and brought up in East Kent and love it here.
“I campaigned alongside Green Councillor Abi Smith during last year’s local election campaign in the Thanet Villages and learned a lot by talking to residents on their doorsteps.
“ I’m looking forward to meeting many more residents across the constituency and hearing their views – and if elected I will seek to reflect those views and will work hard for residents.”
Thea says her priorities will include:
- Working with Green Councillors across the constituency to protect productive agricultural land from development, to boost food security and maintain the traditional character of the towns and villages, and identify alternative sites for the housing needed;
- Protecting the natural environment and, in particular, conserving the few most precious areas of wildlife habitat, including the Minster Marshes and Ash Levels;
- Supporting residents struggling with the cost of living, through a range of Green Party measures from mass home insulation to reduce energy bills to Universal Basic Income to simplify benefits and keep people out of poverty;
- Holding Southern Water to account for the ongoing pollution of seas and rivers. The Green Party says it is the only party with a policy to take the water companies, along with other public services, back into public ownership so their profits don’t get siphoned off to shareholders and can be spent on improving services;
- Improving public transport, particularly bus services to villages and towns, to help people get out and about easily without clogging up the roads with yet more cars.
Thea added: “The Green Party is the party of social and environmental justice. We’ll be standing candidates throughout England and Wales at the forthcoming General Election.
“Our constituency was on Labour’s low priority list, which means they didn’t expect to win here, though more recent polls look more promising for them. Voters shouldn’t allow themselves to be pressurised into a supposed ‘tactical’ vote, but look at what parties stand for and vote with their conscience. Everyone has the right to vote for a party with policies they believe in.”
General Election
The next United Kingdom general election must be held no later than 28 January 2025 with Parliament being dissolved no later than 17 December 2024. However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he expects to call a general election “in the second half” of 2024.
For the Herne Bay and Sandwich constituency candidates announced so far are Sir Roger Gale (Cons) Helen Whitehead (Lab), Thea Barrett (Green) and Amelia Randall (Reform UK)
For East Thanet candidates are, so far, Craig Mackinlay (Conservative) Polly Billington (Labour) and Steve Roberts (Green).
