Hi there members,

sorry for the faff - OpaVote, the online election platform we're using to conduct this selection ballot, has a strict limit on the size of the 'Candidate description' section of the form - 10,000 characters. And as there happen to be four applicants to be Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for East Grinstead & Uckfield, and as we give our PPC applicants at least 500 words to state why you should vote for them, we've gone over the limit.

So please read the full unabridged versions of the four statements here, and then click back to OpaVote to cast your ballots.

Many thanks

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Christina Coleman

I am committed to delivering environmental and social justice, and nature recovery. I believe that our current political system is failing us and future generations by driving us towards dangerous planetary and societal tipping points. I want to do everything in my power to promote a truly sustainable future that rebalances our relationship with nature and reduces inequality. Key policies to deliver this include: a green new deal; tax reform, including a carbon tax; universal basic income; reversal of Brexit; nationalisation of essential common goods/services; and electoral reform of the first past the post system.

I have a proven success in campaigning: I achieved record turn-out in the recent District Council elections, with the highest overall number of Green votes; more than doubling the votes given to the popular, incumbent Conservative candidate, in a traditionally deeply Conservative seat. I accomplished this through positive messaging; nurturing a growing team of volunteers; and building strong community support for my campaign. I identified the key motivating issues in my ward and clearly communicated my determination to address them. I worked tirelessly, mostly by bicycle, to comprehensively canvass my area. I contributed prolifically to literature and social media by writing compelling copy and persuasive photography. I featured in local newspapers, radio and TV interviews. I have public speaking experience, both in my role as Chair of Wealden District Council and through the talks that I give to schools and sixth form colleges on nature recovery, environmental justice and political change.

I have a strong academic background, with a master’s degree in Environment Development and Policy (Distinction) and continue to contribute to academic literature via the University of Sussex and School of Oriental and African Studies. I am a core member of the Green House Think Tank, that contributes policy advice to The Green Party. I also have experience in central Government, as an environmental advisor on a Sustainable Housing Roundtable with the Rt. Hon Michael Gove at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

I have strong networking skills and thrive on working with others, aligned to a common purpose. My role as Chair of Wealden District Council has allowed me to use these skills to great effect, working with the local Green Party, Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations, charities, local community groups, professional experts, civil servants and elected officials. As Chair, the theme for my term of office is ‘Nature Recovery in a time of Climate and Biodiversity Crisis’ which offers a positive window of hope, while acknowledging the urgency of our situation. This theme, along with the need to address social injustice, would be a guiding principle in my election campaign.

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Johnny Denis

Dear GP Members,

I am asking for your support to put myself forward, on behalf of the Green Party, to voters across the new constituency of East Grinstead and Uckfield to represent them at Parliament.

I’ll take it as read that you, like me, want to see an end to this corrupt and self-serving government and that you want whatever government replaces it to do its utmost to protect the planet for future generations.

This is a brand-new constituency: and after recent Green Party electoral success when we kept seats in Mid Sussex DC, formed part of the administration in Wealden DC and we now lead Lewes District Council (LDC), the data suggests we are running a close second to the Tories in this constituency!

I think we can raise our game and muster a significant Green vote share putting us on track to winning here, if not quite this time, then next!

For those I don’t yet know and who don’t know me; at Lewes District Council (LDC), I remain a Cabinet Member and represent LDC on the Executive of South East Councils and on the District Council Network. At East Sussex County Council, I am co-leader of the Green Group. In the Green Party itself, I am Chair of the Board of the Association of Green Councillors (AGC) supporting our elected colleagues across England and Wales. I’ve previously been a Parliamentary Candidate for Lewes Constituency and European Parliamentary Candidate for South East England.

I started my councillor life in 2011 by being co-opted to first one, then another, Parish Council, positions which showed me the need for us greens to be grounded in our communities and which, I see, is what gets so many more of us elected year on year (So do put yourself forward! You’ll join an amazing bunch!).

Outside of the Green Party, I’ve been a NHS/Public Health professional working across the South East Region and I have started, supported and managed a number of social enterprises and co-ops as well as setting up and running voluntary organisations and campaigns. I am a dad to 3, grandad to 1 and I live in Wealden.

What do others say about Johnny?

“If Johnny is selected, he’ll make an excellent Parliamentary candidate - credible and experienced!”

Cllr Georgia Taylor, Constituency Resident, Co-ordinator of Wealden Green Party and Co-Chair of Green Group at East Sussex County Council

“I’m happy to support Johnny as our Parliamentary Candidate. His resilience and approachability will stand him in good stead”

Cllr Mark Slater, Constituency Resident, Cabinet Member at Lewes District Council

I hope you feel that I have the right combination of skills and experience to bring to this role. I know that I am excited by the possibilities that this new constituency may bring.

You can follow me online:
Twitter @CllrJohnny Denis - Facebook @CouncillorJohnnyDenis - Instagram @CllrJohnnyDenis

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Rachel Millward

I would be delighted to serve as your Parliamentary Candidate for East Grinstead and Uckfield. At this pivotal moment in history, we must bring the Green Party from protest into power. I have the skills and experience to deliver, and a heartfelt desire to serve.

My background is in cultural leadership: In my twenties I founded a critically acclaimed international women’s film festival, changing the conversation around gender in film. As a result I was named a “World Changing Woman” (Guardian), one of 50 “Women to Watch” (Arts Council), and nominated for Women of the Future, Media Award. After the birth of my second child, I handed the festival to a new team and ran a community arts centre, before leading a live music and nature organisation through significant growth and change.

In 2019, sitting on Waterloo Bridge with my daughter, I made a deep commitment to offer all my professional abilities to serve in response to the climate and nature crises. It soon became clear that I was ready to step forward into politics, and be part of a new Green wave, speaking truth in power.

In December 2021, I won a by-election in Hartfield ward, becoming the third Green at Wealden District Council. This win shook the Conservatives: revealing the appetite for change in their heartland.

In my 18 months as a back-bencher, I worked hard to make a difference. In July 2022, inspired by my word with Friends of the River Medway, I brought a motion to Council to fight for the proper consideration of cumulative sewage discharge within the planning process. This was the first ever cross-party motion, and passed with unanimous support. It immediately shifted the conversation at Planning Committees, and changed the Council’s relationship with Southern Water. Wealden now leads a consortium of Councils from across the region to better hold the company to account, which I chair.

Before the recent elections, I saw our potential to break into administration. Determined to achieve this, I worked across my fellow candidates’ campaigns as well as my own, as part of the comms team. We tripled our presence at Council, and are now leading as part of the Wealden Alliance. I am leader of the Green Group, and alternating Leader/Deputy Leader of Council.

If you choose me to stand as your Parliamentary Candidate, I will ensure the Green Party shines. I have proven ability to excel in TV political debate - most recently on ITV Last Word with former Conservative Minister for Culture, Lord Vaizey, and Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Southampton Itchen, plus two BBC South East Politics Shows. I will also bring my extensive communications, fundraising and team leading experience to make this a Green success story.

At the time of the General Election I will be leading Wealden Council, ideally placed to understand needs of residents across Uckfield, Danehill, Buxted and Forest Row (also my home village), and with strong public profile.

I believe we can win this. Now is the time.

Thank you for your support. I won’t let you down.

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Patricia Patterson-Vanegas

The Green Party has an urgent message for the world today. We are living through extreme depletion of nature and a radical neoliberal project that has forgotten biodiversity and people in its blind race for growth and profit. At national level, politics of greed reduce the quality of life for everyone. The conservatives believe it is acceptable to give social care back to the community, with 1 in 5 children providing care for someone they love. Whilst we deliver social service to the most affluent people in society through tax cuts, subsidies and corrupt politics.

How can one of the richest countries in the world have children going hungry? How is it possible that young people cannot afford to buy a home? Middle classes working so hard to find that their mortgage payments are rising, and that they can’t cover the costs of raising a family. Stress all round. Such lack of hope all around us!

These are all to me symptoms of a successful conservative project that is not fit for purpose and that needs to be replaced by one that will work in the interest of all communities.

And it is even worse for the planet that sustains us. We know that this government is committed to the fossil fuel industry at any cost, and has no real time for regenerative thinking that will protect us from the increasing pollution that has put our survival on the line.

I believe that there is nothing more dangerous than for us to believe that all of this is normal; normal for our society to lose our right to health or decent social services. So, the Green Party has an urgent message: we need to speak up to remind everyone that what we are going through is the result of ONE particular way of thinking and hence NOT the only solution. This is neither normal nor inevitable and we deserve so much better.

And why me as your candidate? I am passionate about wellbeing. My work aims to broadcast a different way of thinking: an alchemy of political reform, human and planetary wellbeing and an inner shift towards a more compassionate society. In the world of my wildest dreams I see a pristine planet, an economy that meets our needs (not our wants), zero carbon homes, strong communities, fertile soils. A world where people can live full lives whilst respecting the environment.

With a background in economics, finance and research, I can quickly understand the way in which institutions work. I am strategic, hard-working and committed to work for what I believe. I have a proven track record in politics since 2019 delivering real change on the ground. For example, in Forest Row, we have created a visionary waste project that is already reinvesting profits back into the community. My vision is to help build a democracy that is ecologically respectful, compassionate, joyful and resilient.

The Green Party can offer fair, green solutions that make life better for all. When we say "fairer and greener", we mean it.

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