North Herts and Stevenage Green Party have selected three parliamentary candidates who will stand in the upcoming General Elections.
Our candidates (in alphabetical order) are Paul Dawson (Stevenage), Danielle Kaye (North East Herts) and William Lavin (Hitchin and Harpenden). They have all been actively involved in Green Party politics and have many years of experience in campaigning for local and national issues. Their full biographies and the details of their respective campaigns are available below.
Your support for our North Herts and Stevenage Green Party candidates in the next election will be of utmost importance in raising the profile of Green issues and gaining more Green seats in the Parliament.
Paul Dawson
I had become rather disenchanted with the political system until I heard Jonathan Bartley speak at the Greenbelt Festival in 2018. Here was something that made sense. After that I joined the Green Party and became an active member of the Three Rivers Green Party, assisting with election campaigns for Community (Parish) Council, Local Council, and General Elections.
I was persuaded to stand, with others, as a ‘paper’ candidate for the Batchworth Community Council elections in 2019. Much to our surprise, and delight, three of us were elected. It was a great privilege, and honour, to serve on the Community Council. Sadly, a change of personal circumstances meant I had to move away, and resign from the council, in the summer of 2020.
After moving to Stevenage last summer I transferred my membership to the North Herts and Stevenage local party and have been helping with election campaigns.
It is desperately sad that if the plans from the Green Party’s 2019 Manifesto had been carried out the nation would be in a far less perilous state than it is now. If selected I would do everything that I was able to spread the word and raise the profile of the Green Party.
Danielle Kaye
I am 71 years old, a retired psychologist, teacher, lecturer, linguist, writer, translator and editor, with postgraduate degrees in Languages and Linguistics, Psychology, Environmental Science, and Education, gained from various universities including Cambridge (Trinity Hall). I am a longstanding member of our community, having lived in Royston for 42 years. My beloved, recently deceased husband David and I raised our children here.
Like David, I have always been passionately committed to the environment, sustainability, ‘make do and mend’ and living in harmony with Nature. So much so, that throughout our time here our home and garden have been entirely free of pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, and we have worked hard towards carbon neutrality in all our endeavours.
Supported by David, I have campaigned on issues that affect our community: against Stansted Expansion and the degradation of our precious green spaces by developers; in favour of making our streets and countryside safe from dog fouling, general littering and other such antisocial behaviour; volunteering in environmental activities on the Heath and as a warden of two chalk pit nature reserves (before my debilitating illness) and writing about them to raise awareness of our environment and biodiversity; educating our young about sustainability; securing equitable conditions for our schoolchildren by participating as a governor and (where necessary) reformer in schools; acting as a conduit to newspapers for our doctors by writing columns informing the public about health initiatives, and monitoring/promoting patients’ wellbeing as a patient trustee of Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge (a role I relinquished in 2022).
Above all, I am a passionate advocate for securing the safety of our environment through genuinely effective measures to address both the rapidly deteriorating global climate and general biodegradation of our waters and green spaces (as opposed to merely ‘talking a good fight’, as too many politicians tend to do). If elected, I will throw myself heart and soul into campaigning on all the grave issues that confront us: for example, by pushing for subsidised solar installation and insulation in homes as well as increased renewable energy installations, and by campaigning to address the cost-of-living crisis in line with our Party’s manifesto.
I am wholeheartedly in favour of all our Party’s policies and aims, and I wish for nothing more than the reward of rendering the remaining years of my life meaningful by working heart and soul for this region and the people I love so well. I know that in fighting for our future generations I shall be honouring the memory and will of my beloved, irreplaceable partner.
William Lavin
I have been a member of the Green Party for over 30 years, and have held positions on the National Executive and as area representative. I have twice stood for parliament, doubling the previous vote on both occasions. Each of these have been high-profile constituencies, and as such I shared numerous platforms with reigning MPs John Major and Simon Hughes respectively.
I have also stood for local elections in Hitchin, and have managed to increase the local vote.
I work as a consultant in the city, but have also previously owned small businesses including a shop and a restaurant. I am acutely aware of the cost of living problems being faced both by individuals and by small business at the moment, and will campaign for Green Party policies to increase both the minimum wage and universal credit, and to increase tax on the wealthiest in order to reduce inequality.
I have enjoyed living in the Purwell area of Hitchin for the last 6 years, since move here from central London.
If selected, I will concentrate my campaign on climate change, cost of living initiatives, nature conservation and air quality.
