Green Party candidate says Hartlepool by-election 'is an important opportunity for the people'

Green Party representative Rachel Featherstone has been confirmed as one of the 16 candidates who will be standing to become the town’s MP on May 6.

It comes after she received “unanimous support” from the Stockton and Hartlepool Green Party to be named their by-election candidate.

Ms Featherstone, who works on Teesside as a university lecturer, said she is adamant Hartlepool deserves better representation.

The mum-of-three said: “Every Green vote will be a message that things can’t go on the way they have been.

“It is frankly outrageous how Labour and the Conservatives have approached this by-election as a game, to see who can get one over the other.

“This town is not just a brick in the ‘red wall’ to be taken for granted, and it isn’t just a scalp to be won by the Tories, with their inept government.”

Ms Featherstone, who has lived in the North East her entire life, will stand for the seat on the promise to fight for a Green recovery for the people of Hartlepool.

She added: “Hartlepool needs the kind of transformation that a Green recovery could bring.

“But, while other parties claim to be committed to such a recovery, real Green policies need real Green politicians with a clear vision – not just warm words and window-dressing.”

Ms Featherstone was also the party’s candidate for Sunderland Central in the 2015, 2017, and 2019 General Elections.

Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley has urged votes to back Ms Featherstone in the by-election next month.

He said: “I’m delighted that Rachel is the Green Party candidate in Hartlepool, leading the way in the fight for social and environmental justice.

“After an incredibly tough year for us all, this by-election is an important opportunity for the people of Hartlepool to show that they don’t want things to just go back to how they were before the pandemic.

“While Labour and the Conservatives still fail to grasp the need for real change, the Green Party has a clear plan for a recovery from coronavirus which will see millions of Green jobs spread throughout communities across the country.”

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