My priority campaigns

The Green Party needs to make decisions about what it's priorities for campaigns are. My view is that next year we should focus on three areas, and those areas would be in order of priority:

1. The economy - alternatives to austerity - promoting the Green message for economic change including the Green New Deal, one million climate jobs, the Citizens pension and protection of public services - especially the NHS. We need show the important role that public services can make in re-vitalising the economy. We also have to make the case for the low-carbon green economy, reforming the banks and stooping the tax dodgers

2. Energy - we need to make the connection with the economy and the fight against climate change. Searches for new sources of energy such as fracking are only avoiding the inevitable changes we will have to make to lower carbon emissions and create jobs

3. Local food - this is perhaps not so obvious but there are important links with 1 and 2. Firstly climate change is threatening food production - there is a drought crisis in the USA which is still the 'breadbasket' of the world. Encouraging local food production not only reduces carbon emissions it also stimulates local economies and creates jobs. In the longer term we will have to move to more localised economies

Do you agree with my priorities? Please let me know what your priorities are. You can comment here or contact me via email.

West Cheshire GP fundraising event on Sunday - the sun came out to join us - a really good afternoon

Why I am standing for the post of Campaigns Coordinator

We are living through a time of environmental and economic crises. Reckless casino capitalism has resulted in a massive debt bubble, which has bust the banks and is causing real long-term damage to our economy. The changing global climate is causing chaos, and further economic damage. We cannot continue with 'business as usual', we need real, and lasting change. That is why I and many other people have joined the Green Party. I believe the Green Party, is the only mainstream political party, which has the policies that can make the changes we need happen. I've been a member since the late 1990s, when I realised I had to 'get out of my armchair', get active, and fight to protect the environment and the public services on which most of us rely.

The Green Party has worked hard at the grassroots to get people elected. We have had an excellent leader in our MP Caroline Lucas. As a minority party we have a mountain to climb to form a Green government, and at our current rate of electoral success that would take over a century. What we need is a breakthrough of the kind Respect achieved in Bradford West. We need to lift our vote nationally and really get our message across. That is why it is so crucial we have an active, committed Campaigns Coordinator in the party, who will promote the Party as a campaigning party and help to promote our policies to millions of disillusioned voters. That is why I sought election to the Campaigns Committee in February and that is why I am standing for the post of Campaigns coordinator.

We are a small party with limited resources and If elected I would want to use the Internet and digital media to the full to get our policies across to as many people as possible. I have a decade of experience as a blogger and tweeter and I know the power of online media. As well as using our blogging power, Twitter, and Facebook better, we need to use our website and members site as a repository of campaigning materials. We need to bring together all the excellent campaigns resources we have developed so that they are easily available for all our activists to adapt and use, locally and nationally. I would also like to see a re-invigorated campaigns committee bringing together regional campaigns coordinators by holding some meetings outside London to involve our activists in the regions, and holding meetings by telecon to save costs and travel.

If you like my ideas I hope you will support my campaign and encourage other members in your local party to vote for me in the GPEx elections in August. You can contact me at howard.thorp@btinternet.com. If you are on Facebook please 'like' my FB page.