Tuesday, 29 January 2013

PRESS RELEASE - Andrew Cooper to contest Euro Elections for the Greens



Kirklees Green Councillor Andrew Cooper has been selected by Yorkshire and Humber Green Party as Lead Candidate in the 2014 European Elections in a vote of Party members from across the region.
Andrew has been a Green Party Councillor in on Kirklees Council since 1999 and has been re-elected 4 times. There are now 5 Greens elected to Kirklees Council. Andrew’s proudest achievement has been establishing the UKs first universally free insulation scheme which insulated over 50,000 homes in Kirklees. In 2008, in recognition of his work promoting sustainable energy, Andrew was named as one of the UKs top 100 Environmentalists (number 59) in the Independent on Sunday’s Green List. Andrew is also the national Chair of the Association of Green Councillors which has over 130 Councillors from around the country. He is the Green Party’s National Spokesperson on Energy and Climate Change
On his selection Andrew said,
“I am pleased to have been selected by the Green Party to contest these elections in 2014. If elected, I would seek to ensure more European funds are levered into our region to promote jobs and economic security. We want to ensure that more people are able to work in the expanding green technologies sector.  This will help not just employment but peoples fuel bills through improved energy efficiency. We will work hard to give more young people hope of secure worthwhile employment.  We need jobs which are fulfilling, improve society and help protect our local and global environment.”
In the last European Elections the Greens only narrowly missed gaining an MEP seat by 1.3% in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Since then support for the BNP and the Liberal Democrats has waned giving the Greens a real chance of electing their first MEP in the region. The Green Party already has 2 MEPs in the European Parliament representing London and the South East. The European Elections are conducted under a list system of proportional representation
In Yorkshire and the Humber the Green Party now has 15 Councillors on 6 Councils in Yorkshire including Sheffield, Kirklees, Bradford, Leeds, Scarborough and York.
ENDS

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