Green Party candidate Talis Kimberley-Fairbourn outlines what she can offer the voters of South Swindon at this election:

Surely a government’s purpose is to look after the wellbeing and best interests of all of the people they are elected to serve.

I believe that the current government, and old politics generally, has failed, and is failing in this.

Of course very many people are doing just fine - generally those with the most financial resources to apply to their problems – and that’s great, for them.

But it’s not the government’s job to look after the rich at the expense of the poor, or to look after the fit at the expense of the vulnerable or disabled.

We teach our children to share. Most of us retain that wish to help.

Why, then, in this rich country of ours, are nurses driven to use foodbanks?

Why is homelessness rising when so many buildings sit empty?

Green policies stem from Green principles.

Those principles are fairness and sustainability, and they’re why I joined the Green Party.

I want a fairer country where nobody is written off or left destitute, where we invest in our health, and listen to our young people.

I want a country that plans for and invests in the low-carbon future we know we need, and builds resilience against the shifting climate that is already happening.

EDUCATION: Greens will scrap tuition fees and reinstate the Education Maintenance Grant. We believe that education is a common good and should be a right not a privilege.

HOUSING: We will bring in rent controls and minimum standards for landlords. I’ve been both a renter and a landlord myself and I believe everyone deserves a safe and sanitary place to live.

BREXIT: We want a referendum on whatever deal is agreed with the EU, so that we can all – including 16 and 17 year olds – make a fully informed choice on our country’s future.

ENVIRONMENT: We want a clean air act to address the national scandal of poor air quality in the UK; 40 thousand people die prematurely every year. The cost to our NHS runs into billions.

HEALTH: We will invest in the NHS and ensure that mental health is given the funding needed alongside physical health.

Greens know that all our systems and communities are connected. There are no cheap fixes for this or any of the challenges we must address.

We need a new vision of confidence and compassion for our country.

Austerity has failed us all; it has pushed many into destitution and many have died.

It was a choice, never a necessity, and it was a cruel choice.

I’m standing up for Green principles, for fairness and sustainability.

If that’s what you want too, put your shoulder to the wheel and vote Green on June 8.

KEY PLEDGES:

I will work to hold the government to account when it fails in its duty to act with integrity, transparency, and compassion.

Drawing upon my background in grassroots community projects and consensus-building, I will work to make politics inclusive and accessible.

All my decisions on behalf of South Swindon will be made according to what is fair – not only for the comfortable and healthy but also for the scared and the vulnerable.

All my decisions on behalf of South Swindon will be made according to what is sustainable – we should not be robbing our own and our children’s futures of the clean air, biodiversity, and natural resources that we inherited.