Carbon Neutral Aldbourne’s Ros Oswald has been tracking down this year’s candidates for East Wiltshire to find out their views on important environmental issues. This blog contains her own personal views and does not endorse a candidate or political party.

Carbon Neutral Aldbourne is not a political organisation but we understand the importance of having a government that values our environment and is proactive about tackling the climate crisis.

“This is the first general election since Carbon Neutral Aldbourne really got going and so its a good opportunity for me to take stock on what the different parties are saying about the environment and their plans for the future. These are just my personal thoughts based on the information I have been able to obtain so far.

Its been very interesting to speak to the candidates who have been available for individual conversations and to look at the party manifestos. Friends of the Earth has done a great job in analysing the attitudes of the parties before their manifestos were published – it’s definitely worth a look:

https://friendsoftheearth.uk/system-change/green-policies-and-general-election-who-leads-pack

Its an interesting time for people in Aldbourne as the boundaries have changed and so at this election we will be part of the East Wiltshire constituency which does not include Devizes but does include part of
Swindon, Marlborough and Amesbury. Here are the prospective candidates.

True and Fair Party – Pete Force-Jones his statement does include a reference to the state of our rivers but is decidedly thin on the climate crisis.

Green Party – Emily Herbert. Friends of the Earth gave the Green Party 82 out of 100 in their assessment. I haven’t had any information from Emily although her candidate statement refers to her farming background and enthusiasm for the Green Party.

Liberal Democrats – David Kinnaird. I received a leaflet through my door which referred to David cycling around the constituency for a fortnight to meet people. By the time I received the leaflet there were only two days left but I arranged to see him in Chiseldon. He arrived on his bike having come from the Prospect Hospice at Wroughton. We spent half an hour talking about the upcoming election. He explained that the
cycling trip had been organised as a fund raiser for the Stroke Association but once the election date had been announced it made sense to use the route to meet constituents. He lives in Marlborough and has had a successful military and business careers before moving into politics. We talked in detail about the LibDem proposal to take the water companies back into public ownership and it was clear that this had been discussed in detail and was not simply a bright idea. He has direct experience of hedge planting and maintaining rights of way. He had a clear grasp of the issues facing Marlborough so far as flooding is
concerned and was able to grasp the issues for Aldbourne. Friends of the Earth gave the Lib Dems 68 in their assessment.

Conservative party – Danny Kruger who was the sitting MP in the Devizes constituency. Initially he showed real enthusiasm for listening to different views about environmental issues but as the Parliament progressed we saw some differing attitudes. Friends of the Earth gave the Conservatives 27 out of 100 in their assessment. I haven’t had any info through my door about Danny and his plans and haven’t been able to speak to him personally yet.

Labour Party – Rob Newman’s campaign manager reached out to environmental groups so that Rob could speak to them about their issues. As a result I was able to speak to him for about 15 minutes when he called on me. He was interested in what we are doing in Aldbourne and clearly keen to progress in his political ambitions. Friends of the Earth gave the Labour Party a score of 58 in their assessment.

Reform – Stephen Talbot is the candidate for the party that wants to scrap the net zero target and does not feature in the Friends of the Earth assessment.

It is very clear that climate change is an issue which the parties know they need to address. Their attitudes differ considerably with Reform and the Green Party at opposite ends of the spectrum. My preference
(and this is just a personal view) is that commitment to this geographical area and life experience are to be valued. Whoever is elected will have serious local issues to face particularly with regard to issues facing Thames Water. My sincere wish is that whoever that person is they will be willing to listen to groups such as Carbon Neutral Aldbourne to build a good working relationship which means environmental issues are taken seriously.”