Green Blogging

We are fortunate in Norwich.  The Green Party are currently the second largest party on the City Council, and look set to take over after the next election.

One person who deserves credit for this is Adrian Ramsay, who has been the leader of the Greens until recently.  However at the end of 2009 Adrian resigned his position, to concentrate on his campaign to defeat Charles Clarke, the current Labour MP for Norwich South, at the general election later this year.  Claire Stephenson, the former deputy, was elected leader in his place.

Claire very kindly came over to let me interview her, just before Christmas.  Although self depreciating, she is a very interesting person.  After studying English at Nottingham University, and then paying off her overdraft in six months (an impressive achievement), she studied for a TEFL course, before going to teach and live abroad for three years.

The two places she went to, could not have been more different.  In Zenelograd, surrounded by Russian forests, she found a close knit and friendly community with strong links to the countryside and nature.  Whereas in Jakarta in Indonesia she found a countyside almost completely denuded of is former rainforest, rampant consumerism side by side with abject poverty, and an unhappy people.

Coming back to England, Claire came to UEA in 2001 to study for a PGCE.  She joined the Green Party, and in 2006 stood for the council seat in Nelson Ward, which she has represented ever since.

Talking to Claire about her work for the Council, it is clear that she is a hard and dedicated worker.  She teaches a 30% timetable, but the rest of her time is devoted to her Council duties.   These range from sitting on committees, through constituency work, to delivering Green Views (the Green Party local newspaper).  But she enjoys it all.

Her main dislike is the aggressive attitude some Councillors  adopt, which she considers unpleasant and unnecessary.  Claire herself appears quiet, thoughtful and courteous.  She also has the ability to explain things simply and clearly, which is very refreshing,

Claire is under no illusions about the difficulty of the tasks that will face her and the Green Party, should they have a majority and form an administration after 6 May.   Funding is at its lowest level for years, plus it is likely that many initiatives will be blocked by the County Council, who have control of education, highways and the disposal of rubbish.  Unless the city were to be given unitary status, which does not look likely short term.

Although I am a Green party member myself, this was the first time I had met Claire properly and I was very impressed.  I think she will make a careful and thoughtful leader, should the Greens take over in May, and the city is lucky to have her.

You will find a pdf of my full interview of Claire Stephenson online here.