Green Group name 11 candidates for May 2017 council elections

The Green Group on the City of Edinburgh Council lost one member during last September’s by-election in Leith when Maggie Chapman stepped down to concentrate on her Holyrood bid.

But they have come out of the starting gate with their first 11 candidates for the elections which will take place next May. They will announce a further six in due course, meaning that there will be a Green candidate in every council ward.

They claim that any of the 17 council wards could have a Green councillor come next year, and they are hoping to have more than they currently have for the next council term.

All five councillors have been selected to stand again and these candidates named below will be joining them :

Community campaigner, Mary Campbell in Portobello-Craigmillar, community councillor Claire Miller in City Centre and Dr Dan Heap in Sighthill-Gorgie. Susan Rae, who came very close to taking a seat in the Leith Walk by-election last yearhas been selected again in that ward. The list is completed by performer and writer, Alex Staniforth in Craigentinny-Duddingston and lecturer, Ally Broughton in Forth.

Edinburgh Greens co-convenor Alys Mumford said: “At a time when it seems other parties in the city are focusing on who is not standing in 2017 I am delighted that the Greens are the first to the starting blocks.  Year on year, Green support in the city has been growing and off the back of a successful Holyrood campaign in which we doubled our number of Lothian MSPs, the mood of the party is buoyant.  However, we know that every single Green vote will have to be hard-won and we are determined to do just that.”

Convenor of the Green Group of Councillors, Cllr Steve Burgess added: “I’m confident that people in Edinburgh will look at the track record of our current Green councillor group and see the appeal of returning more Green councillors. Effective action on bedroom tax evictions, on safe food, on local shops, protecting green space and showing positive alternatives to public service budget cuts are just some of the priorities on which Green councillors have led.  There is much more to come.

“So I’m excited to have such a strong team of candidates and I can’t wait to get really stuck into campaigning.”

The full list of the 11 candidates (5 women and 6 men) selected is below.

Southside–Newington: Cllr Steve Burgess

Meadows-Morningside: Cllr Melanie Main

Leith: Cllr Chas Booth

Inverleith: Cllr Nigel Bagshaw

Fountainbridge-Craiglockhart: Cllr Gavin Corbett

Leith Walk: Susan Rae

City Centre: Claire Miller

Forth: Ally Broughton

Sighthill-Gorgie: Dan Heap

Craigentinny-Duddingston: Alex Staniforth

Portobello-Craigmillar: Mary Campbell