Greens name candidates for Devizes, Chippenham and North Wiltshire

Emma Dawnay from the Chippenham, Devizes and North Wiltshire Green Party said: "Although the next General Election is not scheduled until 2022, recent events have shown that the public may yet be given a say to help resolve any deadlock within the Parliamentary system.

"The Greens are ready and want voters to have a full voice in any debate."

Locally the Green party has been active in campaigning for local issues such as keeping the Oxenwood and Braeside outdoor educational centres open and opposing a planned incinerator being built at Westbury.

Mrs Dawnay, who is the vice-chair of the local Green party, will stand in Devizes having previously fought two previous parliamentary elections.

She grew up in the Devizes constituency and moved back here to her childhood home to care for her elderly mother. She is married and has a daughter at St Johns School in Marlborough.

She is also a scientist with a degree from Cambridge University and a PhD, and has a passion for economics.

She said: “We are on average three times richer than when I was a child, however we are told we don’t have enough money for basic public services or for taking the steps necessary to combat climate change.

"The good news is that we do have enough, and public investment will be good for creating meaningful well-paid jobs as well as reducing our energy requirements and incentivising the transition to renewable energy.”

The Chippenham candidate is making it easy for voters to remember which party she represents. Retired civil servant Margaret Green said: "I am keen to drive forward social and environmental justice for all citizens, to ensure that there is a sustainable future for our young people and all life on earth."

Prior to retirement Margaret lived in Chippenham for seven years where she worked at Corsham coordinating IT support for MOD systems, having moved from a similar role for the RAF. Earlier in her career she was a PE teacher and a fighter controller in the RAF. She is married with two grown up daughters, and now lives in Devizes.

Bonnie Jackson, who lives in a village near Chippenham with her husband Andrew and young son, is the Green's North Wiltshire candidate.

She said: "I joined the Green Party on the day that Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord. Since then our hearts have been broken by scenes of plastic pollution in the BBC's Blue Planet, we have heard that Britain has lost half of its wildlife in the last 30 years and the IPCC have warned we have 12 years to avoid climate catastrophe.

"We consumers are doing our best to recycle and shop more considerately, but we also need a sound political solution."