Green Party Mayoral Candidate for West of England Combined Authority (WECA)
No one can change the fate of the region single-handedly, but it’s my promise to you that: together WE CAN
With just under a million people, Bath and NE Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire i.e. three local authorities (190 unitary councillors), and 10 MPs, our mayoral region is small compared to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. However, the West of England is the most prosperous city region and the largest net contributor to the national treasury outside of London. With the recent application by North Somerset to join West of England Combined Authority (WECA), I believe what we need is a Nature, Nurture and Needs plan, a ‘Green New Deal’, to demand better funding for the whole of what used to be the Avon region.
We need sustainable transport, upskilling and job transition opportunities, the right housing in the right place at the right price, and we should do this by taking back more powers for our communities from government.
Our local manufacturers lead the world economy, and our world-class research centres are innovating the way we, and the rest of the world’s population live. Yet we could do so much more in promoting a Just Transition, on the journey to Net Zero. We have a huge opportunity in the Portbury, Avonmouth and Severnside economic area with the renewables sector. Yet accumulation of Energy from Waste there and other industrial activity needs not to be at the detriment of the residents.
We have Bath Spa world heritage site, iconic cultural and creative arts, music and entertainment venues to rival anywhere. Except an Arena! Our communities include people who come from all over the globe, speak over a hundred different languages, and who bring a richness and wealth of contribution to our society.
Yet we are still in the worst funded English region per capita for transport. Our bus services are not fit for purpose nor the people who use them. Our poor public transport reinforces the levels of inequality, restricting access to work, and contributing to pollution and carbon emissions. The current mayor has failed to even deliver bus franchising, let alone any form of multi-modal transport plan.
Our collective voice has been muted by the failures of two regional, and one city mayor, to speak with a coherent and collaborative plan for the region. I want to change that. I want to bring our villages, towns and cities together not just in ambition, but in caring for our shared environment.
The role of WECA mayor requires diplomacy not divisive tribal politics. I led the Independent but cross-political party, It’s Our City Bristol project, to remove the role of Bristol mayor as a first leg of a journey to transform our local and regional democratic systems. As a Green Party mayor I want to take it to the next level.
The new WECA mayor must have a higher ambition for climate action, and they should be the champion for the region and everything and everyone in it. I’ve seen the drive, dedication and determination that our activists, community champions and councillors bring to making the environment around us work for humans and for nature. We have the region’s first Green MP and lead one of the local authorities, thanks to the hard work of members across the whole of the nation. There can be no community sustainability without social justice, and there can be no environmental equality without equal access to clean air and water, and a safe and warm place to live.
To rephrase a prominent South Bristolian, I may not have been lucky enough to have been born here but I am fortunate to have moved here. I worked five and a half years for the Leader of South Gloucestershire Council as their political advisor in a joint administration, and six and a half years in Business Development and Government Relations at the National Composites Centre, part of the Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, on the Bristol and Bath Science Park.
The best way to get the best environmental and sustainability gains in the West of England will have to be a composite solution. The new WECA mayor will have to work with all the Local Authority leaders, businesses and institutions to get the best deal for everyone who lives and works here.
I spent 18 months at DWP working with some of the most vulnerable people in the pandemic, and at Jobs 22 I wrote stories about long-term unemployed people getting back to work. I’ve spent the last year working or volunteering at the Shirehampton Jobs, Training and Enterprise hub, supporting people in one of the most deprived areas of the city. My background is relevant in understanding employer and employee needs, and the adult training and skills element of the WECA role. I’m a trade union SW branch Exec member and the union representative to the Bristol TUC.
As a Broadcast journalist, I worked for BBC Radio Sheffield and other independent local radio/TV and have worked in PR, Comms and Marketing. I have spoken on BBC Radio Bristol, local BBC TV and ITV news and been quoted in, written for, and a debate panellist with other prospective candidates. I took the only public debate which Marvin Rees undertook in the Removal (Scrap the mayor) of the Bristol mayor referendum.
This role isn’t about pontificating from the podium or telling people what to do. It’s about standing or sitting beside people, listening more than you speak, promoting their achievements and telling their stories not mine.
Having done work in and with disabled communities, we often talk about no decision about us, without us. There isn’t unlimited time in anyone’s diary, but the WECA mayor should be a leader who will enable us all, foster and promote collaboration, and allow room for everyone to have their seat at the democratic table.
No one can change the fate of the region single handedly, but it’s my promise to you that:
Together WE CAN.
Social Media Handles
Twitter/X @Mary4WECAmayor
07935059611 – text/whatsapp/call
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-page-4002973a
It’s Our City Bristol
@itsourcitybriz