Green Party Leader of England and Wales, Natalie Bennett, is visiting Bournemouth on Wednesday 5th June.
Natalie joined the party as a New Year’s Resolution in 2006. She says, “I looked at the state of the world…. and I thought this is getting frighteningly bad. I should do something. So more or less on a whim I joined the Green Party.”
She was born in Sydney, Australia, and after studying agricultural sciences she became a journalist before taking to politics. She’s the only political leader in the country with a scientific background and probably the only British political leader who can shear a sheep. She talks of perhaps standing in Holborn and St Pancras at the next general election herself and looks forward to the party running a good campaign.
She has travelled a lot in her first six months, covering regional meetings. She mentions some of her party’s issues as jobs you can build a life on, a living wage, renationalising the railways, zero tuition fees and protecting the NHS.
During the day, Natalie will be meeting local environmental activists including Green Party members to examine current plans for the proposed off-shore wind farm with Navitus, the developers. In the afternoon she will meet the Green student group and media students.
Then she will be part of the discussion panel for the TUC Living Wage Campaign from 6.30 – 8.00pm on the Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University, with Kevin Maloney running the event. The title of the debate is, “A living wage – what it is and what it does.” This is part of Bournemouth University’s Festival of Learning Programme 3rd-14th June.
