Simon Grover, the Green Party parliamentary candidate for St Albans, has explained in his own words why you should vote for him in the 2019 General Election.

He said: "I was born and bred in St Albans and have lived here most of my life.

"I've been a Green Party councillor in St Albans since 2011, re-elected twice. As a councillor I've notched up dozens of achievements, from solar panels on leisure centres to blue badge parking at the train station.

"Working with others, I've hugely raised the profile of environmental and sustainability issues in the council and in our district. I now play a key role in developing the council's response to the climate emergency.

"Greens are fully for Remain and demand a People's Vote on the deal. So what about the Remain alliance?

"Greens have negotiated with other Remain parties in 60 seats across the country. We're standing aside in 45 of those, including in Harpenden. This was not an easy decision. It's an attempt to compensate for our broken, first-past-the-post electoral system.

"Brexit is a massive issue, but when our children grow up, it will be a distant memory. But climate change won't be. So Greens are standing in 500 other seats, including St Albans.

"That way, people can vote for our radical policies to address the climate emergency and social injustice.

"Climate change is the biggest challenge we've ever faced. The UN estimates we have just 10 years to fix it, or face unimaginable consequences.

"We CAN fix it, but we need to be bold and fast. We need system change, at national government level.

"The good news is that much of this change will make our lives better immediately, not just in the long term. Warm homes, green jobs, clean energy, less polluted streets, cheap and effective public transport. Everybody wants these things, and everybody benefits.

"We also need to fix our crumbling, desperately unequal society. We need publicly-owned utilities, as shorter working week, free public childcare and an end to tuition fees.

"If you like these ideas, please vote for them. Every Green vote on 12 December makes it more likely that we'll achieve them. If you'd like to help make it happen, contact me at simon.grover@greenparty.org.uk.