City Councillor for Abbey Ward, Cambridge | Green Party | Historical Materialist | Guy | Daily Updates on my Political Activity, with some Occasional Bonuses
If you need to get in contact with me directly, please reach out via my email address on the Council website!
Disclaimer: Promoted by Elliot Tong on behalf of the Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Green Party, both at 603 Newmarket Road, Cambridge, CB5 8PA
We’ll either win in Brighton Pavilion or lose in Brighton Pavilion; unfortunately, there’s no prize for coming in second 😭😭😭 It’s important that we support the fantastic Siân Berry as best we can, which is why a bunch of us from the
@cambridge_yg
are down here today 💚
A whole bunch of the
@CambridgeGreens
were down in Waveney Valley yesterday! After popping by Diss, we headed over to Wattisfield with Natalie Bennett (
@natalieben
) to do some campaigning 💚 The Tories have let down local residents; the Greens are offering some real change!
I’m incredibly proud to be a member of
@TheGreenParty
- we’ve achieved so much locally 💚 The posterboard that I’ve recently put up in front of my home looks great, and is a lovely way to publicly show my support 🌱
This weekend, I picketed an event run by fascist enabler Posie Parker! It was pretty embarrassing to watch, to be honest; barely anybody came (
@markrwilliamson
thinks we had double the people) and one lady spent the afternoon with the suffragette flag the wrong way up 🤣🤣🤣
Many people don’t vote for
@TheGreenParty
because they’ve been misled into believing that they live in an area where we can’t win, and that they have to vote for another party to “keep the Tories out” 😢 Yesterday, I was putting up posterboards to show how popular we really are!
I’ve had plenty of political activists ask me “why don’t you campaign for another party? There are lots that have more money than the Greens!” My answer is simple; none of them have any good ideas to campaign for 🤣 Over the last two nights, I’ve been out with Sarah Nicmanis!
Esmé and I have been overwhelmed by all the positivity we’ve received for running to represent the Green Party at the next general election 💚💚 We’re always out assisting local residents, and your backing would help us continue to do so! Check your email for a link to vote 🗳
It’s really important that we let the residents of Waveney Valley know about the amazing work that MP candidate Adrian Ramsay is doing, so that they’re aware that there’s an alternative to the Tories 🌱 I was in Diss yesterday with some of the
@CambridgeGreens
to lend a hand!
Yesterday morning, the
@CambridgeGreens
’ city councillors met to officially sign up to the Green Group on the local authority for the next year, a formality that we have to go through every May ☺️ We’ve got some big plans going forward 💚
Another day, another set of nomination papers 📄 Yesterday, I gave my wonderful colleague Sarah Nicmanis her final signature - she’s now officially the
@CambridgeGreens
’ candidate for the city itself!
Today, I’m delighted to say that I will be representing
@TheGreenParty
in North West Cambridgeshire at the next general election 🗳 Thank you to all the people that supported me during the selection process; I wouldn’t be here without you 💚
So many people are eager to show their support for the
@CambridgeGreens
that we’ve almost run out of posterboards 😅 Thank you for all the support 💚 We’ll soon have more assembled - I’ve spent the last 24 hours putting a whole bunch up, and I’m excited to get going again!
If you’re at conference (or are passionate enough about this stuff to tune in online!!) please vote through E03 to revise our stance on HS2; it’s a poorly carried-out project that needs to be REFORMED, not scrapped, if we are to lay the groundwork for a net-zero future!!
On Monday evening, I had the opportunity to chat with
@natalieben
before she spoke at Pembroke College, which was absolutely fantastic! She described Yuri the hamster as “glorious” and “photogenic” 😎😎
@JoshMorrisBlake
squeezed an interview in, which’ll be published sometime!!
I’m feeling nice and refreshed after a lovely morning in the country - Waveney Valley, to be precise - campaigning for the area’s fantastic MP candidate
@AdrianRamsay
! You can tell how much he cares about the local community ☺️☺️ Looking forward to going out again after lunch…
The
@cambridge_yg
are one of the driving forces behind the
@CambridgeGreens
’ recent success 💚 After our AGM the other night, where we confirmed our committee for the next year, we prepped some leaflets for students - nobody should be excluded from the democratic process ✊
The
@CambridgeGreens
had a fantastic time marching for a pedestrianised Mill Road this morning; I decided to wear sunglasses because it was disco-themed, and they’re the most ‘70s/‘80s thing I own 🥲🥲
I’ve always said “we need more
@YoungGreenParty
members to stand for MP” - I have to practise what I preach, so I’ve put my name forward to be the Green Party MP candidate for North West Cambridgeshire! Voting opens today, so please consider lending me your support 💚💚💚
The
@cambridge_yg
stand in solidarity with those peacefully protesting against the ongoing Palestinian genocide outside King’s 🇵🇸 If you want to lend them a hand, they’ve said they would appreciate donations of camping equipment, battery-powered lights, and tea ✊
I’ve just submitted the forms detailing my expenditure during the campaign and collected the £500 deposit that I successfully held onto! For me, the general election is finally over…
While I’m extremely proud of what the
@CambridgeGreens
have achieved on the city council, it’s essential that we expand even further so that everybody can have Green representation, if they’d like! This April 1st, I’m announcing that next year I will be running for County ☺️
I’ve been out in Newnham this morning, chatting with residents about Queens’ College’s planning permission to build bright, noisy buildings right next to a local nature reserve! Very few other councillors bothered to come to the appeal to help, but we’re not giving up yet 💪💪
I am driven by an insatiable compulsion to campaign for change - I couldn’t stop myself even if I wanted to 🤣🤣 Yesterday, the
@CambridgeGreens
were out in Abbey, letting residents know what Naomi, Matt, and I have been working on over the last year!
Tonight, the
@cambridge_yg
are holding a Doctor Who watch party in Emmanuel College’s Laing room 🎬🍿 We’re watching two environmentally-conscious episodes, and have free snacks! Come along, if you can make it - we’ll also be doing a little bit of political organising 😉😉😉
A spectre is haunting Cambridge - the spectre of the
@CambridgeGreens
👻 With the local elections drawing ever closer, I’ve spent some time this week talking to residents about two of our fantastic candidates; Sarah Nicmanis and Hugh Clough 💚
I haven’t been to help Adrian Ramsay in Waveney Valley as much as I’d have liked over the last few months 😢 Thankfully, it’s never too late to start - even small contributions are super helpful! I’ve finally settled down in bed after a fun evening campaigning in Stradbroke 💚
Towards the end of the week, I was busy sorting out nomination forms and other paperwork, so it was nice taking some time to relax this weekend out in the country - a big group of the
@CambridgeGreens
headed to Waveney Valley to support our amazing MP candidate Adrian Ramsay ✊
I don’t have a home - I live in a cave, only crawling out when an election has been announced like some sort of grimy goblin obsessed with campaigning… I’m excited about the upcoming by-election in Romsey, but there’s lots of planning to do!
After a week of preparation, the
@CambridgeGreens
have finally kicked off their general election campaign with a launch party 🎉🥳🍾 They’re supporting loads of candidates around Cambridgeshire such as myself!
I hate what HS2 has been, but love what HS2 could be 🛤 We need to reclaim the UK’s public transport system so that we can make it put people over profit! Last night, I had a chat with
@Greens4HS2
about plans to campaign for better rail infrastructure across the country 💚
I’ve never met a resident that expects their city councillors to be perfect - they just want people who listen ☺️ I spent yesterday going all over Abbey, chatting with local people about their issues 💚
Campaigning can be challenging, but that’s true of everything worthwhile - if we want to see Adrian get elected in Waveney Valley, we have to fight for it ⚔️ Thankfully, there’s so much support for him that you’ll never lose motivation! Yesterday, I was down in Diss again 💚
I’m extremely proud to represent Abbey 🥰 It’s a beautiful ward, with an amazing community! I really want to be the representative that it deserves, so I’m always working hard to improve as a city councillor ❤️ Today, I’ll be catching up on sorting out residents’ issues!
I had a fantastic time at the first day of the Green Party’s Autumn conference 😀😀 I found the different events both interesting AND useful, and met a whole bunch of lovely people!!
If you want to change society for the better, then you have to be determined and okay pushing yourself to your limit 💚 The last couple of weeks of campaigning have been intense, and this one hasn’t been different… No matter what happens tomorrow, it’s been a success!!
I was up bright and early today to join the
@CambridgeGreens
in Newnham! I had a great time learning about residents’ thoughts and feelings on local issues, despite the rain ☺️☺️
During the week, I was out in Coleridge telling residents about all the hard work that the
@CambridgeGreens
have been doing throughout the year! It’s been SWELTERING at times 🥵 Thankfully, we’ve remembered to have cold drinks, ice pops, and ice creams to cool down 💚
While I spent the morning catching up with Abbey casework, I popped by Coleridge in the afternoon to join the
@CambridgeGreens
, who are out chatting with residents there ☺️ My work on a variety of portfolios means that I’m interested to hear what EVERYONE in Cambridge has to say!
Coleridge deserves a councillor that will listen to its residents, putting people above party! This week, I’ve enjoyed spending my free time chatting with the ward’s residents about the amazing work of Sarah Nicmanis, who’s hoping to be elected to represent them on the Council 💚
I took it easy yesterday, which marked the first anniversary of me being a city councillor ✊ I’ve learned lots during this time, and I’m hoping to have an even stronger second year as I prepare for a new challenge; running for County! Today, though, I’ll continue to rest 😴
The campaign is over - it’s come time to DE-CAMPAIGN 💚 Recently, I’ve helped take down some of the posterboards that our amazing supporters have allowed us to put up at their homes all over the city; they’re now all safely packed away, ready to be brought out again next year!
Today is my birthday 🎉🍾🎊🥳 In around 25 minutes, I’ll be 26 years old! Over the next year, please expect my ruthless approach towards activism to reach even greater heights 😉 Photo: Celebrating with Swamp Thing 🐸
😎😎 PARTYING WITH THE
@CambridgeGreens
😎😎
It’s been an incredibly busy week, with a whole bunch of stressful stuff going on, so it’s been great to have a chance to relax and unwind 😌😌 Come join us at
@thrivecambridge
(N.B - There’s a small entry cost for the event!!)
I’ve just got back from celebrating a successful day with the
@CambridgeGreens
🎉🍾🎊 We had DJs, we had dancing, and we had a pretty substantial amount of alcohol…
Gove’s speech today doubles down on the plans that he set out earlier this year, while still suffering from the same core problem; the gentrification of Cambridge will do nothing to help working people, who have watched the city be gutted in recent years…
The fantastic Chloé Mosonyi (left), chair of the
@cambridge_yg
, is currently running to represent the Eastern Region on the Green Party Regional Council! I’ve just put her as my first choice for the role, as she’s a dedicated activist with the bold ideas that the party needs 💚
I’ve been out in Coleridge this morning with the
@CambridgeGreens
’ amazing Sarah Nicmanis! We spoke to residents around Fanshawe Road about their concerns; it was worrying to see smashed glass and evidence of drug abuse around a nearby football pitch; hoping to sort ASAP!
Five of
@TheGreenParty
’s MP candidates for places around Cambridgeshire 💚 I’ve said that the
@CambridgeGreens
have been helping me many times recently; it’s hard not to when they’ve been doing so nearly every day! They’ve aided with some final preparation for the next few days…
People all over North West Cambridgeshire have been in touch to tell me how excited they are to vote Green on 4th July 💚 I was down in Ramsey today to put up a posterboard…
On Friday evening at 6pm, I’ll be running a talk on Marxian economic thought and its links to environmentalism for
@cambridge_yg
at Emmanuel College - come along if you’re a young person confused about why we live with so many societal problems, both environmental and otherwise!
TURNING POINT: I am absolutely delighted that the Greens now have 4 MPs, something that’s long overdue 🌱 There’s a lot more work to be done - and a lot more seats for us to win - but, for now, I’m taking things easy. Today, I’ve been at London Film & Comic Con 📚
Nearly everybody I speak to recognises that Cambridge is politically stagnant; yesterday, the
@cambridge_yg
were out chatting with residents in Coleridge about how we can bring about some real change! We capped off the afternoon with a drink down at The Rock, a great local pub 🍻
@CambridgeGreens
v.
@CambridgeLabour
: The Fight of the Century 🥊 This afternoon, I challenged Cllr
@sam_carling_
to a charity boxing match! I really want to raise some money for charity and make more people aware of all the boxing facilities in Cambridge ☺️ Sadly, he said no…
I try to get a bit of rest on Sundays and Mondays - this week was no different ☺️ I caught up on some reading, and enjoyed the Plant Safari run by Pesticide-Free Cambridge and
@onthevergecambs
, where I learned about all the amazing plants that can be found in our streets 💚
On an entirely separate note, the scheme can also be criticised from an environmental standpoint; can a proposal that exists to support Cambridge’s corporate expansion beyond what it’s natural resources are able to provide really be called environmentally-conscious?
I’m settling in for the night after ANOTHER evening out with the
@cambridge_yg
☺️ This time, we were at the
@SolidariTeeUK
quiz in Cambridge, raising money for refugees and asylum seekers! It’s an incredible cause, and we had a great time; I wasn’t particularly good, though 😭😭
The
@cambridge_yg
are down at the city’s Guildhall tonight to ask Cambridge City Council about the effect HC Bill 325 might have on the authority, as well as challenge it over its rather unimpressive response to the current situation in the Middle East…
I had a fantastic time at conference over the weekend; I got to meet so many lovely people!! Also, look who was on the same train as me on the second leg of my journey…
Yesterday, I celebrated finally getting my nomination papers submitted with independent councillor Kirsty Knight (
@Kirsty4Orton
) 🎉🍾🎊🥳 I’m officially on the ballot paper!! Thank you to everybody that’s given me a hand - I can’t emphasise enough how much I appreciate it 💚
Between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus came the Harrowing of Hell! I had a read through some of the York Mystery Plays as I travelled down to London to support the
@YoungGreenParty
- if we want to see more young politicians, we need to help them out wherever we can 💚
Campaigning for Sarah Nicmanis has kept me busy over the last couple of days! If you’ve ever been out doorknocking with me, you’ll know that I enter into a bit of a frenzy 😅 Here are some photos from yesterday’s big session! 💚
I was out yesterday at the East of England Showground with the lovely Orton Waterville independent councillor Kirsty Knight - AEPG’s plans for the site focus on providing amenities that benefit the community, all the while placing a heavy emphasis on proper sustainability 🌱
Recently, the council has debated whether the River Cam should contain a designated bathing area. While I want the river to be clean and swimmable, I can’t support proposals that put an undue amount of trust in Anglian Water, given their track record!
I’ve spent a lot of time this week chatting with residents about the threat to certain trees on St. Matthew’s Piece. It’s been great to see such a backlash to the proposal; I’ve received just shy of 90 emails about it!
The
@cambridge_yg
have just published their new term card! Come on down to the University Centre later today to hear me chat about some of the awesome events that we’ll be running this term - I’ll be hosting a few myself, including a tour of the Guildhall THIS WEDNESDAY ☺️☺️☺️
I’m with the
@CambridgeGreens
’ fantastic Cllr Jean Glasberg tonight for Environment and Community committee! I’m all prepped to support grants for community projects that are going to benefit the less affluent areas of the city ☺️☺️ Wish us both luck 🤞🤞🤞
Go and have a look at my new website - 💚 It’s around a week old, and provides links to my recent exchanges with the press. The other week, I gave the Hunts Post my thoughts on what needs to be done to protect the NHS ✊
If you know anything about me at all, you’ll understand that I will work relentlessly to get as many votes as we possibly can ☺️ Every single vote is absolutely precious, and helps the party grow!!
Also, do lend my AMAZING
@cambridge_yg
colleague, Esmé Hennessy, your vote, too; she’s hoping to run for MP in St. Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire, and would be absolutely FANTASTIC in the role 💚
Naomi and I have spent this chilly winter evening chatting with Marshall about their new housing development 🥶🥶 We’ve emphasised that they need to keep Cambridge’s VERY limited water supply in mind!!
While there are good landlords and bad landlords, that’s only relative to the average landlord - I want to see a society where everybody’s home belongs to them. I’ve always respected the amazing work of
@ACORNunion
, but only got around to actually joining yesterday ✊
Do you like forests? Yeah? Well, do you like TINY forests? Recently, I’ve been chatting with
@Earthwatch_Eur
about getting more tiny forests in Cambridge!
I travelled down to Cheltenham today for
@unitetheunion
’s Protect the Right to Strike rally - it was great to see so many unions come together to defend one of workers’ fundamental rights ✊✊✊ I was also happy to see some
@TheGreenParty
representation ☺️☺️
I was busy yesterday chatting about the work of the
@cambridge_yg
at their Refresher’s Fair stall! This evening, I’ll be at Planning and Transport (I’ll chat about that more soon…) I’ll also be having a convo with the incredibly talented Professor Victor Merriman in the morning!
On hot days, many of Abbey’s residents head down to the river for a swim 🏊♀️🏊♂️ Sadly, given its disgusting state, this is rarely a good idea! It’s essential that we let more people know… To this end, I’ve begun to experiment with testing water samples 💧
Get the Tories out - vote Green, a party that wants to abolish the undemocratic first-past-the-post system which allows the Conservatives to cling onto power ✊ Other parties have consistently failed to deliver a coup de grâce to the Tories, letting them get back in ⚔️
Yesterday, while I was down at the
@cam4palestine
encampment, I was invited in to talk about the fact that Cambridge City Council are finally moving towards divesting from organisations that have been complicit in arming Israel 🇵🇸
It’s the end of term, and the
@cambridge_yg
are trying to cram in a couple more events before Christmas 🎄🎄🎄 I ran a talk on Nietzsche last night, and we’ve spent today at the Mill Road Winter Fair ☺️ We’re going to top it all off with a movie night 🍿🎞🎬📽
Thank you to every single person that voted for me in North West Cambridgeshire - your support means so much 💚 I’m delighted to have surpassed the vote share that I was expecting!
I’m spending the evening with the
@CambridgeGreens
’ own Jean Glasberg, watching
@PCW_Film
, a film about the state of the city’s water supply - I’m sure it will be chilling 😱😱
Earlier this week, a colleague of Frank’s came to me to ask if I knew anybody that could help him create a website; I was happy to forward them on to somebody far more talented than I am 😉 I wish Frank luck 💚💚💚 If you can spare some cash, help them get over the finish line!
I can now finally get back to talking about Abbey 🥰 As usual, I had a great time at the ward’s Big Lunch, one of its many fantastic community events! I even won a free MOT in the raffle, although I returned it so it could be given to somebody more in need of it; I don’t drive 😅
I hope everybody in Cambridge enjoyed the fireworks 🎆🎇🎆🎇 They were super great!! I’m hoping we can arrange something even more exciting (AND more environmentally friendly 😉😉) next year!
The contempt that mainstream politicians have for working people is obvious - I’ve seen it for myself during my time as a city councillor! Recently, I’ve been campaigning with
@unitetheunion
against the “social cleansing” of Cambridge ✊ However, there’s more work to be done…
I had a great time over in St. Ives today for the Huntingdonshire Climate Conversation conference, hosted by the amazing
@Lara4StNeots
! There were fantastic speakers, and I even got to learn about 🪱🪱 Here are just a few of my many photos;
It’s essential that we empower young people to take the initiative to improve society 💪 Today,
@Lara4StNeots
,
@LabourAlexB
, and myself spoke to students at a summit run by the Cambridgeshire Student Forum to offer some guidance about where they can best channel their energy ⚡️
Yuri and I both think it’s really important that
@cambridge_yg
and
@CambridgeGreens
remains a trans-inclusive space; I mean, look how much Yuri enjoys his rainbow bridge!!
On the subject of sports, Naomi, Alex (
@LabourAlexB
), and I have been down to the Abbey Stadium to chat with Cambridge United Football Club about improving bus connectivity to the site, as well as how to encourage more people to cycle down there ⚽️
The Abbey Trails Collective have put an incredible amount of effort into this BMX track, which has sadly been closed off by the Council due to safety concerns 😭 Yesterday, I met up with one of the people involved to chat about what we can do to have it reopened to the public 🚲
Plucky upstarts are a dime a dozen in British politics 🐊 History is full of wasted potential, great candidates losing because they were short a handful of votes - the better person doesn’t always come out on top. We can’t let that happen to Siân Berry! More campaigning today…