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Headingley |
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2005 General Election |
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| Martin Hemingway | |
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A brief personal and political introduction
Always environmentally concerned, I was for many years an active member of the Labour Party, and served as a Leeds City Councillor from 1990 to 2002. I believed then that the best was to influence how the future developed was through an established party, and having left wing views could only belong to the Labour Party. Within the Labour Group I worked on issues that were on the green agenda – waste collection, recycling and disposal; provision of good housing; peace activities and peace education; opposition to nuclear power and weapons; green purchasing. I persuaded the Labour Group to oppose waste incineration in the city. I was also involved in the full range of issues that concerned people in the city, and this has influenced my realist approach to Green politics. In the end I could not defend the activities of the new government, and the illegal invasion of Iraq was for me the issue that saw my move to the Green Party. Green politics is not only concerned with the issues of the environment. It is concerned with every issue that affects people, but sees it from a green perspective – sustainable communities, a sustainable quality of life, a sustainable future. The concerns are no narrower that those of other parties, the principles are stronger. Contact details: 15 St Chads Drive, |
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I have lived in Headingley –
on the Beckett Park Estate – since moving back to my family roots in Yorkshire in 1986. Formerly an archaeologist, I now teach Geography and Law in a Bradford School. I am married and have
two children, on eat University and one at school.