Defection just down the road

Ahead of the local elections in May, a Labour councillor has decided to defend his seat under the banner of the Green Party. Ernie Goody, Borough and Town councillor for Haverhill East, has been welcomed into the Green Party, which he says better accords with his constituents' interests as well as his own beliefs.

Councillor Goody said: "My recent concerns as a councillor have focussed more and more on green issues, but nationally and locally Labour are not getting on with what's needed. I am excited to have a remit to campaign wholeheartedly on environmental problems which affect my constituents and the planet. They need greenways to get to the town centre on foot, bike or wheel chair, and that will cut traffic emissions. New homes should all be zero carbon from now on, and that would mean warmer homes and lower fuel bills as well."

Ernie Goody has been a member of the Labour Party for seven years, and has represented Haverhill East on Haverhill Town Council and St. Edmundsbury Borough Council since 2003 when he polled highest out of three Labour councillors. At this election only Labour and Tories stood in the ward and it's been a consistently tight race for years. So who knows what will happen at the ballot box.

Just to add a little spice to the pot this blog covered one of the councillors of East Haverhill not so long ago in this post about Tory Cllr Gordon Cox (who was elected in a by-election the year after) who'd been hauled across the coals for being a bluff old cove and hating being asked questions. I mean, don't these people know he's too important to be questioned for goodness sake? What do they think democracy is, a free for all?

For the people of Haverhill this is a real opportunity to break from the tired concensus politics of two parties of government that are out of touch, all too often out of reach and in love with the market. Ernie does not just represent a pleasant pre-conference boost for the Green Party he creates the possibility of the beginnings of a small block of progressive politics on the council, and that's got to be a good thing.

In the coming election all three seats in his ward will be up for grabs, so let's see if Ernie can help us get a treble this May.