I am standing as the Green Party candidate in Bristol East because I believe that we have the right to have access to a decent education, the opportunity to find a job and to live in flourishing communities. I am a strong believer in equality issues and fairness.  I grew up in an era of prejudice and inequalities and I feel that change has been difficult to measure.  

Not only is The Green Party opposed to austerity measures that are affecting families and whole communities, it is making a real tangible stand to develop a party for all. I want to listen to what people across Bristol East want and do my part in helping make better choices for this diverse and rich community.

Thank you for your support.
Lorraine Francis

Every Green Party candidate for parliament needs to pay a deposit of £500 - no deposit means no candidate, which means no Green vote. For the Green Party, with no large corporate backers, this presents a considerable financial challenge as we aim to give everyone in the country the opportunity to vote Green in 2015.

In addition, all candidates have the opportunity to produce one leaflet which will be delivered to every household in the constituency via FreePost. In many cases this will be the only opportunity a Green Party candidate will have to contact every household in their constituency.  Although this FreePost leaflet is available at a much reduced cost of £600, this is still a sizable sum for a party such as ours.

This makes a total of £1,100 which is needed in advance to give everyone in Bristol East the opportunity of voting Green AND a chance for us to tell them why they should do so.

The deposit is returned if at least 5% of those who vote, vote Green. That is just one in every twenty.With the huge surge in membership nationally and especially within Bristol East I may well reach this target or even win! Voting Green though is not just about winning - it sends it a strong message to Government that business as usual is simply unacceptable.

If this target is exceeded I will arrange a “Meet the Candidate” event to which all those who contribute to this crowd fund will be invited.