Following her visit to Ilfracombe where she met former District Councillor Netti Pearson and newly elected Sara Wilson at the Earth Repair Shop, Co-Leader of the Green Party, Carla Denyer was guest speaker at a meeting in Barnstaple Library.
She spoke about her early days as an engineering student, working on wind farms and canvassing as a member of Bristol Green Party, proposing the first climate emergency motion, as well as her feelings on the importance of having a Green voice at every level of Government, especially representation from women and BAME communities.
There was then a questions and answer session where members of the audience, put their questions to Carla, topics covering everything from Caroline Lucas standing down, to the Green’s policy on Carbon and Wealth taxes.
We asked a few local members for their thoughts on Carla's visit and what she had to say.
She struck me as focused, articulate and intelligent. The fact that she trained as a mechanical engineer and worked with wind farms gives her revenant lived experience for the Green Party. Her priorities of Climate Change and Public Services ticked all the boxes for me.
Netti Pearson
I was very impressed with Carla Denyer. She clearly has the intelligence, vision and experience to lead the Green Party and would make a fantastic MP adding a much needed Green voice to Westminster. Obviously she knows her stuff when it comes to the environment but also was very clear on what is needed on issues ranging from parliamentary reform to protecting public services and redistributing wealth.
Matt Chamings
Her answers did drive home how important it was to achieve a high level of representation. The fact that no progressive alliances were likely if we had nothing to trade. She was a strong voice for the Greens and I am hopeful for her as a member – alongside Caroline’s replacement and hopefully others – in the next parliament
Colin Jones
It was so good to have Carla Denyer in Ilfracombe. As a local councillor I know the problems the town faces such as a lack of affordable rental properties for local families and deep cuts to services that support the most vulnerable.
Cllr Sara Wilson
We held a similar event here with Caroline Lucas MP. Carla galvanised the audience just as Caroline did. She gave us such a clear vision of how much better our country could be if a team of Green MPs is elected to the next Parliament
Cllr Mark Haworth-Booth
