Councillor Jonathan Essex has been selected as the Green Party candidate for the constituency of Reigate for the forthcoming General Election on July 4th 2024. Jonathan has deep connections with Reigate, having lived in the constituency for 26 years.
In 2010 Jonathan was elected as the first Green Party councillor for Reigate and Banstead for the ward of Redhill East. He now leads the official opposition of 13 Green councillors and leads the Green Party group on Surrey County Council.
In May 2024, the Green Party received almost 25% of the vote in the Reigate and Banstead local elections across the constituency (Vote share is averaged for wards with multiple vacancies). The Green Party are therefore well placed to challenge for the Reigate parliamentary seat.
As a councillor, Jonathan has led a range of actions that have been successful and he is keen to do the same at the national level.
Jonathan is continually challenging the council to commit to providing genuinely affordable homes, strengthening its protection of the Green Belt, and making the case for the county council to provide the children's homes and special needs school places we need in Surrey.
Jonathan has been an active campaigner for a greener Reigate. He is a founding member of Energy Action Redhill and Reigate, and co-founder of the Surrey Climate Commission. He is also currently acting as vice-chair of the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign. This campaign is actively opposing the increase in noise, climate damage, congestion and other impacts from the proposals to expand Gatwick to be as big as Heathrow is today.
Jonathan passionately supports the local community across the Reigate constituency. He has helped start a community pub in Meadvale and establish a new community space on the Watercolour estate, He continues to serve as a longstanding trustee of Furnistore and of Voluntary Action Reigate and Banstead.
As your MP, Jonathan would first and foremost want to represent and successfully win campaigns in Parliament on behalf of all residents locally.
Jonathan says: “We need to be honest about the need to rebuild trust in politics. We need to properly fund and rebuild our fragmented public services. We need to make Surrey and the rest of the UK a better, fairer place for all of us, whilst honestly facing up to the challenges that lie ahead.”
Outside of politics, Jonathan is qualified as a chartered civil engineer and environmentalist, and has worked for over 25 years in international development and in the UK construction industry. Jonathan is married with a young family, and has lived locally for many years.
For more information go to our website: East Surrey Green Party
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Promoted by Paul Chandler on behalf of East Surrey Green Party both at 5 Orchard Road, Reigate, Surrey. RH2 0PA