Greens choose prospective parliamentary candidate for Rochdale

Guy Otten

The local Green party has chosen Guy Otten as its prospective parliamentary candidate for Rochdale in the next general election.

The next UK general election – which will see people vote for their MP and government – is scheduled to be held no later than 28 January 2025.

Mr Otten, 75, is secretary of Rochdale Green party and last stood in a general election for the Green party in 1992. He lives in Littleborough and is a former solicitor and tribunal judge.

He said: “I will stand for a more equal, caring and quality society alongside the urgent need to address the climate and ecological crisis.

“The Green party has a broad platform of policies to help create an equitable and sustainable society.

“We oppose the austerity inflicted on the British people and will reverse the current concentration of wealth to fund better public services including the NHS, care services and education, libraries, parks, police, transport and local services.

“We reject the hostile environment created by the Tories; we want a kinder and fairer society which respects our citizens, residents and migrants, and ensures everyone can access secure and affordable homes. We favour a Universal Basic Income to ensure every citizen has the means to meet their basic needs.

“We want to empower local authorities to build council houses in volume again, and to do this sustainably. We need a borough with less pollution by vehicles and industries emitting noxious fumes into the air we breathe or sewage into our river. This means not just safeguarding the Green belt, but also enhancing the green spaces and waterways within and between our built up areas.

“On a national level, we want to see a dramatic move towards renewable energy and away from fossil fuels, which will only be energised by an active not reluctant government leading the way. There are still massive renewablesources untapped.

“Without this, future generations will not have a planet and country worth living in.”

Mr Otten also volunteers as a non-religious chaplain at a psychiatric unit in Salford, supports the Rochdale charity ‘Friends of Shamwari’ and is a member of the Littleborough Toad patrol.