We asked General Election candidate Danni Braine (Green Party) your questions – here’s their candidate profile which answers them.
Candidates may be providing answers before the publication of their party’s manifesto. Therefore, things may develop or be updated after these have been published.
Candidate Details:
Constituency: Stone, Great Wryley and Penkridge
Which city/town/village do you live in? : Perton
Is it within the constituency boundary of the new seat? (If no, please advise whether you intend to move within the constituency and if so in what timeframe) : Although Perton is not within the boundary, I am within a 20 minute drive of the boundary and I am very familiar with all towns and villages within the boundary area
Personal Background : I am 49 (I turn 50 in August!) I have two teenage sons, and I work for a bank. I am a very keen runner and have completed 7 marathons, with several more planned for this year (I will also be running in the Stone 10k in June) I also love swimming, preferably outside, in (permitted) reservoirs and rivers.
Political Background : What experience do you have as an elected official? Short answer – none. Why am I standing and what do I think I could bring to the role? Having been involved in the last 2 campaigns for the Green Party I now understand how the levels of council work and how the role of a Member of Parliament is to work for both the local area, and for the country. Being an MP is about juggling these two areas and many MPs spend the majority of their time in London. If I were to be elected, I can categorically say I would NOT be moving to London. Staffordshire is my home. My teenage sons are happy here. I love running and swimming in the countryside. And I would fully intend to work with the local Councils (Parish, District, County and Borough) to help locals with the issues that matter to them.
Candidate Question:
The new constituency seat is geographically extensive. If you are elected as our MP, how will you ensure that the town of Stone gets the representation it needs?
I live in a small-medium size village (Perton) and know how much the needs of Perton differ to those of Bilbrook and Codsall, and these differ to the needs of Brewood and Coven and Penkridge. Working with the local councils will be key. I would also hold regular clinics in the area, ensuring these are spread between the different towns and villages, and I would encourage constituents to contact me.
How will you keep in touch with Stone residents if you are elected as our MP?
By holding regular local clinics, by providing updates to your newsletter (A Little bit of Stone) and encouraging letters to the editor for my attention, and by encouraging constituents to contact me. My home is in Staffordshire and this is where I want to spend my time and make a difference.
Why are you standing to be our MP?
Because whoever wins this election needs to save the NHS, needs to address the cost-of-living crisis in a fair way, and desperately needs to address global warming and the issue of clean water/sewage dumping in our water. Green MPs would be able to hold the government accountable on these points and put pressure on the government to fairly and fully address these issues
How will you address the lack of NHS services in the area? Currently, no local dentists are taking on adult NHS patients, and waiting times for doctors are often measured in weeks – not days.
These would be key target areas for me. Our manifesto (to be published shortly) explains how we will fund fair pay for doctors and nurses and reducing waiting times. I personally am especially concerned by the shortage of NHS dentists and would fight for this cause.
What do you see as the biggest threat to High Streets like Stone, and what will you and your party do to ensure it thrives?
Local High Streets have been struggling for years. Regeneration is needed – but the right kind of regeneration. Small, independent business need to be encouraged and people need incentives to visit their local high street. I would ensure better public transport to the centre of Stone and would support small, independent businesses.
Public transport has declined severely over the past 10 years. Today, no bus services allow residents to get from the estates across Stone into the town centre. Our train service has been severely reduced, meaning fewer trains are going to fewer destinations. What will you and your party do to help re-establish local transport links that will allow residents, workers, and visitors to leave their cars at home?
Public transport is key to our vision – by providing better public transport we help the environment, keep the roads clearer, help traffic to move smoothly, reduce the need for additional car parks to be created Public transport needs to be available and affordable and I would fight for this.
Since the closure and sale of Stone police station, we haven’t had a visible police presence to investigate or deter crime. What would you do to address this?
Community Support Officers work excellently to provide a visible presence, both to deter crime and to assist locals. I would look to increase this presence in Stone, both as a deterrent to crime and to support locals.
The cost-of-living crisis has hit everyone in their pocket. Despite a slowdown in inflation, prices are still significantly higher than a few years ago – and unless we see deflation, they won’t be reducing. What will you and your party do to ensure the electorate feels like their spending power has been restored?
The Green Party believes everyone should be treated fairly and that everyone should be able to afford to feed and clothe themselves and their families and it is shocking that many families are struggling. Our manifesto will be released shortly and will have more detail but we would look to introduce practical steps such as increasing universal credit by £40 a week and bringing up the minimum wage to £15 an hour for everyone over 16.
If elected, what would you do to substantially increase the availability of good-quality social housing for rent and affordable properties for first-time buyers?
The key issue with new housing is that we need to build the right houses in the right place at the right price. We want to see new houses built on “brownfield” sites – not on “greenbelt” sites. Using Brownfield sites means that current towns and villages retain their own identity and are not swallowed into other towns, as well as keeping our precious green spaces. The Green Party also wants to focus on bringing empty/disused houses back into usage as this is cost-effective and environmentally friendly
Stone’s roads and pavements are in a terrible state despite regular news reports about additional funding for pothole repairs. How will you ensure that our roads and pavements are safe and suitable for all users?
I would be looking to work closely with the local councils to ensure that budgets are used effectively and efficiently. Ensuring adequate public transport is available would also be a step towards improving road quality.
Roadworks have had a significant impact over the last few years. While investment is welcome, it seems that companies taking public cash rarely work as quickly as they could – we often see long periods of time with no workers or they have all gone home early in the afternoon. What solutions would you like to see implemented that would ensure that 3rd party contractors work quickly and efficiently to ensure that roadworks are completed in a timely manner?
I would again work closely with the council to ensure that all planned works and repairs are carried out by the best company available, using local companies where at all possible, and ensuring works are fully monitored throughout. I would also ensure that the Borough Council is working with other local Councils to ensure that all work is done at the best possible price to make sure that funds are also available for other projects. I am committed to ensuring that funds for local repairs are used effectively and efficiently and that any contracts awarded are awarded fairly and to the best company available.
Stone is a rural town; what will you and your party do to support rural businesses and workers?
If elected, I would hold regular clinics across the constituency and I would ensure that these were at times and venues that can cater to everyone, so that everyone can have the opportunity to explain what they need, and I will always listen and do whatever I can – I can’t promise I can solve every issue, I can’t promise funding for absolutely everything, but I can promise that I will genuinely listen and do my best to help you.
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As a canal town and a town with a world-renowned canoeing club, what will you and your party do to ensure that our waterways are well-maintained and free from sewage?
As a keen open-water swimmer I am very much committed to ensuring waterways are well maintained and free from sewage. With Stone having produced an Olympic medallist, it is vital that the rivers he used to train on are kept clean for future generations to learn and practice in. The Green Party borough councillors have indeed been proposing motions regarding the waterways and will continue to fight for this and I will support their work.
It feels like politicians focus on the vote-winning older generations. What will you and your party do to support teenagers and young adults who are experiencing issues accessing things like education, jobs and mental health services?
I have teenage sons, they are 13 and 16 and I am very aware of the issues young people face. If elected, I am very much open to working with schools and would love to see new youth clubs founded to provide support for young people, a place to find information, mental health support and friendship.
Most people agree that walking is very beneficial—how can we ensure that our network of rights-of-way is properly maintained and available to all?
As a keen runner (and most of my running is on local trails!) I am a very keen advocate on rights-of-way being not only maintained but well signposted and accessible to all and will fight for this.
What will you and your party do to control both legal and illegal immigration?
The Green Party compassionately supports those that need to seek safety here. By addressing global warming, this would reduce some level of immigration from countries where crops are failing. In the shorter term, we would reduce the current backlog of asylum claimants by looking to simplify the process and hire additional staff to process claims.
What’s your opinion on the climate crisis? What should individuals and the government do to ensure our children and grandchildren can grow up in a healthy environment?
Being the Green Candidate I am obviously strongly motivated by the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis, I see this as a crucial election for the climate and nature, as the decisions we make now will significantly impact on our ability to keep the temperature at a liveable level in the future.
This shapes my approach to a number of the other questions, on transport, building energy efficient homes and many more are crucial drivers to solving the crisis we face.
“Why should I vote for you? All politicians lie and say what they want to get elected.” – How do you respond to this statement?
I am standing because I genuinely want to help people. I actually want to make a difference. I want to listen to people, and I want to think outside the box and think “how could we do things better”?
As our MP, how would you ensure that independent publications like A Little Bit of Stone get the support they need? Whether that’s protection from big tech companies scraping our content, suppressing our content or ensuring that public money is available to help create a sustainable business?
If elected, I would be thrilled to meet with you in person to discuss how I could best support you.
If elected, what would be the top five areas on which you’d be concentrating your efforts?
The NHS. Schools. The environment and global warming. The cost-of-living crisis. And – very importantly – listening to locals to take their needs and views on board.
Closing Statement, why should people vote for you?
Before voting, I would just ask that all residents consider two points: who will listen to them locally, and who will hold the government accountable to their promises for the next four years? I live in Staffordshire and care about Staffordshire. I want to listen to local residents. I also want the NHS to be properly funded and to work properly. I want teachers to be paid a fair wage for what they do and to have the resources they need. And I desperately want the UK to reduce fossil fuel usage, reduce plastic waste (including single use plastics) Greens in parliament can make the Labour government braver and more ambitious and we have credible practical solutions to the real issues facing people every day. A vote for me on Election Day is a vote for real solutions to our real problems.
Don’t forget, https://stones.vote is our website dedicated to all things about the election!
My Newphew is being born as we speak, I want a future for him where if he works hard he is rewarded, by being able to spend quality time with his family, good nutritious food on the table, holidays making memories, healthy and being able to access health care if even him or his family needed it, not left sitting on waiting lists, getting weaker, losing muscle tone, putting on weight, losing confidence, being lonely and feeling alone, depression, anxiety and wanting to be dead because you have no quality of life and the pain is just to bad.
Change policies on building houses not just based on roads and access but on how many doctors and dentist are available how many school places are left.
When laying new roads, pavements collect the kinetic energy the technology is there, town centres anywhere us walking driving can power the country many times over, imagine if it was everywhere.
Yes using brown field sites but insulate them make sure heatpumps are put in and solor make it as standard not luxurious.
Fit all government, council , social and NHS buildings including hospitals with solor pannels instantly your energy bills will half. These are simple things that will make a massive difference and we have the technology to do it all now. Politicians are praying that the tech sector are going to make a major breakthrough that’s going to save the world and we can all hope for that god I do too, but we can at least roll our sleeves up and get stuck in until that happens because if we don’t my Nephew doesn’t have a future.
I am sure that here are many thousands of people in the constituency, like myself, who are very concerned about the environment and would support a Green candidate under a proportional representation system. However, there is also an overriding desire for change. Under the current voting system tactical voting is surely the best way to achieve change in the short term.
What is the point of so called tactical voting when Starmer’s Labour Party and the Conservatives are now the exact same? Both want to privatise the NHS, both have no care for climate, preventing the toxic waste of private water companies, both are against the working class, both are against caring for refugees and asylum seekers, both want to restrict protesters rights, the list goes on. If therefore you believe in change, vote for the party whose voice is closest to yours. If you support Green, even if they don’t get a seat here, the number of votes they receive/the lack for Labour and Conservatives would reflect that people want change.
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4 comments
Caroline Ratcliffe
Is mental health a key area for you??
Emma Frampton
My Newphew is being born as we speak, I want a future for him where if he works hard he is rewarded, by being able to spend quality time with his family, good nutritious food on the table, holidays making memories, healthy and being able to access health care if even him or his family needed it, not left sitting on waiting lists, getting weaker, losing muscle tone, putting on weight, losing confidence, being lonely and feeling alone, depression, anxiety and wanting to be dead because you have no quality of life and the pain is just to bad.
Change policies on building houses not just based on roads and access but on how many doctors and dentist are available how many school places are left.
When laying new roads, pavements collect the kinetic energy the technology is there, town centres anywhere us walking driving can power the country many times over, imagine if it was everywhere.
Yes using brown field sites but insulate them make sure heatpumps are put in and solor make it as standard not luxurious.
Fit all government, council , social and NHS buildings including hospitals with solor pannels instantly your energy bills will half. These are simple things that will make a massive difference and we have the technology to do it all now. Politicians are praying that the tech sector are going to make a major breakthrough that’s going to save the world and we can all hope for that god I do too, but we can at least roll our sleeves up and get stuck in until that happens because if we don’t my Nephew doesn’t have a future.
Joe Stripp
I am sure that here are many thousands of people in the constituency, like myself, who are very concerned about the environment and would support a Green candidate under a proportional representation system. However, there is also an overriding desire for change. Under the current voting system tactical voting is surely the best way to achieve change in the short term.
Lara
What is the point of so called tactical voting when Starmer’s Labour Party and the Conservatives are now the exact same? Both want to privatise the NHS, both have no care for climate, preventing the toxic waste of private water companies, both are against the working class, both are against caring for refugees and asylum seekers, both want to restrict protesters rights, the list goes on. If therefore you believe in change, vote for the party whose voice is closest to yours. If you support Green, even if they don’t get a seat here, the number of votes they receive/the lack for Labour and Conservatives would reflect that people want change.