Green Party candidate for Newcastle East and Wallsend plans to hold a majority Labour government to account.
Poverty and deprivation. A prize the North East wins for having the most of. The region charges in front of the rest of England when it comes to this. Despite the coming general election and the now inevitability of a Labour government, many people don’t see change coming. Green Party candidate for Newcastle East and Wallsend is one of those people. He says that stability is not change and that after fourteen years of austerity and cuts, Labour need to be more ambitious. But more than that, he plans to hold them to account.
Who is Matt Williams?
Brought up in the Tyne Valley, Matt Williams grew up in a political family and was politically aware from a young age. In 2011, he went to Manchester University where he studied politics, sociology and economics. Matt currently works as a mental health worker in a GP practice in Walker.
Matt became party political in 2017 when he became one of the young people enthused by Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. Excited and enthused by a man talking about hope and change, Matt got involved with the Labour Party and did what he could, door-knocking being one of those things. Matt went to work for a Labour MP for three years afterwards and really enjoyed his time doing so.
Under Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party, Matt began to see the party moving in a direction that was at odds with his values and didn’t see it offering the hope and change he believes the country desperately needs. He joined the Green Party as he believed that was “where the solutions to the biggest questions were being offered”.
Matt’s vision for Newcastle
Speaking of his vision for Newcastle, Matt spoke of needing a proper plan to address the challenges that are brought about by unsustainable levels of wealth and income inequality. But how could this be done?
According to the manifesto found on his Green Party website; Matt’s priorities are to increase NHS funding, provide more cheap public transport and more safe routes for cyclists and pedestrians, build thousands of affordable houses and insulate existing ones, bring vital services – like water – back into public hands and invest in renewable energy to revitalize the North East and create thousands of well-paid, secure jobs.
Change through the power of protest is also on the agenda. Not being defeatist, but rather “realistic”, Matt knows he will not be elected as a Green MP to parliament this year. But he wants as many Green votes as possible so that he can show the Labour MP for the constituency that a big chunk of the constituency want the Labour Party to be more ambitious and to invest in public services and fix the climate crisis as well as tax the super-rich and address inequality.
Holding Labour to task
Agreeing with the MRP opinion polls, Matt believes the country is on course for a huge Labour majority in the upcoming election. There is no doubt in his mind that Britain is headed for a Labour government. His question, however, is “what kind of Labour government?” His hopes for the election are to see four Green Party MPs elected to Westminster. Matt sees this as important as he believes the Green Party will be “the only party holding Labour to account, both from the left and an environmental perspective”.
Citing Keir Starmer’s U-turn on the £28billion green investment pledge, Matt stresses the need for Green MPs in Parliament to make sure the incoming government meets their climate pledges, is ambitious in addressing inequality and “really does” invest in the NHS. Predicting Keir Starmer taking power with a monumental majority, Matt wants Green MPs to hold the Labour Party to account and make sure that they provide an ambitious and progressive agenda.
Matt Williams is currently facing a fight for Newcastle East and Wallsend with eight other candidates. These are; Muhammed Ghori of the Workers Party of Britain, Mary Glindon of Labour, Rosie Hanlon of the Conservatives, Robert Malyn of the Social Democratic Party, Liz Panton of the Party of Women, Emma-Jane Phillips of the Communist Party of Britain, Janice Richardson of Reform UK and Mark Ridyard of the Liberal Democrats. A whole plethora of candidates vying for election. Each one imploring you for their vote. Will Matt Williams stand out from the crowd? Will the Green Party gain a prominent foothold in both Newcastle and parliament? Will Matt be able to hold Labour to task? Burning questions that will be answered when the polls close at 10pm on 4 July. Burning questions that can only be answered by voters themselves at the ballot box.
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