THE North Somerset Green Party has named Oscar Livesey Lodwick as its candidate for the North Somerset constituency.

Speaking to the North Somerset Times, Oscar, aged 25, said: "I grew up in Nailsea and went to Backwell School.

"I've been away for the last couple of years doing a number of different jobs, I was a Geography teacher for a number of years in London.

"I went full circle and went into trading.

"I ended up having a couple of months out working in festivals. I now work in energy and promote home energy efficiency.

"We help to solve fuel poverty. It's nice to be really closely involved in something that represents Green values.

"I've met people from all different backgrounds."

Speaking about his goals, Oscar, who has now moved back to North Somerset, added: "There's lots of things I want to achieve.

"In North Somerset, the Greens are in the best position we've ever been in in terms of a political landscape with eight councillors.

"One of the key things I'm standing for is to empower councils to use money on individual towns and parishes in a better way.

"In Clevedon on the seafront, a lot of people aren't happy with the changes made and a lot of that is to do with poor communication, transparency and honesty are massively important.

"Other things on my mind is to champion small businesses and give them the means to succeed.

"There's lots of individual local issues. The target is not to make it too national, it's to make it local, whether that's the railway in Portishead, the lift in Nailsea and Backwell Train Station or the epic development in Long Ashton, it's standing up for issues for local people.

"Buses are down, we're losing banks, post offices, increase in waiting times for GPs, we need to meet the demands of these areas.

"A lot of political campaigns can be anti who is in, I don't want it to be a negative campaign, however it’s important to hold those who have been in power for over 30 years to account.

"It's about having somebody who is from the area for the area."

Oscar also explained that one of his hopes is to improve public transport and encourage residents to use alternatives to driving if possible.

Nevertheless, he wishes to stress that the party isn't "anti-drivers" and that they instead want to encourage a "change of mindset."

Email coordinator@northsomerset.greenparty.org.uk to get involved with Oscar's campaign.