13 January 2014
Former Liberal Democrat and Shirley's longest-serving Councillor, Howard Allen, has been selected as the Green Party's General Election Candidate for the Solihull constituency. The Green Party now have six Councillors on Solihull Council and is confident of having a big impact in 2015.
Councillor Allen has been elected 4 times in the Shirley West ward of Solihull since 2003. Howard was born and raised in Birmingham, educated at Moseley Grammar and has lived all of his adult life in and around Solihull. He and his wife Margaret, have 4 children and 7 grandchildren and are former foster parents to many Solihull children.
Howard is a former Ofsted school Inspector, holds a First Class degree in Education and is a regular school visitor for the Beanstalk charity.
Councillor Allen says "Education is my real passion. The Lib Dems' betrayal of students over fees was the final nail in the coffin for my decision to leave and move to the Green Party. I want to use my campaign to fight to fully resource schools and to maintain and improve educational standards in Solihull. I really believe education is critical in improving the life chances of the poorest in our society and empowering people for a better life".
Fighting for decent pay for all will be Councillor Allen's second key policy he will be focussing on in his campaign for Solihull. He said "As a Green, I believe the minimum wage should be raised to the living wage so it pays to work and enables all to achieve a reasonable standard of living. It is totally wrong that over 2000 bankers are on salaries of over £1million per year when so many people struggle to get by".
Howard said of his choice to stand at the General Election "Everyone is sick and tired of voting for their least favourite party, be it the Tories or Labour or the Lib Dems who have sold out on their principles. When surveyed based on policies alone, not political spin, it is the Green Party's policies that come out top in polls. Try it yourself at http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/ "
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