ST HELENS Green Party has announced its candidates for the General Election.

Blackbrook-born Daniel Thomas will contest St Helens North and Terence Price from Thatto Heath is standing in St Helens South and Whiston.

Across England, Scotland and Wales the Green Party is standing in a record number of seats at this election – 574 in England and Wales, and 44 north of the border.

The England & Wales Green Party manifesto will be launched on Wednesday (June 12).

Green Party co-leader, Carla Denyer, said: “This is a historic moment and the first time we’ve had this many candidates. It reflects the incredible journey we’ve been on over the past five local elections in which we’ve increased our number of councillors nearly five-fold. “All over the country voters will have the opportunity to vote Green, and vote for real hope and real change instead of the half measures and broken pledges on offer from the Conservatives and Labour.

“We will be putting our manifesto to voters this week with practical solutions to the cost-of-living crisis, building new affordable homes, protecting our NHS from creeping privatisation and cleaning up our toxic rivers and seas.”

The NHS will be a central theme of Daniel Thomas’s campaign in St Helens North. Daniel added: “I’m standing because I’m passionate about our NHS, angry about the cost of living, and in despair about the state of nature and our environment.

“The NHS is close to my heart. In 2021, my dad felt unwell and needed an ambulance. We were told there would be an eight hour wait. After five hours, his condition deteriorated and an ambulance eventually came. The next day, my dad died very suddenly of a heart attack. “Do I blame the NHS for his death? No. Do I think the wait for an ambulance contributed to his death? Undoubtedly. This is the kind of story I hear time and time again from other people. That’s why I want to protect and invest in health and social care.

“Our NHS has been deliberately sabotaged in recent years. Waiting times and waiting lists have rocketed. GP appointments are harder than ever to obtain.

"Other parties think the solution is more privatisation. It isn’t. Free healthcare is a fundamental principle held dear by people up and down the country and we would make sure it is funded properly so that everybody can see an NHS dentist and doctor when they need one.

“The Tories have delivered crisis after crisis – cost of living, health services, housing and more. Our borough has been decimated by rocketing mortgages and rents, and staggering energy bill increases. Inflation is pushing up the prices of everyday essentials, yet we have the Bank of England wagging its finger at us saying ‘don’t ask for more wages’, telling the government to not invest and refusing to cut interest rates to boost recovery.

“But under Labour things will barely get any better any time soon. The incremental change Labour has put on the table just isn’t going to cut it to get this country back on track. Put simply, the next Labour government will usher in Austerity 3.0. We need more Green MPs if we are to drive that real change forward.”

Elsewhere party chair Andrew Donnelly will contest the vacant Windle ward seat on St Helens Council.