Scottish Greens select Ann McGuinness as snap election candidate

The Scottish Greens have announced that Ann McGuinness will stand for the East Kilbride and Strathaven constituency with a call for the local community to ‘vote like our future depends on it’

Ann McGuinness will be one of a record number of Scottish Greens candidates at this election, giving the majority of people across Scotland the opportunity to vote for a fairer, greener, independent Scotland.

Her lived experience and knowledge of poverty and disability, both issues often under-represented and misrepresented in our politics, will be invaluable in speaking up for many people in the constituency. Above all, Ann is known in her working and voluntary life for rolling up her sleeves and getting things done. Ann will make the case that the Scottish Greens have delivered positive change for East Kilbride and Strathaven including free bus travel for 44,416 children and young people across South Lanarkshire, record spending on climate and nature projects and the removal of peak time rail fares.

The party hopes to build on the successes delivered by its MSPs and councillors through a record Green result at this Westminster election. Ann will be campaigning for bold action to tackle the climate crisis and eradicate poverty. This will include a wealth tax on those with assets of at least £10 million and an end to the tax breaks lavished on oil and gas companies. The money raised from these measures will be invested in improving the railways, making our homes cheaper and greener to heat and other measures which will help both people and planet.

Ann said: “The Scottish Greens have already delivered so much positive change for the area. I am constantly in awe of the amazing successes my colleague, Kirsten Robb, has achieved in the Council Chamber. I’m standing in this election to build on that record of success. The stakes couldn’t be any higher. The climate crisis is getting rapidly worse and the time we have left to tackle it is running out.

The Greens have the solutions, and it’s critical that we get behind them before it’s too late. While other parties are competing with each other to drop their green pledges, only the Scottish Greens are prepared to take the action required to protect our planet and our future. East Kilbride and Strathaven deserves an MP who will fight for the kind of transformative measures we need to tackle the climate crisis and eradicate child poverty. The Scottish Greens are proud to give more people than ever the opportunity to vote for our positive vision of a fairer, greener, independent Scotland.”