Councillor selected to fight in General Election

Alison Teal, councillor for Nether Edge and Sharrow ward, will stand against sitting Labour MP Paul Blomfield and Liberal Democrat candidate Shaffaq Mohammed.

Originally from Royston in Barnsley, Alison is a trained clinical psychologist and family therapist and worked in the charitable sector in Australia.

She said: “I’m in politics because I care about people and the planet. Successive Labour and Tory governments have failed to act on climate change, which the Greens have been campaigning on since 1985.

“We need more Green voices in Parliament to put the climate emergency at the heart of government decision-making.

“I want a government that works for everyone, with policies focused on equality, where people’s basic need for a secure home is met.

“Carbon reduction policies are about creating excellent public transport, renewable energy, locally sourced sustainable food production, healthier and greener urban environments, a switch from consumer culture to a zero-carbon, zero-waste one. As these positive changes take effect, we will see improvements in health and wellbeing.

“The climate crisis is frightening, but it also presents an opportunity. We have an urgent choice to make: we can rapidly implement zero-carbon policies which will improve everyone’s quality of life, or we can continue to allow large corporations and the super-rich to use up the earth’s resources until there’s nothing left.”

Alison was first elected as a councillor in 2016 and was re-elected in 2018 by a majority of 1,393. Earlier this year she stood as a Green Party candidate for the European Parliament.

Labour’s Paul Blomfield holds the Sheffield Central seat with a majority of 27,748.

Lib Dem candidate Shaffaq Mohammed is currently a councillor for Ecclesall ward and was recently elected as a Member of the European Parliament.