Peter Garbutt

I was brought up in a Labour-supporting household. My first political memory is Harold Wilson’s first 1963 win against Douglas-Home, but it wasn’t until 1981 that I first became active, joining the nascent SDP. I became the first convenor for the Bradford party, and stood as it’s first candidate in a by-election in March 1982. I came third, just 100 votes behind the winner. I was shortlisted as a parliamentary candidate in Wakefield in the 1983 General Election, and I stood twice in Pudsey as an Alliance candidate for Leeds City Council.
After moving to Sheffield, in 1988 I became disillusioned with Libdem politics, and left the party. It was John Major’s 1993 exhortation to his party to get “back to basics” which led me to start a long process of research and formulation of the basics of governance.
This remains an ongoing project, but by 2005 I felt I had enough confidence in my beliefs to start becoming involved in politics again. I was delighted to find the Green Party held a very similar outlook, and even some of the same policies as myself.
Late in 2008 I put myself forward to fill a vacancy on the Eurolist, a position which was eventually filled by Steve Barnard.
In the course of 2009 I have worked hard, writing letters to the press, leafletting, and canvassing, both in Central and in the Norwich North by-election.
My main concern – though by no means my only one - is climate change; I am a member of FoE, SCACC, Greenpeace, 10:10. As well as going on several marches, we have fully insulated our house, and we have started growing much of our own food.

January 2010