AN ELECTION candidate believes his party are the only choice offering voters a vision – and taking ‘the huge shadow of climate change’ seriously.

Peter Barton will stand for the Green Party in West Dorset in May's general election, and is urging people to send a message to Westminster to put renewable energy on the agenda.

The Green Party has seen membership grow from 20,000 in September to more than 44,000 in January across England and Wales. Mr Barton believes the ‘Green Surge’ has not come completely out of the blue – and that young people are turning to his party for answers.

“It has not been expected on this scale” he said. “If you look at who is joining the Green Party, there are thousands of young people who are signing up.

“I think a number of things have happened which are changing the mindset of a lot of young people. One is tuition fees – the fact that the Lib Dems went back on that key promise. Our policy is we see education as a public good and would fund it from government revenue.

“But the huge shadow over everything is climate change. We are the only party that says this is the number one issue. Forget about climate change and you might as well forget about everything else. If we don’t tackle climate change with the seriousness that it requires, all these other things are meaningless.”

In West Dorset, Mr Barton thinks voters will prioritise low wages, the lack of affordable housing and cuts to public transport.

The Green Party hope to introduce a living wage by 2020, while a move back to council houses would aim to help build more affordable housing for rent.

Mr Barton also said that buses and the railways should be brought back into public ownership, and that there are three crises - which only his party is addressing.

“One is a crisis of climate change, the second is a crisis of inequality and the third is a political crisis – a crisis of democracy” he said. “This is reflected in low election turnouts and a lack of trust in politicians.

“We are the only party with a vision. The manifesto will hold together as a picture of a society that makes sense and has underpinning values of justice, fairness and living within the resources of the planet.

“The other parties are just offering different ways of managing the same problems without offering the public something that inspires the feeling of hope.”

Mr Barton is realistic that it is unlikely he will gain enough votes to claim Oliver Letwin’s seat, but that despite the first past the post voting system, where each constituency elects one MP, people should vote for what candidates stand for.

“In our first past the post system, people ask me what’s the point in voting for me if I can’t get elected” explained Mr Barton. “My answer is to please vote for what you believe in.

“If a substantial amount of people in West Dorset vote Green, that will send an important message to the government after the election.”