The Bridgwater and West Somerset Green Party has announced that its candidate for the General Election will be Mickie Ritchie.

Mickie Ritchie has lived in the Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency for 15 years, and has previously stood for the Green Party in local elections.

Mickie is a guitar teacher and musician and previously worked for the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

She was a volunteer at the London HQ of Friends of the Earth while working in sales management and the charity sector.

She has set up a Community Veg patch for a West Somerset-based charity, and has organised fundraising events for the Green Party.

Mickie says: “I am delighted to have been selected by the Green Party to stand in the General Election.

"The Green Party is the only party to have environmental and climate change issues at the heart of our policies.

"We will invest in green technologies, subsidise clean renewables instead of fossil fuels and nuclear, and also provide strong protections for our natural environment.

"I am proud to be standing for a party that will introduce a 'Universal Basic Income' for every citizen so that everybody can avoid the poverty trap without means testing.

"The Green Party offers a new kind of politics that is genuinely for the common good of people and the planet.”