A local resident and part of the local community

I have lived in and around Worcester for the majority of my life moving to the Bath Road area in 1997.  I am 57 years old, married and have two grown up children who attended Nunnery Wood High School and Sixth Form College.

Transferable skills needed to become a City Councillor

Until early 2015 I worked as a senior manager at Worcester Bosch in Production Engineering as well as Change Management in the Service Department. In previous roles I have worked within Project Management and Purchasing departments.

In all these roles I have needed good communication skills and sometimes needed to take hard decisions. Much of my work is focused on creating and driving through changes within a continuous improvement culture where gritty determination needs to be balanced with a real understanding that it is the people and their needs and aspirations that really make an organisation strong.

Having spent decades in industry with some well paid jobs I have decided to now put something back into our community by standing in and winning a seat on Worcester City Council. This last municipal year I have had the great honour of being Mayor of Worcester.

Policy priorities:

What are the influences that have set my policy priorities?

As a child I grew up in Thatcher’s Britain with all that it entailed: recession, privatisation, American cruise missiles at Greenham Common, riots in the inner cities, the miners’ strike, Tiananmen Square, the poll tax and the subjugation of society in favour of the individual.

Like many I looked on at the Labour victory in ’97 – a time to hope for a radical change. But as the years passed it dawned on me that policy after policy Labour were being sucked into the political establishment. In place of real change we got spin, sleaze, war in Iraq, University tuition fees, continuing arms trade and a gradual steady loss of civil liberties. I became aware of climate change and joined the Green Party about 15 years ago.

But what are my policy priorities? I will work to promote the Green Party values of:

• Cost of living crisis
• Inclusive communities
• Meaningful work
• Taking responsibility for the local environment as part of the global environment
• Equitable access to education and health care

Goals and aspirations for Worcester:

I am a positive person and my vision is to make Worcester a sustainable and better place to live. I truly believe that anything is possible and that the only thing holding us back is ourselves. I am an optimist and when I set myself a goal will strive my utmost to achieve it. If you trust in me and are prepared to work with me I will do my best to repay that trust and support.

Running for election is expensive – are you in a position to chip in? 

Cllr Louis Stephen (April 2024)