Jonathan has deep connections with Reigate, having lived in the constituency for 26 years

In 2010 Jonathan Essex was elected as the first Green Party councillor for Reigate and Banstead for the ward of Redhill East, and now leads the official opposition of 13 Green councillors.

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Jonathan also leads the Green Party group on Surrey County Council.

In May 2024, the Green Party received almost 25% of the vote in the Reigate and Banstead local elections across the constituency and are well placed to challenge for the Reigate parliamentary seat.

As a councillor, Jonathan has led a range of actions that have been successful, and is keen to emulate this at the national level.

Jonathan’s actions include successfully campaigning against the Biffa landfill smell in Redhill. He is also challenging the council to commit to providing genuinely affordable homes, strengthening its protection of the Green Belt, and making the case for the county council to provide the children homes and special needs school places we need in Surrey.

Jonathan has been an active campaigner for a greener Reigate. He is a founding member of Energy Action Redhill and Reigate, and co-founder of the Surrey Climate Commission. He is also currently acting as vice-chair of the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign. This campaign is actively opposing the increase in noise, climate damage, congestion and other impacts from the proposals to expand Gatwick to be as big as Heathrow is today.

Jonathan passionately supports the local community across the Reigate constituency. He has helped start a community pub in Meadvale and establish a new community space on the Watercolour estate, He continues to serve as a longstanding trustee of Furnistore and of Voluntary Action Reigate and Banstead.

As your MP, Jonathan would first and foremost want to represent and successfully win campaigns in Parliament on behalf of all residents locally.

“We need to be honest about the need to rebuild trust in politics. We need to properly fund and rebuild our fragmented public services. We need to make Surrey and the rest of the UK a better, fairer place for all of us, whilst honestly facing up to the challenges that lie ahead.”

Outside of politics, Jonathan is qualified as a chartered civil engineer and environmentalist, and has worked for over 25 years in international development and in the UK construction industry. Jonathan is married with a young family, and has lived locally for many years.