Good evening everyone, I’m Jason Whiffin.

Full statement

I’ve lived in the area for about 12 years, and up by the Common for the past 9, and I’d like to thank you tonight for this opportunity to represent the Greens here in West Hill.

I’d like if I may to open with a weather report. It’s going to be 43 degrees tomorrow in New Delhi. That’s 109 degrees Fahrenheit. And the day after, and the day after that. It hit 40 degrees in New Delhi on 29 March this year and the long term forecast suggests that it’s going to stay in the mid 40s for several weeks more. The Indian Meteorological Department notes that such extended heat is unusual so early in the year and links it to climate change.

Which is why I’m here. I believe we are sleepwalking into a climate catastrophe. And when I discovered that there was no one standing for the Green Party in West Hill in the local elections, I thought well, there’s no point getting annoyed and expecting someone else to step up, so I put myself forward so that anyone who wanted to register a Green vote could be counted.

It frustrates me that we have such a democratic deficit with our first past the post system that thousands of votes are disregarded every election time because they have been cast for a so-called “minority” party. Climate change is going to affect all of us, and we deserve to have representatives on our councils who are putting it front and centre. This democratic deficit and the lack of representation fuels polarising views. The structure also makes the process in general adversary rather than collaborative. I believe we need collaboration more than ever to solve these huge problems, and if I was elected I would want to work with my fellow councillors to find the solutions.

My background is quite mixed. I grew up on a council estate, went to the local comprehensive, have a degree in Economics and started my career in accountancy. I moved to IT within Finance and now work for a large Finance corporation in the City.

Cycling is a major passion in my life (I have cycled up South America); and I have a broad passion for the outdoors and nature. I’m a member of the Wandsworth Cycling Campaign and have recently been appointed to the Stakeholder Group on the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators to help with cycling. I commute into the city most days, and as a result I have become very aware of the challenge of encouraging low carbon travel in a city that is still so in thrall to the internal combustion engine.

Earlier this month the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change told us we were going to have to pull every lever to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we continue to pour into the atmosphere. Some of those levers are going to be marked Technology and Engineering. But given the timescales they have given us we are also going to have to pull the levers marked Behaviour Change and Mindset. And that’s an area that I think I can help with.

Many on this panel are very engaged within the community, and I do respect and appreciate that. I’m not going to pretend I’m familiar with all the detail of the questions that may be asked this evening and I am not going to attempt to bluff.

I am here as a green voice, and if there is no green angle on the question I won’t pretend to know all the answers.

However if by chance I was elected, I do sincerely believe my skills, experience and growth mindset would make me a valued councillor.