AN ENVIRONMENTAL champion has thrown her hat into the ring to become the first North Cotswolds MP.

The Green Party has selected Cllr Chloe Turner - who currently represents Minchinhampton on both Stroud District Council and Gloucestershire County Council - as its parliamentary candidate for the new North Cotswolds constituency seat.

Cllr Turner will be running against Conservative Cotswold MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Liberal Democrat Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, who is currently the cabinet member for health, leisure and culture at Cotswold District Council.

She lives in Minchinhampton with her husband and three children and is a qualified chartered accountant but now works in local politics full time.

Cllr Turner wear multiple hats at GCC (including chair of Environment Scrutiny Committee) and at SDC such her role as chair of the Environment Committee.

In addition, she is involved in several local groups and campaigns, including the Minchinhampton Multi-Agency Youth panel, local community events organisation Minch Life, Stroud District Action on Plastic, and the Stroud Universal Basic Income Lab, which she co-founded. 

Outside of politics, she enjoys beekeeping and writing fiction. 

Cllr Turner said: “I believe there is appetite among voters for a hardworking MP who is equally comfortable rolling up her sleeves to sort recycling at a community event, scrutinising Audit Committee papers, pressing for better local public services and warm and affordable homes, and campaigning for clean waterways. 

“As MP, I will be a voice for nature and a champion for local issues, including tackling the decline in rural public services and the cost-of-living pressures facing so many residents.

“I am well-known for working extremely hard to protect our local environment, standing up for better local services and campaigning for national policies that work better for people and planet.

"I will be an independent, principled MP who will work collaboratively with others, who will never be afraid to offer constructive scrutiny and to hold those in government to account.

“This year, there is a real opportunity for genuine change in the Cotswolds, for the first time in decades.

"It’s an exciting chance to restore trust in politics and I’m ready to be at the heart of it.”

The following wards will be included in the new North Cotswolds constituency at the next general election:

  1. Badgeworth
  2. Bisley
  3. Blockley
  4. Bourton Vale
  5. Bourton Village
  6. Brockworth East
  7. Brockworth West
  8. Campden & Vale
  9.  Chedworth & Churn Valley
  10. Churchdown Brookfield with Hucclecote
  11. Churchdown St. John's
  12. Coln Valley
  13. Ermin
  14. Fosseridge
  15. Hardwicke
  16. Minchinhampton
  17. Moreton East
  18. Moreton West
  19. Northleach
  20. Painswick & Upton
  21. Sandywell
  22. Shurdington
  23. Stow
  24. The Rissingtons