I was born in East London in 1959 but moved to Welling (a suburb that can’t decide if it’s in South London or Kent) where I grew up.

Both my parents were factory workers, my father having been invalided out of the army during WWII after losing a leg.

In 1979 I moved back to East London where I lived for 12 years whilst studying for a BSc degree in psychology.  After that I went on to study for an MSc in applied psychology and technology assessment at Cranfield Institute of technology in Bedford.

In the 1980s I was a struggling musician for a number of years, during which time I made a living selling jewellery from market stalls in Greenwich and Camden Lock with my partner Fiona, who I met at university in 1981. We finally married in 2020 after what can be described as a long engagement!

I moved to Yarnton with Fiona in 1993 and a year later we opened our first small shop in central Oxford.  From there we went on to grow the business to a 6 store chain with branches across the country.  We closed all our stores in 2015 in the face of huge overheads and falling sales on the high street.  We now focus on our online business and I also do work as a retail analyst and speaker and write on retail, business and the environment.

I’m a regular runner and outdoor enthusiast, I also enjoy rambling, scrambling, some climbing and cycling. I only take holidays in the UK, usually involving mountains or hills.  I love all wildlife and I’m concerned that local habitat for many of our indigenous inhabitants is not lost.  I’m also a vegan and animal rights campaigner.

I joined the Green Party in 2012 after becoming disillusioned with the three other main parties.  I saw that the Green Party had moved on from its origins as a single policy party to offer credible solutions to fill the ideological vacuum left between Labour and Conservative.

I’ve stood in every local election since then and in the 2019 was delighted to be elected to Cherwell District Council as it’s first ever Green councillor.  I was also elected to two parish councils in Kidlington and Yarnton the same year and later seconded on to Gosford and Water Eaton Parish Council.  In 2021 I was elected to Oxfordshire County Council for the Kidlington South Division and am now the leader of the County Green group and the deputy leader of the Green/Libdem Alliance. This obviously keeps me very busy, but I enjoy working for the local community and holding the other parties to account on the District Council.

I’m a writer and campaigner for independent retail, and I write a regular column for the national magazine Retail Week.  I’ve also written pieces for other local and national magazines, including The Independent, The Evening Standard and The Guardian, as well as local newspapers in Oxford and Banbury.  I’ve appeared on National TV, radio and online, discussing economic, high street issues and animal welfare issues.  I’ve also written for a number of online publications including Huffington Post, Evolve Politics and The London Economic. I’ve recently been focussing on the idea of how businesses can be operated on a more sustainable and ethical footing and I’m also increasingly concerned with how consumerism can be balanced sustainably against finite natural resources.

I stood in the 2015, 2017 and 2019 General Elections in Banbury.  I believe that the Green Party now has policies that can provide fair and sensible solutions to the wider issues in society as well as focussing on the environmental concerns.  I also think that in years to come green issues will become unavoidably bound to everything we do as a society and only a party with a realistic grasp of that relationship will be able to deal with the problems that will be facing us over the next several decades.

While some other parties pay lip service to the idea of a green future, the Green Party allows such a concept to inform and evolve within its mainstream policies. I’m convinced that this is an essential element in world politics to ensure our future survival and prosperity as a nation and even as a species.

The Greens were the first to introduce climate change emergency motions to local and national government, and we are the only party who has consistently supported green initiatives, including the Green New Deal that was first proposed by Caroline Lucas over 10 years ago.

I’m an ardent advocate on both national and local green issues, particularly relating to sustainable farming methods, the green belt, the treatment of animals in food production and green energy.  As a local independent businessman, I’m also and avid promoter of local enterprise and businesses that put back as much into society as they take out.

This is particularly relevant in today’s retail world where the future of the UK high street is in some doubt. As a retailer for over 30 years and a former operator of one of the last remaining independents in central Oxford, I know exactly how hard it is for small businesses to compete and survive in the face of the large multi-nationals.  I’m involved in many initiatives and local and national projects aimed at dealing with growing problems facing small businesses such as high rents and rates and the skills gaps opening up in many areas of commerce.

Health and education provision are issues of particular relevance to everyone, especially with many health and support services under attack from both local and national government spending cuts.  I’m believe strongly that the NHS should be returned to full public ownership and control, in the face of the erosion that has been forced on it by successive governments.  There are no easy solutions, but the one thing I am sure will not work is the privatisation by stealth that the Conservatives have already set in motion.

I support pragmatic solutions to problems wherever possible and believe local issues are always better dealt with by local people with local resources.  Only The Green Party has the vision and commitment to these ideals in the face of increasingly bland and unimaginative policies from the three other main parties.

The Greens offer an alternative social contract that has been shown to be effective in many other parts of the world.  It’s time we embraced this vision in the UK and took back control of our local services, our lives and our planet from massive profit-driven corporations and the vast majority of the cynical Westminster elite who have only their own interests at heart.

I hope you’ll join me in working to make the country a Green and pleasant land for ourselves, our children and the generations to come.

Ian Middleton