PRESS RELEASE – SCOTTISH BORDERS GREENS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 31st JANUARY 2024 SCOTTISH GREENS ANNOUNCE CANDIDATE FOR DUMFRIESSHIRE, CLYDESDALE AND TWEEDDALE ✔ Former Holyrood and Council candidate Dominic Ashmole selected by membership.

Full statement

✔ “Time to break with the past, build resilience in our communities, and face a difficult future with solidarity and compassion.” ✔ South Scotland campaign launch attended by co-leader Patrick Harvie and other Green MSPs.

The Scottish Greens have named their candidate for the constituency of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale in the upcoming UK General Election. Former healthcare technology project manager Dominic Ashmole, who stood previously in the Holyrood and Council elections, was selected following a ballot of party members throughout Dumfries & Galloway, South Lanarkshire and the Scottish Borders.

At a South Scotland campaign launch in Tweedbank last weekend, Mr Ashmole said:

“I’m grateful to party members for this new opportunity to represent the Greens. When I stood for the Council in 2022, our vote share trebled to more than 16%. I believe we can build on that momentum and send a serious message to Westminster.”

“Many voters have lost faith in the traditional parties. They don’t want a government that blames refugees and abandons climate action. Nor can they support others who continue promoting false hopes and a reckless growth agenda that has undermined the Earth’s capacity to sustain life.”

“Greens recognise that to live through these times, we must move beyond a global system that is fuelled by exploitation and consumerism, and controlled by the super-rich.”

“Last election, the Conservatives only narrowly beat the SNP here, and voters might assume it’s still a two horse race. But both of those parties have massively lost support since then.”

“So I'm asking voters to back a dark, Green horse. Let's shock the system that is failing us. Let's make this election about us setting out on a new path. Because we will need to turn to each other as we live through the difficult times the political elites have led us into.”

“A vote for the Greens is for the courage to break with the past, to build resilience in our communities, and to face a difficult future with solidarity and compassion.”

Mr Ashmole was speaking at a South Scotland campaign launch attended by Scottish Greens Co-Leader Patrick Harvie MSP, Maggie Chapman MSP (Justice, Equality, Human Rights and Economy), and Ariane Burgess MSP (Communities, Land Reform, Housing and Rural Affairs).