2015 General Election
After our fantastic result of 21,000 votes in the 2014 EU Election, Animal Welfare Party will be standing in the May 2015 General Election.
Our 2015 General Election Manifesto can be see here Animal Welfare Party 2015 General Election Manifesto.
After a several months of fundraising to cover our deposits and leaflet printing, we’re delighted to announce that four candidates will contest the General Election.
AWP’s candidates and the constituencies being contested are listed below.
About our candidates:
AWP Candidate for Kensington: Professor Andrew Knight BSc (Vet Biol), BVMS, CertAW, DipECAWBM (AWSEL), PhD, MRCVS, SFHEA
Andrew Knight is a European Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law, and a Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics at the University of Winchester. An active animal advocate for over 20 years, Andrew has published extensively on animal issues within both academic and popular media. He is a keen supporter of socially responsible policies that make a positive difference in the lives of people and animals, and that safeguard biodiversity and preserve our environment.
When off duty Andrew enjoys adventure sports such as mountaineering and he is increasingly addicted to salsa.
AWP Candidate for Holborn & St. Pancras: Vanessa Hudson
Leader of AWP since 2010, Vanessa believes that ending speciesism is one of the great moral imperatives of our time and that winning political representation for animals is a crucial step in achieving that goal. Vanessa enjoys working with other animal welfare parties from around the world and takes great encouragement from the successes some of them have already enjoyed at national and EU Parliament level.
A Producer / Director in the media industry by profession, Vanessa was born in Sheffield, and grew up in Nottinghamshire before moving to London by way of Hong Kong and Sydney. This year she celebrates her 20th year as a vegan.
AWP Candidate for Hackney North & Stoke Newington: Jon Homan
Jon has served on Animal Welfare Party’s Committee of National Officers since 2013. He believes strongly in ending all animal cruelty and feels establishing a dedicated voice for animals in the political arena is essential. A trained astrophysicist, Jon is an IT Consultant by profession.Jon has two children and has lived in the constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington for 15 years.
AWP Candidate for Putney: Guy Dessoy
Guy is a Chief Operations Officer in the Support Services sector. He is passionate about the health and welfare of all animal species and the natural environments that support us. Guy enjoys strengthening relationships with other animal parties around the world and is greatly encouraged by the recent growth of our network in Europe. In his free time, he loves to spend time outdoors and is a member of Vegan Runners UK.
Will you help our candidates and campaign team speak out for animals and the environment in the way that we want to?
We know so many people out there care about animal welfare and the General Election is our opportunity to demonstrate just how important animal issues are to so many. But we do need all the financial help we can get.
Donating whatever you can now will help us to build a truly successful election campaign – one that does the animals proud.
And a final word for the naysayers – or those who think a political party for animals can never take off. The success of our sister party in the Netherlands, PvdD (Party for the Animals) shows us it can. PvdD now has over 20 elected representatives at various levels of government, one senator and one MEP. Germany also has one dedicated representative for animals in the EU Parliament. The truth is political parties for animals are already achieving success.
Here in the UK we are perhaps uniquely placed not just to be a part of that success – but to lead the way. The latest research tells us that as much as 12% of the UK population have now moved over to a vegetarian diet – that’s over 7 million people! Although you don’t have to be vegetarian to support our party and not all vegetarians are yet turned on to the need to win political representation for animals, it’s a pretty good indicator of the power we do have – if only we’d come together and use it. Just think, if all the vegetarians in the UK donated just £1 to our campaign, we’d have over £7 million in funds – and our success in the General Election would be pretty much assured!
So, please, spare whatever you can today to help us realise our vision for animals – a vision in which we all – people, environment and animals stand to gain.
Making a donation is easy, just visit our donation page.
You can also support us by becoming a member of Animal Welfare Party. Your membership fee of £12 (waged), £5 (unwaged) or £120 (lifetime) will go directly towards our 2015 General Election campaign. For more information on membership and to sign up, just visit our membership page.
Finally, if you think your friends, family or colleagues might also be interested in donating to our election campaign or joining our party, please let them know by sharing a link to this page on social media or in an email.
Our heartfelt thanks to all those supporting us in this endeavour.
Sincere Thanks
The AWP Team
