Jamie Whitham is the Green Party candidate for Reading West.

He was born in Reading and lived in the town until the age of eight.

Mr Whitham returned to the town in 1992 where he works as a software engineer.

He was elected for a second time this year as a councillor at Reading Borough Council (RBC), representing Redlands ward.

Below is the Q&A with Jamie all about why he is standing for your vote in Reading West.

Hi Jamie. How has it been so far, knocking doors, what has the response been?

A lot of people are saying they are going to vote strategically for Labour. The climate emergency is definitely on people’s minds at the moment but people don’t want a Tory government.

That’s why we need proportional representation.

Did you consider not standing?

Yes. We had a meeting. I have had several constituents ask me why we are standing.

There was a democratic vote. The thought is that voters aren’t stupid; they know it is strategic to not vote for the Greens. The small number that don’t vote tactically maybe wouldn’t have voted at all so it gives them the chance and upholds the small amount of democracy we do have.

What have you been talking to people about?

The climate emergency is the most important issue facing us now. Particularly in Reading there is a lot of old housing stock. We want to get to net zero by 2030 which is quite a hard target to reach.

Housing insulation is a very easy win. It is a simple, cheap thing to do. We would prioritise people on low incomes so you can get people’s bills down as well as saving energy.

What are some of the other policies you would bring it that you think would have a big impact on people in Reading?

Other things around housing like bringing in rent controls and longer tenancies so you can’t have revenge evictions.

Air quality is a big issue, so pushing for more electric charging points, an ultra low emission zone and possibly a road pricing scheme.

Also making public transport cheaper. The buses are quite good but expensive. When the bus companies were privatised, they said if you have a publicly owned bus company it has to be competitive.

That is a straitjacket that stops us having affordable buses.

As well as renationalising the railways we would like to see local rail come under council control, so people would have a say in where they went and where they stopped.

We also need massive investment in cycling. At the moment a lot of people are too scared to cycle on the roads in Reading.

We could change the face of how people move about to more of a Dutch style.

You could go down from three lanes to two on London Road for example.

Are any Conservative voters going over to the Green Party?

On occasion. Maybe when they don’t understand all our policies. We are quite a socialist party. Some Conservatives that are very keen on environmental issues will do.

What do you think Alok Sharma has done well and not so well?

I can’t think of anything he has done positive. He very much toes the party line. I am surprise that he is pro-Brexit. He changed his tune very quickly.

The Green Party has talked about £100bn a year to tackle the climate emergency. Is that affordable?

That’s our total spend, but obviously prioritising climate. Once we get more wind turbines and things they are all generating money and are very profitable.

We would also change planning regulations so it is easier to build wind turbines.

Wokingham Borough Council turned down wind turbines on the motorway because they thought it was an eyesore which is bizarre.

What’s your view on Brexit?

My view is we should remain. It needs to be put to the people again so we can’t just revoke.

I think we need a better campaign from remain this time.

I would like to see something more nuanced than a yes/no ballot. Maybe you rank the options.

You could have leave/leave with no deal/remain and you rank the three.

I was arrested in Brussels ten years ago and I was chained to an EU building for Greenpeace action, campaigning to get them to take climate change seriously.

Whilst I understand there are problems with the EU, we are still way better off in it than out of it.

How do you feel about how the Greens are going to do nationally?

We are polling about three per cent which is pretty standard. We have a good chance in Bristol West and Brighton…as well as Reading West of course (laughs).

The best result would be a hung parliament where we would have the balance of power.

What do you do to be as Green as possible?

I have a 100 per cent green electricity supplier. I use only recycled stuff when I can. I drive an electric car.