Jenni Hawkins Photo: Green Party
Shepway Green Party has announced local town councillor Jenni Hawkins as its candidate for Kent County Council in the 2 March Hythe West by-election after the resignation of a Conservative councillor following suspension from the party in November 2022.
Jenni, a former nurse, wants to see Hythe represented by the Green Party at the county council again. One of her fellow town councillors, Martin Whybrow, represented Hythe West at Kent County Council for eight years before standing down in 2021.
“Local Conservatives have ignored people’s wishes on Princes Parade at huge financial and environmental cost and cannot be trusted to listen to and work in voters’ best interests,” says Jenni, who moved to Hythe with her family in 2011. “The Conservatives were happy to endorse and be endorsed by someone whose repugnant views forced him to resign this council seat so it’s time to restore honesty and integrity and stop local residents being ignored.”
If elected, Jenni, who has also worked in education and employment, promises to be a voice for all those needing support, whether that is families and vulnerable individuals struggling through the cost of living crisis or businesses facing rising costs.
As part of the group controlling Hythe Town Council since 2019, Jenni has helped make the town safer through Hythe being the first council in the UK to introduce the Community Hub model, to take pressure off GP surgeries; greener by planting or donating 2,500 trees and an even better place for families by replacing play equipment in several local parks.