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# Lichfield teacher hoping to become first Green Party representative on Lichfield District Council
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/lichfield-teacher-hoping-to-become-first-green-party-representative-on-lichfield-district-council/
- Published: 2018-02-02T08:13:31.000Z
- Updated: 2018-02-02T23:02:43.000Z
- Description: A by-election candidate says the Green Party have shown they can be a real voice of opposition in Lichfield and Burntwood.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 18:23, News

A by-election candidate says the Green Party have shown they can be a real voice of opposition in Lichfield and Burntwood.

[![Mat Hayward](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/90/e390c3da-0866-4d2a-8ffe-ca4999d7ce1c/content/images/lichfieldlive-co-uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/mat-hayward-green-party-candidate-1.jpg)](//lichfieldlive.co.uk/2018/02/02/lichfield-teacher-hoping-to-become-first-green-party-representative-on-lichfield-district-council/mat-hayward-green-party-candidate-1/)

Mat Hayward

Mat Hayward will contest the Lichfield District Council Stowe ward by-election on February 22.

The vote was sparked following the resignation of David Smedley from the Conservative-controlled council.

Mr Hayward, who teaches at St Michael’s Primary School in the city, believes the time is right for the Greens to win their first seat on the local authority.

“I’m proud to have been selected again to stand for the Green Party in my home ward of Stowe,” he said. “We know the outcome of this by-election won’t stop the Conservatives controlling the council, but electing me as the district’s first Green councillor would make a vital difference to the quality of the opposition in the council chamber.

“Effective debate can only happen when councillors are free to speak their mind rather than being made to toe party line.

“I was involved with the library petition in 2016 which I think demonstrated how effective the Green Party can be at speaking out on an issue which clearly mattered to an awful lot of local people, but which the other mainstream parties would have been happy to just wave through.

“As a Green councillor I would be free to speak about local issues on behalf of the voters, not my party bosses.

“Lichfield is where I live and work – it’s where my sons grew up and were educated – and to represent the voters of Stowe as a Green Party councillor would be a huge honour.”

Mr Hayward collected 635 votes when he stood in 2015\. The Conservatives claimed all three seats in that vote.

Lichfield and Burntwood Green Party spokesperson Simon Partridge said: “We couldn’t ask for a better candidate than Mat. Anyone who knows him will tell you he’s passionate, committed and extremely hard working.

“We have no doubt that, as a district councillor, Mat would make a vital difference to both the Stowe ward and to the district as a whole.”

**Lichfield District Council by-election candidates:**

- Jeyan Anketell (Lib Dem)
- Joanne Grange (Conservative)
- Mat Hayward (Green Party)
- Don Palmer (Labour)
- Philip John (Something New)