Due to the resignation of a Councillor in Shirley ward a by-election has been called for the 10th October.
Barrie Margetts (pictured), has been selected to stand for the Green Party and has an excellent work record in Southampton as a previous Councillor and as a Professor at University of Southampton.
Barrie has lived in the ward for 33 years and is a retired (Emeritus) Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton where he worked in Public Health Nutrition and was actively involved for over twenty years in supporting the Southampton City Council’s efforts to improve public health in the city.
Having been elected as a Labour Ward councillor for Coxford in 2019 he put forward successful motions to full council on supporting the City becoming a Right to Food City (including free school meals for all) and to end holiday hunger. He also chaired the Health Overview Scrutiny Panel and was a member of the childhood obesity review.
Other campaigns included:improvement of local bus services; keeping community centres, improved play areas for children; and safer streets.
Barrie tells us,
“I led campaigns to protect native forests and green spaces, campaigned against the expansion of the Southampton Airport runway, volunteered on the garden team at St James’s Park, and set up a gardening project to help residents. In 2020, I established Southampton Social Aid Group, a Food Club to provide food and other provisions for local people.’
“I support the Green Party policies for a fairer, greener city.”