Former Herne Bay journalist Ed Targett has thrown his hat into the ring ahead of next year's General Election.

The dad-of-two will be contesting Thanet North for the Green Party – the first time in more than 20 years there has been a Green Party parliamentary candidate in Herne Bay.

Ed, 31, who grew up in Herne Bay's Montague Street and has worked for the Gazette, said: “I think a lot of people get the wrong idea about the Green Party and assume it's all about socks with sandals and telling people what sort of eco-friendly lightbulb to use.

“I'm a red-blooded Green. I'm not fussed about people's lifestyles at all, but I think government policy like privatising the NHS, cutting back funding and job security for firemen and women and giving developers the right to build all over the British countryside is disgusting and the Green Party have a strong set of alternatives.

“It's shocking to see places in the Bay like refuges for women who've been abused or people with mental health problems face closure because their funding has been cut while tax payer's money is used to inflate a property market, bolster the banks or fight another unsuccessful, expensive and strategically futile war based on lies.

“There are all sorts of things that councils can do meanwhile to help struggling town centres and business owners, like free parking – and they simply won't give them the time of day, as we've seen in Herne Bay.

“It's shocking to see places in the Bay like refuges for women who've been abused or people with mental health problems face closure because their funding has been cut..." - Green Party candidate Ed Targett

"One Green Party policy is abolishing council tax and business rates to replace them with a Land Value Tax, which I think is a great idea for starters – and one that was proposed as long ago as 1909 by Winston Churchill and Lloyd George in their People's Budget.”

Mr Targett, who works as an energy policy reporter in London and commutes to work every day by motorbike, moved back to east Kent in 2011 after several years working overseas.

He is divorced and has a seven-year-old son and five-year-old daughter who live with him full-time.

But what does he think of the long-standing Bay MP Sir Roger Gale, who is an odds-on shot to win the sit he has held since 1983?

Mr Targett said: “I've met him a few times. He was perfectly pleasant and I know he's respected for being a solid constituency MP.

"I'm not going to badmouth anyone on a personal level, but his opinions on many policy issues are of the last century.

"I share his commitment to animal welfare though, if nothing else, so I'm sure he won't mind standing aside for a younger man.

“I think it's healthy for democracy that when people go to vote they've got a full and genuine choice on their ballot paper and if that's all I achieve by standing, that's a start.”

You can follow Mr Targett's election campaign through his blog.