The Green Party's Hitchin candidate has set out his stall for the area, arguing there's never been a better time to vote for the party.

Will Lavin is a veteran of Green Party politics, serving on the National Executive Committee when they adopted their current name. 

No stranger to the General Election coalface, he's stood unsuccessfully several times over the years - including against John Major in Huntingdon all the way back in 1987.

He's lived in Hitchin for seven years and believes that now, more than ever, smaller parties deserve votes.

He explains: "It's very important that people don't feel like they're wasting their votes. Every vote for a Green candidate puts pressure on the other parties to adopt some of our policies."

He notes that the Greens have performed very well in local elections in Hitchin recently - although it should be remembered that this rarely translates to General Elections.

He points to the Greens record when given opportunities at council level, saying: "We've done a lot of work on air quality. Some parts of Hitchin break WHO guidelines for air quality and the Green Party have done a lot to improve monitoring of air quality."

He continued: "We'd improve planning in Hitchin, we don't think planning decisions have been very well managed."

He also claims the Greens 'won't shy away from the big issues', arguing that his party will be 'brave' when it comes to raising tax for the highest earners.

With polls suggesting that Labour are on course for a huge majority, Mr Lavin suggests that there has never been a better time to vote Green.

He said: "It's a foregone conclusion that Labour are going to form the next government so you can vote Green without risking keeping the Conservatives in power.

"Labour have reversed on their green pledge, massively diluting them and moving to the right, becoming indistinguishable from the Conservatives."

Read more:

•  Interview: Chris Lucas, Lib Dem candidate for Hitchin

•  Interview: Hitchin's Reform UK candidate Charles Bunker

•  Official Hitchin candidate list for General Election

He argues that 'traditional' Labour voters should back the Greens as they support renationalisation of water and rail companies, as well as pushing to re-join the European Union.

When asked to sum up why people should vote for him in a sentence, he said: "I'm giving people the opportunity to vote for the only true alternative, all the other parties are 'much of a muchnness' ".

The other candidates in Hitchin are: Bim Afolami (Conservative, MP for Hitchin and Harpenden in the last Parliament), Alistair Strathern (Labour, MP for Mid Bedfordshire in the last Parliament), Charles Bunker (Reform UK), Chris Lucas (Liberal Democrats) and Sid Cordle (Christian Peoples Alliance).