Here is Chris's potted history of his life:

After a 5 year engineering apprenticeship at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough I spent 9 years trying to live self-sufficiently in the Isle of Man with poultry, cows, pigs etc. I made a mean cheese as well as some totally awful ones!
 I lived In intentional communities for about 22 years including 18 months in a self sufficient community in the Isle of Man and have been a committed 'Green' all my adult life, standing for the Green party a number of times working as a parish councillor and parent governor. I have campaigned in the field of renewable energy and the environment for many years.
As well as a wide experience of community living I have accumulated a lot of different useful skills in my life. I was trained as a engineer in but have also managed to fit in working as a potter, a drummer, a beekeeper, a Mr fixit (small scale builder) a computer engineer (I ran an industrial unit for re-cycling IT equipment ), a self development workshop leader (working with drumming, movement, sweat lodge etc - I completed Gabriel Roth's 5 Rhythms movement training). I am a very experienced gardener and smallholder.  I have done a lot of house building and maintenance over the years and am very excited about the process of converting our house in Burrs road into an eco dwelling (see www.ecodiy.org).

Economics
I follow the old tenet ‘from each according to their ability. To each according to their need’.  I see the unlimited growth in consumption and in population leading inevitably to the destruction of human culture.  I am confident that the world (Gaia) will recover and move on without us.  It is in our own interests to learn to live sustainably and to share the world’s resources fairly between us.  Research show that more equal societies are happier societies (yes even the rich are happier in a more equal society!)

 Politics
I believe in evidence based decision making, co-operation and communication in politics.  Too much of our government today is from the fixed dogma of the main political parties not much connected to what is happening (and going to happen ) in the real world.  I think that human’s relationship to the rest of the ‘natural’ world is of vital importance to our well being; physical, emotional and spiritual.  I want my life's efforts to increase the harmony and understanding between people and between people and the environment, plants and animals that share our world.

Green Policies

Material Equalities
A recent survey reported that the top 10% of people in the UK were 100 times as wealthy as the bottom 10% this needs to be changed.  People who think it is ok to earn huge sums need to be shown the consequences and reminded of the need for ethical  standards in life.  The green parties integrated benefit and taxation system would make fairer distribution of wealth easier.
Jobs and the Green new deal
We have great a opportunity in the crisis facing us in the economy and the environment to re-skill our working population in the skills we need for the changed  world we now live in.  Climate change, fuel security, dwindling natural resources and unemployment all direct us in one direction and the Greens 'Green New Deal' show how it can be done.
Protecting public services, in health, transport post offices etc -no more privatisation!
We have done the costing and all this can be achieved with a fairer (and simpler) tax system
Taking climate change seriously
In spite of the malicious distortion created by those seeking to deceive about climate change the scientific evidence for man made global warming remains unassailable and we must do what it takes to reduce the scale of the crisis and make plans to live with the inevitable effects.

Colchester Green Party website

Caroline Lucas on the Andrew Marr show video  Green Party election broadcast on YouTube

Blogs:
Political bog  http://chrisjsuk.wordpress.com/