“People do have to be brave and bold and vote for what they believe”
What Steven asked Cat Jamieson, Kate Belmonte, and Kim Winterbottom, the Green Party's General Election candidates for Medway
With the General Election imminent, this is the third (and final) in a series of sit-down interviews with General Election candidates from the smaller parties. Steven met all three Green Party candidates for Medway’s constituencies: Kate Belmonte for Gillingham and Rainham, Cat Jamieson for Rochester and Strood, and Kim Winterbottom for Chatham and Aylesford.
Where were you born?
Cat Jamieson: I was born in Dundee. My parents moved down to Ashford when I was about five. In my early 20s, I came to Medway for work and have stayed here ever since for the last 20 plus years.
Kim Winterbottom: I was actually born in Germany. My father was in the army. I was born on a little army base in Rinteln and lived there until I was three.
What brought you to Chatham and Aylesford constituency?
KW: I grew up in Maidstone. We moved over to Larkfield when I had my first child because we liked the area. I thought it was a great place to have children, good commutes in Larkfield for London. It's just a nice, nice place.
Kate Belmonte: I was born in Colchester in an army hospital because my dad was in the army, too. Moved to Medway when I was five after my dad left the army, moved back from Celle in Germany to Medway, and lived here since then.
What jobs did your parents do growing up?
KW: My parents were prison officers. They were quite high up in the prison service.
CJ: My dad retrained in his forties to become a maths teacher and taught in secondary schools, and my mum was a medical secretary.
KB: My dad learned the trade as a traditional sign writer. He was in the Royal Anglian Regiment. He was trained at the Royal Engineers, and he's still a traditional sign writer. A lot of the work in Rochester is his work. My mum has been a housemaker. She's brought myself and my sister up, and she had the odd jobs here and there.
When you say the work in Rochester was his work, can you give us an example? KB: Anything that's been traditionally painted. Tiny Tims, Rochester Coffee, he did the post box outside of the Guildhall Museum. My dad did all those signs as well, as did I, because I used to make signs before I do what I do now. A lot of his work is across Medway, and he's an amazing sign writer.
How did you find school?
CJ: I had a good experience at school as well. Stayed on for sixth form and did three A-levels: Politics, Religious Studies, and Maths.
KW: I loved school, I really, really enjoyed school, about middle of the row.
Did you stay on for sixth form?
KW: I did stay on for sixth form.
What did you specialise in?
KW: Psychology, Sociology and Biology. I didn't do very well.
KB: I went to Napier School on Napier Road, primary school and then secondary. I was borderline and just got into Chatham Girls. I stayed on to do A-levels. I did Music Technology, Design and Technology, Chemistry and half an AS. I think Expressive Arts.
What was Expressive Arts?
KB: It was basically acting, singing, writing, directing, and just expressing yourself. It was good.
Did you go on to university?
KW: I did, later on in life. Actually, just here in Chatham. I did a Childhood Studies degree whilst working in the school. Did my degree and then did my teacher training and my PGCE on top of that and I'm now just coming to the end of a Psychology Master’s. I've always been interested in that, so I came back to it to do it properly.
KB: No. I went to grammar school, so it was university, university, university. My mum and dad couldn't have helped at all financially, and I basically calculated that I'd get in so much debt, whereas I could go into work now and then accumulate savings. I got accepted into Teesside to do Media Production, but in the end made the decision just to go into the workforce.
CJ: I went to university in Glasgow. Went back up to Scotland and studied Politics and Economics. I was also lucky to do a foundation degree when I was working in Medway with young people and young people's services.
KB: I did do a little bit of an Open University course, actually. It was only a small part and that was in Business Management. It's not a full degree. It was a small part of it.
What was your first full-time job?
KW: My first full-time job was as a support worker. I worked with adults with learning disabilities. I absolutely loved that job. I really enjoyed it, and I felt like it gave me a lot of skills that I've carried on for the rest of my life.
KB: I'm trying to work this out. When I left school I was working at McDonald's. I also worked at Littlewoods, but I think the Littlewoods one was weekends, and the McDonald's was weekdays. I also got a job at Bluewater. I was working in retail in a shop that used to be called Sarah Coggles, selling stupid priced suits, £500 suits. You'd be handing it over on your minimum wage thinking, ‘What am I doing?’
CJ: My first full-time job was working in a call centre for Stena Line ferry company (laughs). You learn so much in all the jobs that you do.
What is your official occupation now?
KW: Teacher at a primary school. I'm currently with year one. They're five and six. I'm also lead of RE (Religious Education) in my school.
KB: I'm technically the Operations Director of the nonprofit that I help run, Mutual Aid Road Reps (MARR). We set up at the beginning of lockdown to help shielded people. I was told to isolate, and I couldn't help but think about the people that were isolating that had no help. It's just absolutely skyrocketed from there. I'm also a graphic designer.
CJ: I was working for the British Youth Council for the last three years, but I've just changed jobs and I'm now a youth consultant. I'm working with a couple of national charities to help support the development of their children and young people's strategies and the work that they do.
Do you have any other additional roles, paid or unpaid?
KW: I'm a school governor at another school. I'm an election agent for Tonbridge and Malling as well
KB: I had to take a step back from the Greens at the end of last year to really concentrate on MARR and all my focus goes into that at the moment.
CJ: I'm a trustee of my boys’ Parent Teacher Friends Association. I'm also the coordinator/co-founder of the Rochester Eco Hub. And I'm a committee member of the Friends of the Vines. I also sit on the Medway Council's Climate Change Committee.
What political parties have you been a member of?
KB: I was brought up in a conservative family. I really didn't think about politics at all. I just got on with work and became self-employed. It wasn't until my first son was born that I started to really think about the way communities worked and society worked. When I got particularly ill, I started thinking about all the other people and how they were coping being ill. I had experience of the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) at that point because I got really bad. I joined the Greens, it might have been 2016. It was after reading all of the manifestos and making a decision that the majority of what I believed, so did the Greens.
CJ: I've only been a member of the Green Party. I was trying to work out when I joined. It was around when Clive Gregory stood in the Rochester by-election, but I didn't become active until I went on maternity leave in 2019.
KW: Only the Green Party.
What led you to join the Green Party?
KW: I've always really aligned with the Green Party ethos. For as long as I was aware that there was a Green Party, I've been following them.
When did you join?
KW: I think it was probably about 10 years ago, perhaps. I can't remember exactly. A long time.
When did your name first appear on a ballot?
KB: 2019. I got a call from Marilyn (Stone, election agent) completely out of the blue and got talked into being what was a paper candidate in the local elections in Twydall. I think I got about 420 something, votes so not masses at all, but some people voted for me. It's quite nice. I basically became addicted since then.
CJ: I think it was the same election. I was a paper candidate for Rochester West.
Do you remember how you did?
CJ: No (laughs). I think I remember it being a little bit more than previous.
KB: Yeah, we did increase our vote share.
KW: Last May, for the locals. That was East Peckham, West Peckham, Wateringbury and Mereworth. All of those were one ward. I loved introducing that one.
How did you do?
KW: I was really pleased, actually. It was going up against Matt Boughton, who was the leader of the Tonbridge and Malling. I came third. Greens were second then because the two Conservatives, they're really well established. I was I was pleased I came third.
Why have you decided to stand in this General Election?
KW: Honestly, because I really think I’m the best person to stand. I’ve got a really strong voice for change. I know the communities, and I know the area really well.
KB: I've only been involved since 2019 and so many of the processes have completely just shocked me. I've worked really hard in Twydall and in Rainham, not for political gain, but because I really love the area. That's why we're based there for my non-profit as well. I just look at all the actual MPs, and the way that it's all about them. It's about them getting photographs, them getting second jobs, them progressing, getting promotions. I just find that frustrating. I think it should be a task that is a calling, it's not a job, and I don't think that's happening anymore.
CJ: Yeah, I like your use of the word calling. I've also just felt compelled to be vocal about what I really believe in and what I'm concerned about. I've spent my career working with young people, trying to help prepare them for their futures and the emergency of a situation with the climate and biodiversity loss and the impacts that's going to have on their future. It just makes me feel that I have to be out there, pushing the point that we have to act harder and more quickly on climate change. That's why I have to stand.
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