Eddie Wood
For many years I have thought of standing for a General Election, but there was always something that kept me from doing so until Together Gibraltar came about as a political party that finally ticked all the right boxes for me in the way that politics is offered to the people. I joined in December 2018 and since then I have never looked back. Working within a totally unified Executive Team, genuinely working to makes things better for ALL of us has been for me a total breath of fresh air that I have never experienced before in our local politics.
There are two very basic reasons why I wish to enter front line politics:
My passion for my homeland
My even bigger passion for my fellow Gibraltarians, that now more than ever feel great disappointment as to how things are done by our Government and how a totally ineffective main Opposition fails dismally to oppose constructively.
Together Gibraltar comes into the picture filling in a political vacuum addressing issues with normality, diversity and a lot of common sense. Normality in the way that local issues are addressed and that affect us all, diversity because for the first time in our politics ordinary and diverse members coming from all walks of life in our community are getting involved and common sense because when there is such disappointment Together Gibraltar brings in the sense that regretfully is so sadly lacking.
For many years I have been very active on social media voicing my opinion on issues of interest to the general public, being outspoken, but also very well known for giving credit where credit is due.
As a proud member of the LGBTQ local community, I was instrumental with the help of just a few others in bringing about Same Sex Marriage to become a reality within our Civil Laws and for obvious reasons I am an ardent supporter of Equality that should never be given with conditions attached to humour some at the expense others and behind their backs. Human Rights are not negotiable and should never be debated. Equality should be applicable to everyone regardless of your race, colour, creed or sexual orientation and sadly on this we still have a very long way to go.
Also, I have always had great interest in our Heritage, but sadly our national monuments look tired, forgotten and unmaintained, you just need to go across the border to any small city or village and you will see how proud they are of their heritage with beautiful squares, well kept streets and their heritage monuments looking totally great. In Gibraltar we also have wonderful and beautiful private heritage buildings, many left to ruin for all to see. This is the result of not much Government help going towards the owners to help them in restoring such buildings. This has to be reviewed as a matter of urgency and a Heritage Strategy to be put in place and the independence of our Heritage Trust is paramount to achieve what others have achieved with inferior economies. Our Heritage is what makes us as a people and that identity needs to be passed on to our future generations.
Culture is also one of my other interests. The centre of our culture needs to be enshrined in a National Theatre, pulling down an iconic heritage building like the Queens Cinema to make way for 23 parking spaces is the perfect example of what never to do. Our culture, although vibrant and active needs to be even more supported and given more tender loving care . What cannot possibly be done is promise a National Theatre in 2011 and in 2019 this remains a figment of our imaginations.
On a personal note, I feel I can put many of my personal qualities as a person to good use for the benefit of my fellow citizens, those qualities include my empathy towards others, a good listener, getting things done and most important of all that my views are those of a very ordinary citizen that the people out there can certainly relate to, the same as I can to them. This is a very rare quality to find within our Parliament these days, people cannot possibly relate to the majority of our parliamentarians.
Together Gibraltar as it stands today is perfectly prepared and capable if elected as the new Government of Gibraltar. I hope to form part of this very exciting political project that is so much needed and that only YOU can make a reality.