Candidate for the Cotswolds

I am standing for selection as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the Cotswolds. I am an energetic, articulate candidate with the determination, tenacity and public profile to beat the Conservatives in the Cotswolds at the next General Election.

(**Please download my CV/Manifesto by clicking on the image to the left.** May not work in some browsers - email me at rozlibdem@gmail.com if you have any problems.)

See below to read my campaign pledges, find out more about me, and watch videos where I share my thoughts on various policy topics, and stories about the influences that have shaped my political philosophy.

INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER

I have spoken on all seven continents, to corporations, universities, schools, conferences and political forums, using my ocean rowing adventures to share messages on purpose, motivation, and the environment. My goal is always to inspire people to believe that a better world is possible, and to share a hopeful message of how we can work together to make that a reality. People tell me that hearing me speak has changed their lives, helping them to make braver decisions in their life and work.

I bring this mindful approach into politics - I don't see it as my role to tell people how to live their lives. I genuinely believe in the Liberal value of liberty, which is the freedom to be oneself, develop one’s personality and one’s life as one wants, subject only to the right of others to do the same.

I believe that we need more politicians who are able to articulate a message of hope and inspiration, to share a vision of a better future, and to give people practical ways to come together in creating that future. We need more ambition, more courage, more capacity to inspire and galvanise. I believe that I can do this.

AUTHOR/THINKER

My latest book sums up all I've learned in the last twenty years about why change is hard, why change is necessary, and how change can happen. Based on my doctoral dissertation, it ends with an uplifting vision of what the future could look like if humanity consciously chooses to design a better future for the generations to come.

From the book cover: 'The Ocean in a Drop follows the quest of Roz Savage, a frustrated environmentalist and ocean adventurer, to find out why her own endeavours and the environmental movement more generally have failed to achieve change at the necessary scope, scale and speed. Her journey takes her from the environment through economics and politics into patriarchy and a global culture of domination – the domination of rich over poor, strong over weak, humanity over nature.

Exploring cutting-edge theories on the nature of reality and the relationship between matter and consciousness, she peels back the veils of our shared delusions to arrive at a new narrative about what it means to be human in the twenty-first century. She paints a bold, exciting vision of a future in which people and planet thrive."

ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPAIGNER

It was my environmental awakening in 2003, after seeing the impacts of climate change in the Peruvian Andes, that led to me rowing solo across three oceans, using my adventures to raise awareness of our ecological crisis. For the last two decades I have been a tireless campaigner on environmental issues, including:

• MBE for services to the environment and fundraising
• United Nations Climate Hero
• Athlete Ambassador for 350.org (climate change)
• Inducted into International Green Industry Hall of Fame
• Ambassador for the Plastic Pollution Coalition
• Campaigned for the London Super Sewer to prevent sewage discharges into River Thames
• Campaigned for a plastic bag free London Olympics
• Speaker at TED Mission Blue in the Galapagos (a special TED event focused on oceans)
• Speaker at Our Oceans conference in Washington DC, appearing onstage between Leonardo DiCaprio and Barack Obama

My activism has brought me to many places, and into contact with many people around the world, from Barack Obama, Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio, Edward Norton, Jean Michel Cousteau, Michael Palin, Ben Fogle, Richard Branson, and most of the Royal Family, to people living in shacks, shanty towns, jungles, deserts, equatorial islands, and remote villages with no electricity. It has been an incredible journey that has exponentially expanded my perspective on the world.

OCEAN ROWER

I hold four Guinness World Records for ocean rowing, including first woman to row solo across three oceans - the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. That's about 15,000 miles of rowing during a total of 520 days and nights at sea. My longest single voyage was exactly five months alone at sea, without seeing dry land or another human being.

These voyages have undoubtedly shaped me. I have had to find inner reserves of courage, resilience and resourcefulness. I have discovered that even the biggest challenges (including political ones) can be overcome through perseverance and dogged determination. I am not easily daunted.

I now bring that tenacity to the political realm. We are rowing into uncharted waters as we face up to unprecedented challenges like AI, climate change and biodiversity loss, and disruptions to our economic assumptions. We will come unstuck if we try to apply old solutions to novel problems. When I used to return to land after months alone at sea, I could clearly see our societal problems with a fresh eye. We need this kind of brave objectivity if we are to navigate our way through the years ahead.