Christian Vassie is a politician with a difference, he has a life outside politics!

By profession he is a composer of music for film and television, an author, and a public speaker. He has also worked as a film director, script writer, art director and designer, and freelance photographer. He has run his production company for twenty years.

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Since 2003 Christian has also been a city councillor in York.

Political Biography

Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for York Central

Christian was among those marching against the Iraq War in early 2003 and spent 10 years as a member of Charter 88, the group campaigning for reform in the way the state operates.

City of York councillor

In May 2003 everything changed. Christian was elected to serve as a councillor on City of York council. Within months he had learned that the council, like many other local authorities, was great at lecturing others on tackling climate change but had a poor record of its own. With the council leader's approval, Christian initiated the ecoDepot project to bring the local authority its first environmentally sustainable building. Working closely with council officers Christian also ensured that the ecoDepot is the largest timber-framed straw clad building in Europe. You can check out the ecoDepot blog that Christian produced for the BBC during the construction of the ecoDepot. This blog has been acclaimed across Europe for its blend of information and humour, and is now used by as an education tool across the region. The ecoDepot environmentally sustainable design saves tens of thousands of pounds a year in energy and water bills.

Energy Champion and environmental campaigner

Heartened by proof that it really is possible to change things in politics, Christian has spent a great deal of time tranforming City of York council's response to climate change. In 2005 Christian became the chair of City Strategy. Early in 2006 he was made Energy Champion for the city.

Christian initiated a variety of Scrutiny topics on environmental issues, including: energy use in council buildings, sustainable street lighting, supplementary planning guidance on sustainable development. Christian worked hard to ensure that council officers and councillors of all political parties worked together to provide a platform for change.

In November 2009 Christian was invited to speak in support of a Wind farm inquiry in the East Riding. The inspector agreed with Christian that regional targets were inadequate and allowed the appeal. Renewable energy generation in th East Riding will go up 50% as a result, from 40MW to 60MW.

Executive member for Leisure & Heritage, 2007-2008

In his work as a city councillor he demonstrates the value of creative thinking and vision. Throughout his work as a politician there is a common theme - words are not enough. In 2007, Christian became the executive member for Leisure and Heritage. Within a year the department moved from a two star CPA rating to a 3 star rating for the first time ever. [CPA stands for the national Comprehensive Performance Assessment by which all local authority performance is measured.]

Being a professional in the creative industries, Christian was happy to work with staff in leisure, sport, culture, parks, libraries and the arts, to bring vision and purpose, to inspire confidence in ideas, and to empower the team to do their best work. We have many fantastic professionals working for the city and it was a pleasure to lead the team.

Executive member for Leisure, Culture & Social Inclusion, 2008-2009

In 2008 the portfolio expanded to include Social Inclusion. While this made for a considerable increase in workload, Christian the value of bringing culture and social inclusion together. He was very happy to work with officers to transform the way the council interacts with equalities groups.

"I have never believed that minority group in society only want to talk about what it is like being in a minority. Everyone has views on everything," says Christian.

Equalities Assessment Fairs, introduced in 2008/9 now ensure that the council engages with minority groups, including those with physical or learning difficulties, ethnic or religious minority groups, the old and the young, and women's groups on everything from the city's communication strategy to recycling.

"I don't believe in gay rights, women's rights, religious rights, pensioner rights, black rights, etc.," says Christian, "I believe in human rights. I believe in creating a fair society that guarrantees the rights and responsibilities of all citizens, a level playing field where all are included the decision making process and all benefit from our nation's success."

Christian welcomed the establishement of a Holocaust Memorial Day in the city. He stressed that the day must commemorate all genocides and not simply the Holocaust because "no particular nation, religion, or ethnic group has a monopoly on suffering".

As an executive member, Christian was responsible for getting agreement on a future for the city archives, after over a decade of dithering by the city council. He secured agreement on funding to transform the city's central library, supported the partnership between Aviva and the council to provide 'smart money' workshops for York residents, and worked with officers to advance ambitious plans for a new community stadium.

A can-do approach

Christian ensures that every strategy or policy report he is involved with always carries at least one practical action that can be carried out immediately. He believes passionately that national politics should apply the same principle.

If elected to parliament he will campaign vigorously within parliament for the transformation of the Houses of Parliament into an environmentally sustainable building.

"It is no surprise that MPs seem to have little understanding of how to tackle climate change when they work in a building without renewable energy installations, without 21st century levels of insulations, without intelligent metering, and without an energy champion to ensure that energy efficiency is at the heart of working practice," Christian says. "MPs are hypocrites, like a doctor with a fag in his mouth lecturing a patient on the dangers of smoking. Until MPs adopt best practice themselves they will continue to create grandiose targets decades into the future without doing anything in the here and now."

For York itself, Christian will continue to campaign to see the creation of a landmark sustainable development on the York Central site. "It is pointless having only the ambition to recreate a development that could as easily be in Leeds," says Christian. "We must have the vision and the courage to create a new York that is as exciting, beautiful and important as the old city. If we don't it will only be because we didn't dare to dream."

"It is not just about the environment but also about our economic prosperity. We must have the courage to advance bold plans because they bring inward investment and jobs. It is a fact that developers' money goes toward good ideas and great plans and towards not average ones."

Christian is a member of the Regional Arts Council.

Education

Christian went to York Minster Song School and from there to Archibishop Holgate's School in York. At the School of Oriental and African Studies in London he took a degree in African Languages and Music, during which time he also served on the Students' Union.

Christian is bilingual, in French and English.

Published and promoted by Maurice Vassie on behalf of Christian Vassie of York Central Liberal Democrats, 10 Blake Court, Wheldrake, York YO19 6BT