A would-be parliamentary candidate who wants to give Stevenage voters the chance to support the Green Party in May has come up with a new way to raise cash – by starting an online crowdfunding campaign.

Party member Graham White won’t be able to put his name on the ballot paper unless he can scrape together the money to allow him to stand.

The self-employed medical herbalist, who has lived in Stevenage for three years, needs to raise £1,000 – £500 as his deposit to stand in the election, and another £500 to pay for a leaflet campaign.

The 58-year-old said: “The crowdfunding is a new initiative which we are trying to see if it works.

“All parties need funding, but the Green Party is against taking donations from corporations or tax exiles, but we still need to raise money.

“We have members who help us raise money, but there is only so much we can ask for from them.

“By doing this we are getting ourmessage out to a broader range of people, and we can ask each one for a little bit.”

With one month left to go of his viral campaign, around £375 has been promised.

But one of the problems with the crowdfunding method is that if the target is not met all the money pledged is returned to donors.

Other political parties usually pay the fees to stand in each constituency from donations they receive.

Graham, of Kimbolton Crescent, has previously stood for election to council seats in Stevenage and in Bishop’s Stortford, but this will be the first time he has stood for parliament.

At the same time the Greens have launched a £72,000 crowdfunding bid to support new and smaller branches of the party. Graham’s campaign can be found at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-the-green-party-to-stand-in-stevenage-2015.