Local Political Debate

Who will have your vote?

Many thanks to The Hilton Newbury and The Angel in Woolhampton for providing the venue and refreshments for the interviews.

Richard Benyon – Conservative

The local farmer and businessman fought and won the Newbury seat for the Conservatives in 2005 and 2010 and is defending a majority of over 12,000.

“Without a scintilla of complacency, I think West Berkshire is in a much better place now than it was five years ago. Having just been through the banking crisis, a lot of people in West Berkshire work in financial services, and a lot of people were affected by the recession, and it was a nervous place in 2010. Don’t laugh, but one of the indicators I use for the economy is car parking in places like Newbury and Thatcham from the council’s car park takings, because you get a very good weather vane of the economy and it’s doing really well now.”

“So our towns, our economy, is doing better, people are starting to see real improvements. We’re obviously a very prosperous part of the world. 0.8% unemployment claimant as a percentage of the working population is almost as low as anywhere in the country. But you know, within that, there are pockets of deprivation, which keep me busy. However, I think most people know that is all work in progress. The job isn’t done.”

e-mail: [email protected]

twitter: @richardbenyonMP

facebook: facebook.com/richardbenyonmp

www.richardbenyon.com

 

Jonny Roberts – Labour

Jonny Roberts is 27 and lives in Newbury with his wife Adriana. He grew up in the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury and studied film at university in Newport, Wales.

He is standing for Labour because he thinks this election is the most important in his lifetime. “It’s a choice between a privatised and fragmented NHS or a system that properly integrates physical health, mental health and social care for the first time, a choice of being in or out of Europe and perhaps most importantly it’s a choice between the Tories cutting public services to the bone to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest 10% or Labour’s plan to reduce the deficit through taxes on bankers bonuses and tobacco companies and positive steps to reduce welfare demand such as a higher minimum wage, regulating rents and expanding free childcare.”

The central themes of his campaign will be reducing the cost of living through things like the energy price freeze, extending free childcare, tighter caps on rail fares and allowing a publicly owned not for profit provider to bid for rail franchises.

www. Jonnyroberts.com

twitter: @Jonyfornewbury

facebook: facebook.com/jonnyrobertsfornewbury

www.labour.org.uk

 

Judith Bunting – Liberal Democrat

Our Liberal Democrat candidate was the first girl from her local school in Peterborough to go to Cambridge in 25 years. She took a science degree and then progressed to a career with the BBC; however it was the financial crisis that politicised her.

“When the crash happened, I found all the political restraint that I’d built up over the years just started to disintegrate. I got so annoyed and angry at what was happening, There’s nothing wrong with a bit of profit, but nothing wrong at all, but there is more to life than profit. If you run a company, you can act with fairness and values, even while you’re making a bit of money.”

Focussing on local issues Judith is passionate about education, young people, mental health and she believes people will vote for the best representative rather than out of blind party loyalty.

“It doesn’t matter what you think about the national parties, it’s who is going to represent you best in parliament that matters. Who is going to take your issues forward and try and get changes made by lobbying senior politicians, by lobbying their ministers? Who is going to be up and active, and working for you in parliament?”

email: [email protected]

twitter: @JudithBuntingLD

facebook: facebook.com/JudithBuntingforNewbury

www.judithbunting.co.uk

 

Catherine Anderson – UKIP

Catherine graduated in Languages and Philosophy at King’s College in London and she believes she can bring a wealth of experience from previous roles in fund raising, events, business to business marketing, managing people and project managing for various charities.

“My responsibility is to listen to local people and do what they are asking locally and nationally – that is true democracy.”

“I am in favour of doing business with Europe within a European Free Trade Area and pro immigration based on a points system of skills needed. We need to prioritise saving the NHS, making core subjects at university more affordable and protecting our greenbelt with brown site initiatives.”

Lastly, Catherine passionately ends with “If you love Britain, and it doesn’t matter who you are or what colour you are; if you love and live in Britain you must vote UKIP for your right to have a say in your home and how your country is run.”

http://www.ukipnewbury.org/ppc.html

www.ukip.org

Paul Field – Green Party

“Paul has lived in Thatcham for 14 years with his wife and daughters. He has been a teacher for 20 years and is currently headteacher in a West Berkshire primary school. Before studying to become a teacher, he lived in Denmark for 4 years.

The most frequent message I get from people is that they are fed up with politics and the shameful behaviour of our politicians – the constant spitefulness and negative behaviour has weakened their faith in the system. The Green Party behaves differently. For people who want to end the privatisation of our NHS, the only choice is Green. For people who want to see our railways running effectively in public ownership, the only choice is Green. For people who want to see our economy working for all people, with affordable housing and a fair taxation system, the only choice is Green. We would make a positive education available to all people, scrapping Ofsted, SATs and tuition fees. We would ensure work pays by raising the minimum wage to £10 an hour by 2020 and we would make sure the government took serious action to deal with the outrageous tax evasion which costs our country tens of billions of pounds a year.

Most importantly, we would take a long-term, positive view and join up the many complex issues we face in the decades ahead. Our aim is not to play with numbers, be selective with the statistics or offer short term gimmicks to get re-elected in a few years. Our aim is to help our country prosper in a sustainable, fair and humane way in the decades ahead.

Whilst realistic about our chances in Newbury at this stage, we believe anyone who is tired of the current set-up, who believes we can do so much better than this and who believes in a positive, compassionate, grown-up future will vote Green and send a very clear message on May 7th.”

Peter Norman - Apolitical Democrats

The Apolitical movement was started in 2007 to offer an umbrella under which independents can stand to change the way we do politics, replacing confrontation with collaboration, obfuscation with transparency.
The group is also fielding candidates for the Town and District Council elections.

Peter Norman has many years experience in the business world having worked first in the reinsurance sector before becoming a management consultant on business development. In 1988 he set up a corporate
finance boutique and later co-founded and was commercial director for a technology company in mobile data that grew to over 120 employees and went on to float on the stock exchange. He has been a vocal
campaigner in opposing the development of greenfield sites around Newbury, most notably Sandleford. He is currently a governor at St Bartholomew’s School. He is also standing for the Falkland Ward at the District Council Elections.

 

Andrew Stott - Patriotic Socialist Party

I was born in Swindon but have lived in West Berkshire (and the Newbury constituency) for 24 years – I am 25 years old

The Patriotic Socialist Party, which I founded and lead, is also based on West Berkshire/Newbury but we are a nationwide party with candidates due to stand for both the parliamentary and council elections. Though we won’t know with absolute certainty where candidates will be standing until the nomination process is over, we are due to stand at least one other parliamentary candidate for the Batley and Spen constituency with council candidates also due to stand in Birmingham, Cheshire East, Colchester, East Devon, Great Yarmouth, Hull, Kirklees, West Berkshire, Woking and Wyre Forest.

I was raised and educated in West Berkshire, attending the Brightwalton Church of England Primary School and Downs Secondary School. I currently work locally in landscaping and construction. I served as a member of the Enborne Parish Council from 2009 (when I was 19) to 2011 and then the Bucklebury Parish Council from 2011 to 2013.

My interest in politics began in my mid-teens with an increasing concern for environmental issues and I joined the Green Party as a result. As time went on and I developed interests in other walks of life, I found the Greens had little to offer me and I eventually formed the United People’s Party in 2009. This subsequently merged with other political groups and individual political activists from across the political spectrum to to form the Patriotic Socialist Party on 1st January 2014.

Like all the candidates standing under the Party’s banner, I consider the 2015 elections to be a great opportunity to raise awareness of the Party and promote genuine, alternative solutions to neo-liberal, austerity-driven and fear-based politics.

 

Barrie Singleton – Spoil Party Games

I am retired from a small manufacturing business in which I was co-founder, key worker and primary ‘navigator’, over 30+yrs; the final 20+ in Newbury. Monitoring of batch-processing gives time for thought, and by early 2000’s I had identified the system of Party Politics as a pernicious exclusion of benign stewardship in this nation.

In 2005, I stood as independent with the credo: “SPOIL PARTY GAMES.” I felt it needed saying. In 2010, a flyer came through my door which breached election law. I brought it to the attention of all who should have addressed it – none did. Only then did I realise that Britain’s global boast of ‘democracy under rule of law’ is a sham. I have come out of political retirement to gain a higher profile and sow a seed of awareness.

I am HonSec to Newbury Poets’ Workshop and deliver my poems from ACE Space and Corn Exchange stages. In the area of artistic expression, Newbury is blessed. Would its politics were as laudable.