23 May 2024
As political parties across the country ramp up their campaign activity ahead of July’s General Election, we ask local candidates for their reactions and immediate plans.
In St Albans, incumbent MP – now Parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats – Daisy Cooper was clear about the options for the constituency.
”In St Albans voters face a clear choice between me as their hard-working Liberal Democrat MP, or another out-of-touch Conservative. Labour are out of the race and just can’t win here in St Albans.
”In St Albans I have shown the difference a hard-working MP can make, I’ve put our local issues on the national stage, and I’ve spoken up for our values.
”St Albans is my home, and couldn’t be more proud to represent such a wonderful area.
”It’s clear this Conservative Government has failed St Albans, just as it has failed the country. After years of struggling to get a GP appointment, soaring rents and mortgages and our rivers being polluted by filthy sewage.
”The Conservatives have run out of excuses and run out of ideas, now it’s time for this Government to be kicked out of office.”
Green candidate Simon Grover said: “It’s been a painful wait but finally we have an opportunity to get rid of this toxic government and elect a better one.
“The climate and biodiversity crises are the most important issues facing us today – though you would never know it by listening to the messages and policies we hear from the other parties. If we don’t tackle those issues effectively, there’s not much point tackling any others.
“So I’ll be campaigning for people to vote Green at this General Election. Whatever flavour government we get on 4th July, it needs to know that people want environmental action. Every Green vote sends a message that people want their government to act.
“I, like other Greens, will be focusing our efforts on the constituencies where we stand the best chance of winning, like in Brighton, Bristol and Suffolk. In St Albans, I’m standing so that people can hear about what we stand for, and so everyone has the opportunity to vote Green – and I hope they do so in large numbers.”
Mark Ewington from the Communist Party of Britain added: “The General Election has finally been called; this is long overdue! Working class people up and down the country are now desperate for real change.
“The Communist Party of Britain will be offering a ‘real choice’ to voters in St. Albans and other parts of the eastern region.
“We can’t wait for the opportunity to directly address and engage with electors in our local community. Between now and July 4, we will ensure every household in our constituency gets communication from us. We will hold a number of street stalls, local meetings and our social media platforms are ready to go. It is time for change, and we are good to go!”
Conservative candidate James Spencer said: “In St Albans it’s going to be either Spencer or Starmer.
“I am genuinely looking forward to the General Election campaign. St Albans is my home and standing to be its next MP has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. As someone who is St Albans born and bred, I know the issues that matter most to local residents and that is what I’m going to be targeting over the coming weeks.
“Chief among these is protecting our precious Green Belt. At the moment we have a Lib Dem administration which has failed to deliver a Local Plan to protect our Green Belt. What’s more they are not engaging with residents in areas such as north St Albans where people are justifiably concerned about over-development.
“Nationally, the Lib Dems have committed themselves to a target of delivering 380,000 houses with no commitment that these will not be built on the Green Belt. More concerning, Labour have committed to building 1.5 million. As MP I would campaign for a new approach to planning which addresses the housing crisis by putting homes where we actually need them and not where developers can make the most profit.
“It is not just the Green Belt which is affected by the Lib Dems planning failure in St Albans, demand on services, particularly school places, is impacted as well. St Albans has some of the best state schools in the country (I went to two of them) but we all know how competitive it is to get your child a place.
“With Labour’s proposed tax on independent schools, which could potentially see thousands of pupils displaced from the private school sector, combined with uncontrolled housebuilding, I am seriously concerned that increasing numbers of young people will be denied the opportunity I had of a brilliant local education.
“Only a vote for the Conservatives can protect our precious Green Belt and protect services and school places.
“On the national level the Prime Minister was spot on in his speech yesterday. In this election St Albans residents have a clear choice at the ballot box, and that is a Britain led by Rishi Sunak who is delivering on his plan, or a country led by Sir Kier Starmer and Angela Rayner.
“The world is a turbulent place at the moment, and only the Conservative Party, led by Rishi Sunak, has a plan to take the tough decisions and tackle the challenges we face as a country head on. Labour and the Lib Dems have no plan.
“In seats like St Albans, a vote for anyone other than me, your local Conservative candidate, risks letting Labour in.”
Labour’s St Albans candidate Sophia Adams Bhatti has not released any statement.
Harpenden and Berkhamsted Liberal Democrat candidate Victoria Collins said: ” It’s about time the Conservatives finally called a General Election! They have left the country with record-breaking NHS waiting times, a soaring cost of living crisis and sewage dumped into our precious chalk streams. They have to go.
“I’m focused on showing local people the hard-working local MP I would be for Harpenden and Berkhamsted. Myself, the team and masses of volunteers will be working non-stop over the next few weeks, as the Liberal Democrats are the only party who can beat the Conservatives in Harpenden, Berkhamsted, Tring and our villages.”
Her Conservative opponent, Nigel Gardner, said: “My family go back many generations here. My grandmother was born upstairs in The Oddfellows Arms on Leyton Green – one of six sisters all born upstairs in the pub. I was raised here and went to school in Harpenden. This is the only place I want to represent.
“I’m not a career politician. Watching what goes on in Westminster often fills me with despair. Earlier in my life I have been both a BBC journalist and founded three businesses – creating hundreds of jobs. Saving our senior citizens parking permits, protecting our on-street parking, and supporting our High Street are top priorities for me.
“I will work hard for everyone who lives here – whatever your politics. Whether it’s campaigning for better access to GPs, fighting the expansion of Luton airport or defending what’s left of our countryside, I will work tirelessly with you. I respectfully ask for your support.”
Zara Layne, Labour candidate for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, said: “This election is a chance to turn the page on 14 years of Tory government and to chart a new course for the country.
“I am honoured to have been selected to represent Labour in the constituency of Harpenden and Berkhamsted. I truly believe that with a Labour government, we have a chance to repair the damage to our public sector and other vital services that people rely on, day-to-day.
“I will fight for vital investment in the NHS, education, policing, transport and energy sector amongst others. We must restore a sense of national pride; working with local communities to ensure the infrastructure they need is able to deliver according to local and national requirements.
“For too long, people have had to make compromise after compromise. The cost of living of living crisis continues to loom large, affecting people everyday, limiting choice and opportunity.
“Harpenden and Berkhamsted is a new constituency and this snap election means there is everything to play for. We have an opportunity to bring real and sustained change both local land and nationally and I look forward to a positive campaign.”
Green Party candidate Paul de Hoest said: “I am proud to offer the voters of Harpenden and Berkhamsted the chance to vote for a real change from the carnage of the last 14 years and the tired and failed policies of the mainstream parties.
“The tragic consequences of our collective failure to control greenhouse emissions mounts every day with savage weather extremes, falling crop yields and losses of key animal species such as the vital bees.
“Every vote for a Green candidate in this election sends a message to whoever forms the next Government that you care deeply about the deepening ecological and climate emergencies and demand a safe, thriving natural environment for all our futures.
“Ecological recovery and economic recovery go hand in hand and Greens will fight, not just for our climate and biodiversity, but also for investment in the NHS and social services, in lifelong education, in safe and secure housing and in better public transport.
“We cannot have secure lives without having a truly democratic voice and so we will demand a representative electoral system, improved workers rights and maintaining our right to peaceful protest.
“The people of Harpenden and Berkhamsted deserve a better, brighter and greener future.”
