With the General Election just around the corner, William Gadsby Peet invites the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates for the constituency of Windsor to make their case...
Adam Afriyie, Conservatives
Why I’m standing for re-election as your MP
Coming from a tough background amidst the grey concrete of South London, with few of life’s advantages, I can’t tell you what an unexpected honour it has been to represent one of the most beautiful parts of our country in Parliament for 12 years.
Being an MP is an incredibly enriching experience. Yes, it has been hard work, with thousands of letters, calls, and emails each month and the constant toing and froing between our home in Windsor and Westminster, but my determination to protect and promote parts of our constituency like Ascot keeps me going.
A map of the constituency takes pride of place on my office wall. It reminds me every day of the most enjoyable part of the role of an MP – the constant face-to-face meetings on the doorstep and at surgeries and events across the constituency.
If I am re-elected, you have my commitment that I will continue to fight tooth and nail against the Third Runway at Heathrow; protect our community from devastating flooding by supporting the Conservative led River Thames Scheme; and defend our vibrant local economy, whilst opposing insensitive overdevelopment.
Yet this election is about more than our local issues. It is about the national interest. And time and time again on the doorsteps one issue keeps cropping up: people want someone they can trust to negotiate the best deal for our country as we leave the EU. I am not surprised that many former Labour and LibDem voters are telling me that they think Theresa May is the best choice for this election, given the alternatives.
Having worked with Theresa May for more than a decade, I certainly echo the sentiment. She is a serious and experienced leader who will bring the strength and stability we need when defending Britain’s interests in our Brexit negotiations.
It seems to me that we have a clear choice to make at this election, between strong and stable leadership with Theresa May through Brexit and beyond, or the chaos, uncertainty and instability of a coalition with Jeremy Corbyn and others. The contrast couldn’t be starker!
I am standing with Theresa May, and I hope that you’ll stand with me on June 8 and cast your vote for the Conservatives, because every vote for the Conservatives adds to the weight of Theresa May’s mandate to represent the UK.
Peter Shearman, Labour
Standing up for the people of Windsor
As a local resident with a young family, a business professional and school governor, I am concerned by the direction we are taking, away from traditional British values of openness, tolerance and community.
The Conservatives are claiming to offer ‘Strong & Stable’™ government, but the last seven years have demonstrated anything but. Instead, nationally we have 20,000 fewer police officers, and a funding crisis in every major public service: NHS; social care; schools; prisons. The list goes on.
Yet this spending restraint has not meant the end of the deficit or the reduction of the national debt. It has instead funded giveaways to those least in need. Our national debt continues to rise.
The Labour Party will fix our public services. We will provide the investment we need for education, for health, for affordable housing. And we will do this by resetting the tax base so badly damaged by Conservative cuts to Corporation Tax and Capital Gains.
It is of some irony, then that the Conservatives are least ‘Strong & Stable’ on the very issue that they seek a mandate – Brexit.
The truth is that the party of hard Brexit has already given up on the national interest. Rather than seek a productive agreement, that may see us remain in the Single Market, the government has put media posturing and party interest above the country.
It has talked down about our EU partners, to the point of deep paranoia and personal insult. It has taken the best trading option off the table. It has jingoistic soundbites in place of strategy.
There is nothing stable or strong about the Tories’ approach to Brexit. It smacks of unpreparedness, weakness, and folly. There will be no reconciliation of Brexit’s divisions while the Conservatives ignore the views of nearly half the population, and a majority of Windsor residents.
My hope is that there’s a role for both Leave and Remain in Brexit. Just as Eurosceptics influenced our relationship when in the EU, so Remainers should have an influence as we leave. The shape of our departure is crucial to the UK’s future. We cannot have a government committed to hard Brexit and blind to all other options.
Windsor constituency voted to Remain, but has an incumbent representative who is an arch-Leaver. I hope my fellow constituents will want to ensure a balanced Brexit, by returning an MP in step with their views and values.
Julian Tisi, Liberal Democrats
Fighting for a Britain that is open, tolerant and united
I have never been so worried about the direction that this Conservative government is taking Britain in – towards a truly destructive Brexit which will do serious damage to our economy, jobs and in turn to our NHS and schools. And I have never been so dismayed at how Labour has failed so abysmally to oppose the Government on all of these.
If elected as your MP, I will commit to:
1) Hold the Government to account on Brexit. Every vote for the Liberal Democrats sends a message to the Government to abandon their destructive approach to Brexit. If elected, I will fight to keep Britain in the single market, retain hard-won freedoms and to offer the British people a say on the final deal, with an option to remain if they don’t like it.
2) Oppose cuts to education. I’m married to a teacher and I have two young children. I have seen how the Conservatives are cutting school budgets and wasting billions on unproven experiments. Liberal Democrats will invest an extra £7 billion a year in schools, reversing cuts to schools which are seeing class sizes and teacher shortages rise.
3) Vote to safeguard NHS funding. The NHS is at crisis point and needs vital funding. Liberal Democrats will deliver an extra £6 billion for Health and Social Care, paid for by raising income tax by 1p.
4) Continue to oppose Heathrow expansion. I’m concerned about air pollution and aircraft noise, particularly at night. But the Conservatives are going ahead with further Heathrow expansion despite years of saying they were against it. Liberal Democrats have consistently fought Heathrow expansion both nationally and locally.
5) Be a full-time MP available to all. I don’t believe our Conservative MP has worked hard enough for this area, either in Parliament or locally. I would make myself available to all residents across the whole constituency and implement regular surgeries open to all.
My background: I’ve been fighting for Windsor for the last decade, campaigning to keep a fire service in Windsor, to stop a multi-storey car park at Alexandra Gardens, to protect services at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot, to stop Heathrow’s third runway, to improve armed forces housing, to protect bus services and to defend our green belt. I work as a Control Assurance Director for an energy company in Windsor.
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