'Why I deserve your vote' - City of Durham candidates in their own words

• Everything you need to know about the City of Durham seat and its candidates ahead of June's election

Roberta Blackman-Woods, Labour Party

"I am delighted to have been selected once again as the Labour candidate for the City of Durham constituency for the General Election 2017.

"Since first being elected as Durham’s MP in 2005, I have sought to be a strong voice and vigorous campaigner for the area, and I hope to do so again with your support.

"I have a strong record of achievements for Durham:

Bringing jobs and opportunities

"I ran successful campaigns to have a new Passport Office in the city centre, retain the Land Registry, and develop new employment opportunities at Hitachi.

Standing up for our public services

"I have secured new affordable housing in Durham, and an extension to our hospital A&E Department. I am also pressing the Government for more funding for our schools and nurseries, as school budgets are being cut by the Conservative Government.

Investing in our communities

"I have worked with partners to deliver better community facilities such as the upgraded Wharton Park; improve environmental protection; support vital neighbourhood policing; and promote the                    enhancement of our beautiful and historic city.

"There are lots of reasons to vote for me and Labour at this election. Labour will:

• Provide a public, properly funded NHS and Social Care system
• Protect the value of pensions
• Invest in the North East economy
• Introduce a jobs guarantee for young people, and improve the quality of apprenticeships
• Raise the living wage to £10 per hour by 2020
• Abolish tuition fees
• Build 1 million new homes in five years, including homes for rent
• Increase the number of police on the streets

"My priorities if re-elected will be to:

• Bring additional investment to the Durham economy to create new jobs
• Protect our school budgets from Tory cuts
• Ensure young people can access the education and training they need
• Build more affordable, good quality housing
• Protect Durham from overdevelopment
• Defend our front line police service
• Get justice for 1950s-born WASPI women
• Secure properly funded NHS and Social Care services in Durham

Malcolm Bint, UKIP

"The North East is a sleeping economic giant. It has the potential to once again be the engine room of British manufacturing, but sadly successive governments, whether red or blue, have neglected the North East.

"Perhaps it’s because we’re so remote from Westminster, or perhaps it’s because our career political class has forgotten about us. Whether it’s defending our steel industry, giving us appropriate transport links, high-speed internet, or underfunding our Councils, central government has done nothing – it’s time to reverse this trend.

"The UK Independence Party won’t stand by and allow this to continue happening. We’ll stand up for people in the North East. We will show that there’s a bright future available for us, if only we have the courage to go and achieve it and have the support of our politicians in Westminster.

"Fortunately, if our politicians fail to deliver then we can always elect better ones at the ballot box. In some communities, sadly, it seems that people are abandoning hope that anything can ever change.

"As your UKIP Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the City of Durham, that vibrant, beautiful, historic, educational and cultural centre in the North East, it will be my challenge and privilege to bring that hope back to our communities.

"To show that once Brexit finally happens, it will create massive opportunities for our region to flourish, to the rebuilding of our fisheries to upgrading our roads, from business rates to proposing new Veterans’ Centres in our cities and to look after ex-forces personnel.

"The North East can be turned around with UKIP MP’s to really put the ‘Great’ back into Great Britain, so that this proud nation, once the powerhouse and seat of innovation of the world, will be ‘Great’ again once it’s released from the shackles of the EU. "

Jon Collings, Young People's Party

"I've lived in the City of Durham for more than 20 years and I stood as a parliamentary candidate for the constituency in both the 2010 and 2015 General Elections as an Independent, since I didn't feel that the mainstream parties had any solutions to many of the problems facing Britain, most notably the current housing crisis.

"This time, however, I'm standing for the Young People's Party UK (YPP), which was established in 2012, fielded candidates at the last election, and with which I share similar ideas.

"The party aims to ease some of the burdens facing young people in the UK by curtailing excessive speculation on property, which leads to large rises in house prices, increases in rent, and prevents many of the young from getting a foot on the property ladder. 

"The YPP advocates a radical overhaul of the tax and benefit system, replacing many taxes on the productive economy, such as National Insurance and VAT, with National Domestic Rates (similar to Business Rates) paid by freeholders of 4% per annum of the value of their property, and replacing many social security benefits by a Citizen's Income of £75 per week for most people in Britain (pensioners should receive more). 

"It also supports the replacement prison sentences for non-violent offenders with manditory education, training or community work, and the decriminalisation of possession of controlled substances.

"It favours a 'hard' Brexit based on free trade (with all import tariffs and quotas abolished), and immigration restricted to pre-1997 levels (with all current legal immigrants offered indefinite leave to remain).

"In education and healthcare, it proposes voucher systems which can be used in private institutions, and the abolition of university tuition fees for one million students."

Jonathan Elmer, Green Party

"I’m Jonathan Elmer and I’ve been living and working in and around Durham City since 1997. 

"I used to work as Sustainable Development Manager for the City Council until this was absorbed by Durham County Council. 

"I left Durham County Council when it became apparent that they were moving backwards with regards most of the social, economic and environmental issues relevant to the City. 

"I now work as a freelance ecologist and also formed a social company called Democratise Ltd which develop software to enable local communities to participate in decision making.

"This General Election is an opportunity to have your say on some of the most important issues in a lifetime, both nationally and locally.  In my opinion, this election isn’t about the next 5 years, it’s about the next 50 years.

"Nationally, we have a hard right government intent on severing links with Europe that grew out of the second world war, links that have maintained peace and free trade within Europe for 70 years.  Every green vote in this election is a vote against hard Brexit, but also for a reversal of NHS privatisation, for an education system that works for every child, and for action on climate change.

"Locally, we have a County Council intent on driving forward a discredited County Durham Plan that proposes the biggest expansion our city has ever seen.  The Council still hopes to construct thousands of executive houses in the Durham Green Belt, that will seriously impact upon the mature countryside, worsen traffic congestion and air pollution, and threaten the view of the city.  The latter point is important as the City is a World Heritage Site and this forms the foundations of its tourist based economy.

"The final point I would like to make concerns tactical voting.  The City of Durham Constituency is not considered marginal, indeed it has a strong Labour Majority and is very unlikely to be taken by the Conservatives.  This means you don’t need to tactically vote – you can vote for the candidate you believe will do the best job of representing the interests of Durham in Parliament."

Amanda Hopgood, Liberal Democrats

"The key issues on which I will be fighting this election are Education, the NHS, pensions, Europe and you.

"I want to be Durham’s voice in Westminster not Westminster’s voice in Durham, by electing me you will get a hardworking local voice standing up for what we need here.

"Education is a real and major issue facing this area now and in the future, lack of fair funding by both the Labour controlled County Council and the tory government has left our City schools the lowest funded in the County, this cannot go on.  I will continue to fight to make sure our schools receive the funding they require to ensure that every child has the opportunity to succeed.

"NHS, we must fight to protect this and by doing so accept that investment is needed above and beyond that which already exists.  I want to make sure that healthcare remains available where and when it is needed and support the Lib Dem policy of introducing an extra 1p on income tax dedicated to the NHS.  In 2017 we should not have a two tier system between physical and mental health so our commitment is to ensure that mental health services are given £1billion of this funding.

"Older people should not be penalised when it comes to their retirement.  The protection of pensions is essential, ensuring that retired people are financially secure and well cared for, that is why we are campaigning to protect the triple lock system.

"Fighting against a Hard Brexit, we need a deal which protects jobs and investment in Durham and the North East.  I will work hard in parliament to make sure that we get the best deal possible for Durham City and its villages."

Richard Lawrie, Conservative Party

"It’s time City of Durham had a fresh start, and got the attention that it deserved, rather than being taken for granted by those in power.

"I don’t come from a political background, but as a resident can see that we’re not getting the best deal.

"I live here, work here and care about our communities and the people who make City of Durham so special.

"By voting for me you will be getting a voice that will be listened to be the next government. I want to:

"End the economic neglect of Durham City and its surrounding areas. The constituency clearly isn’t performing as well as it should be due to decades of poor planning. We need to bring jobs to the area and improve training for young people."

"Protect University Hospital of North Durham and our NHS Services, and ensure that specialist services aren’t moved elsewhere in the North-East. We must guarantee that our mental health services receive the support that they truly need."

"Provide proper scrutiny of the proposed building development in the constituency. Growth and development are key to Durham’s economy, but any changes must provide affordable housing and be sustainable, with local authorities engaged in full open consultation with the local community.

"Argue for improved transport infrastructure. I would fight for the de-mothballing of the Leamside Line to the east of Durham City as a commuter route, to help alleviate congestion but also as a stimulus for economic growth.

"Support the development of Durham’s Education system. We need to see our schools and university working together in new ways to provide the best opportunities for young people here.  

"Labour take Durham for granted, and this election can change that.  I’m asking you to vote for me for your MP to fight for the interests of the local community, and give City of Durham a chance to be heard at Westminster."