AS the general election campaign gathers pace ahead of the decisive vote on Thursday, December 12, the candidate standing in Bishop Auckland for the Brexit Party believes his message to disenfranchised voters is hitting home.

Nick Brown, who recently led the successful campaign to keep Witton Park Bridge open, announced in November that he was standing for parliament as the Brexit Party representative for Bishop Auckland.

The Cambridge University law graduate believes that UK politics is overdue a shake-up, and that the role of an MP is to align themselves with the majority views of their constituents.

He said: “What I’m constantly being asked by people on doorsteps is ‘Why should we vote again when nobody listens?’ This is a tragic state of affairs for any democracy, and that’s why my goal is to shift the focus of UK politics towards more Direct and Delegated Democracy and away from Representative Democracy.

“Helen Goodwin has repeatedly frustrated the will of this constituency by attempting to thwart Brexit. This is not what Bishop Auckland voted for. We voted overwhelming to leave – by 61 per cent – and she deliberately ignored that fact.

“This election is bigger than Brexit – it’s about our ruling class respecting the will of the people. Brexit is just the most obvious symptom of a much larger problem.

“If elected, I will represent the voters and businesses of the Bishop Auckland constituency to the very highest levels of customer service and professionality, and my vote in Westminster will be cast according to the wishes of constituents, rather than based on my own beliefs.”

Having worked in the technology sector for nearly 25 years, Nick hopes his expertise could potentially revolutionise how constituents mandate to their MP.

Nick said: “Constituents should be able to express their views on local and national matters, and easily communicate those views to their MP. The technology exists to do this, and I would develop solutions to achieve this, for example, by allowing every constituent to send me their opinion on matters, via an app.”

Transparent and accountable governance also lies at the heart of Nick’s promise to the area. His other pledges include: a commitment to only accept a salary in line with the average national wage, with any excess being donated to charity; to keep a running total and of his costs to the taxpayer available via his website; to offer voters a Right of Recall better than what is currently offered by existing legislation.

“I am the only candidate standing in Bishop Auckland who is actually from the constituency, and I care deeply about my hometown,” Nick said. “I’m standing because I want the best for this area, and that is why I will personally intervene on any matter brought to my attention by a voter or business in the Bishop Auckland constituency.

“Politics in this country CAN be done differently. We CAN fix the problems in our system. And this election is our chance to do it.”

To find out more about Nick, voters can visit his website at www.nick-brown.net, and follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@Bishop4Brexit.

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