The main political parties have picked the candidates they hope will be MP for Hertford and Stortford after the next General Election. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated he expects to go to the country “in the second half” of this year. The latest date for a poll is January 28, 2025.
In the meantime, the Indie has invited the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green Party and Reform UK hopefuls to introduce themselves to our readers before the campaign proper begins. Over the coming months, with a column every two or three weeks, they will be trying to connect with the electorate.
Our brief to all five was “not to parrot your party’s national position, but take the opportunity to tell our readers – your voters – about your personal principles” and talk about local, national and international issues. We also included a caution not to ignore “the elephant in the room”, and to address controversies affecting their party openly and honestly.
Cllr Nick Cox, a member of both East Herts district and Stanstead St Margarets parish councils and the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Green Party, writes:
How is it that in Bishop’s Stortford – a relatively rich town, in a wealthy district, in the richest region of one of the most prosperous countries in the world – thousands of people are struggling to make ends meet?
“In 2022, the food bank behind the Bishop’s Stortford Methodist Church in South Street spent £60,000 helping 3,450 local people experiencing a food crisis. No one should have to go hungry – ever.
“There is wealth in the UK. It is distributed unfairly. Our economy is failing because our wealth, rather than circulating and benefiting everybody, is held in the stagnant assets of the super-rich.
“And we can’t rely on Labour to do anything about it. Last month, in a rare moment of honesty, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves admitted that a Labour Government will be as economically radical as Margaret Thatcher in the late 1970s.
“It doesn’t have to be like this. Greens will use resources fairly and responsibly, with essential services run for public benefit and a decent quality of life for all.
“We need a large-scale green investment programme to transform our economy from one reliant on cheap labour and fossil fuels to one that puts people and the planet first.
“Imagine if we took Clement Attlee and Nye Bevan to a food bank in 2024 and showed them what has become of the welfare state that they created. Would they recommend maintaining Conservative fiscal policies for the duration of the next government?
“I think not, and that’s why I get out of bed every morning and why I will not stop until our constituency has become greener, fairer, kinder and more equitable than it is today.”