Local man Clayton Payne is the chosen candidate for the Workers Party of Britain standing in North East Cambridgeshire.
He currently lives in Murrow but was brought up in Chatteris where he attended Cromwell Community College, and has also previously lived in Wisbech.
Clayton is a past member of the Labour Party but was unhappy with where it was going in terms of policies nationally.
He has been a member of the Workers Party since its inception and is a firm believer in its proclaimed philosophy of putting communities at the heart of everything.
Clayton, who has two teenage children, said: “The Workers Party is for working-class people – the Labour Party can no longer say that - they have let working people down.”
He continued: “The key is the Workers Party is very much community driven. We are all about the big issues that matter locally, for us in this area it is the Wisbech incinerator, the under-funding of our schools, and health services.
“It is all very well telling people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but they need to have some in the first place. The Labour Party is too focused on ‘weird’ issues like gender ideology rather than on practical issues – those that matter to ordinary people such as fuel bills, putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads.”
Clayton, who is the chief operating officer of an intech protein company dealing in animal feeds, previously ran his own business before completing a Masters degree. He then undertook teacher training at the Sir Harry Smith Community College in Whittlesey.
However, he said: “I thought I would enjoy being a teacher, but found it was not for me.”
During the pandemic Clayton worked on the frontline on Covid wards at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn and says as a result he fully understands the problems faced by the NHS and its staff.
He said: “The trouble with many of those in power is that they do not use the same services as we do. They send their children to private schools, they have private healthcare and so do not have a vested interest in the services we use.
“I believe everyone should have the right to the same level and quality of service and the Workers Party is not aligned with big businesses or private healthcare companies, we are all about the people and their communities.
“I love this area, I love its people and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
Seven candidates are hoping to win this constituency when voters go to the polls on Thursday, July 4.
They are incumbent Steve Barclay, who has represented the area for the Conservatives since May 2010, Clayton Payne Workers Party of Britain, David Chalmers Liberal Democrats, Andrew Crawford Green Party,David Patrick Independent, Christopher Thornhill for Reform UK, and Javeria Hussain for Labour.
