The Home Secretary paid a visit to the area yesterday (June 27) — and promised that Conservatives will put more police on the streets.
James Cleverly followed the party’s campaign trail to Boughton, alongside the Conservative’s campaign bus, where he visited Great British Sports Cars to take a tour of the facility and speak with staff.
Mark Spencer, who has represented Sherwood as its MP since 2010 and is vying to keep his seat in the upcoming General Election, said: “It was brilliant to welcome the Home Secretary here to Boughton to see one of our best local businesses. James was blown away by the company and what they are doing not only for our local economy but the representing Great Britain on the global stage.
“We talked about local policing and the fact we have smashed our target in police recruitment and will be recruiting thousands more officers if elected next week. Labour locally closed police stations the last time we had a Labour PC, the Conservatives have put more officers on to the beat.
“Over £34m delivered for the A6097 and A614, £20million for Ollerton and Clipstone town centres and over £20million for Newark by the Conservatives. It is clear who to vote for if you want more investment here in Newark and Sherwood.”
During the visit, the Advertiser questioned Mr Cleverly on the Conservative’s commitment to policing and anti-social behaviour.
The Home Secretary is responsible for overseeing policing in the country.
Mr Cleverly said: “We take anti-social behaviour very, very seriously, that’s why we committed to having the 20,000 new police officers that we promised in the last parliament, and we delivered on that promise.
“We’ve committed to recruit an additional 8,000 who’ll be really embedded in their neighbourhoods. We’ve got the retail crime action plan, we’ve got the prolific offenders plan — all of which is about driving down the kind of crimes which people feel in their everyday lives and that they want dealt with.
“That’s in stark contrast to last time Labour were in control of Nottinghamshire Police. We had police station closures, including the one in the town just down the road.”
Prior to his arrival, a Greenpeace protestor used a ladder to get onto the roof of the bus with a banner reading “Clean power not Paddy Power” — referencing the General Election betting scandal and calling for more focus on nature and climate action.
Mr Cleverly later told the media : “We’ve said we’re not going to comment on [the Gambling Commission’s] investigations and they are taking action. We have already suspended support from the conservative candidates that were involved in this.
“My view is very simple, everyone involved in public service should focus exclusively on serving the public… I’m furious about it.
“When I talk to people, what they want to know is who’s going to invest in their public services, who’s going to make sure there’s more police on the streets — and that will be Conservatives.
“So yes, I’d prefer to be talking about that rather than gambling.”
Candidates in this constituency are:
• David Paul Dobbie - Liberal Democrats
• Sheila Greatrex-White - Green Party
• Helen Rose O'Hare - Reform UK
• Mark Steven Spencer - Conservative
• Jeremy Paul Spry - Independent
• Lee Waters - Independent
• Michelle Welsh - Labour
