In this piece with the candidates vying for your votes on 4 July, we quiz the Parliamentary hopefuls of a constituency that has traditionally voted Tory, but where a real battle is emerging.
Luke Viner - Labour
Why should voters choose you?
My values are rooted in my upbringing. My dad is a carpenter, and mum looked after us. They did everything to provide us with the best start in life, helped by the achievements of the last Labour government. From class sizes under 30, to an NHS that worked, I had opportunities growing up that seem like a distant dream now. It’s why I became a councillor in my village of Fulbourn, knowing what a hard-working representative can achieve. The next generation must have a better life than the one before. If I’m elected, it will be my driving purpose.
Michael Gove proposed 150,000 new homes in the Cambridge area by 2050. What do you think of the plans?
I think Gove’s plans are misguided, and only highlights the difficulties with governments taking big decisions without consultation with local authorities and councils. We are in a housing crisis. As a younger person and renter, I understand how difficult it is to get on the housing ladder. New homes must be affordable, suit the demand of the area, and be accompanied by local amenities that new residents can use, not overloading the ones that currently exist. If elected, I will work with the next government to ensure South Cambridgeshire has the good quality housing we need for the next generation.
How should we meet the challenge of the cost of living and climate crises?
These issues go hand-in-hand. Meeting the challenge of the climate crisis gives us massive opportunities to create the jobs of the future, bring down energy bills, and champion green energy production all across our country. After 14 years of families feeling the squeeze, we need a long-term growth strategy to give people security. Whether it’s energy, food, or water, our strategy must drive down prices and increase the money in people’s pockets. Some will say climate policy isn’t an opportunity to lessen the burden of the cost of living. I completely reject that, we must for our people and planet.
Do you approve of the C2C and CSET busway plans, and support East West Rail? What transport improvements do you support and oppose here?
Transport is a major issue across South Cambridgeshire, especially across our rural communities. Residents don’t have the freedom to choose public transport due to unreliable services and a lack of choice. Labour will franchise our bus network and pave the way for public control of routes and fares. I want light rail to have a role in the future of local transport, and the busways are a piece of the puzzle to achieving that goal. Trains also play an important part. If I am elected I will lobby for an electrified East West Rail, with additional stations for our villages.
How will you support our children and young people?
As a younger candidate, this is a priority. I grew up under a Labour government, I understand the importance of a strong educational foundation. Labour is committing to 6,500 new teachers across our country and if I am elected, I will advocate for our fair share of them. We will also open an additional 3,000 nurseries through upgrading space in primary schools. We must invest in our children’s future. Young people deserve to have a stake in their country, which is why I will advocate for affordable housing in our area so younger people can get on the housing ladder.
Chris Carter-Chapman - Conservatives
Why should voters choose you?
South Cambridgeshire is my home. I grew up here, went to school here and now live in one of its many villages. I am fighting to protect it from the range of environmentally damaging schemes that would decimate its countryside and divide its communities. On July 4th, you are electing a local advocate who will take a clear stand on the issues that matter to you. I have done that on securing more local police officers, cutting NHS waiting lists, saying no the Lib Dem council’s four-day working week, on full pay, and getting our dangerous roads fixed. I am fighting to improve lives across South Cambs.
Michael Gove proposed 150,000 new homes in the Cambridge area by 2050. What do you think of the plans?
We need affordable homes, for our families and for key workers. The government has delivered a million new homes over the course of the last parliament and some of them are being built right here in Cambridgeshire. These are on brownfield sites and appropriate infill development, the right place to build new homes where the infrastructure can be brought in alongside them. I oppose massive housing developments that lead to the loss of vital arable land. We have a scarcity of water and the Environment Agency has rightly blocked mass building projects. This renders the Gove proposals unworkable and I have therefore clearly and publicly opposed them.
How should we meet the challenge of the cost of living and climate crises?
Driving down the cost of living has been one of the main priorities of this government. That is why we have cut National Insurance for 27 million workers from 12% to 8%. This puts hundreds of pounds into people’s pockets. It’s why we put billions of pounds into energy support payments and why we have announced the triple lock plus on pensions, meaning that pensioners will not be made to pay tax on their pensions. On the climate crisis, we are accelerating the rollout of clean energy technology which is good for the climate but also for British industry and jobs.
Do you approve of the C2C and CSET busway plans, and support East West Rail? What transport improvements do you support and oppose here?
My position on these issues has been clear and consistent, all three schemes are in the wrong place and must be stopped. C2C would concrete over the beautiful Coton Orchard and the important biodiversity contained within it. A far cheaper alternative exists that would save the Orchard. The public consultation on CSET clearly showed that the proposed route, that would decimate the Gog Magogs, does not have majority support. The cheaper on-road option should instead be implemented. On EWR, I have campaigned against the southern approach for the past two years. It is more expensive, environmentally damaging and has a lower freight capacity than its northern alternative. The case for the exploration of a proper light rail/tram system for Cambridge is overwhelming. I believe that the Greater Cambridge Partnership, having wasted hundreds of millions of pounds of our money on misconceived transport schemes, should be abolished and the money spent on a proper feasibility for light rail. We have also got to protect and improve our rural bus services. We have extended the £2 bus fare cap to help make them accessible for all. I was pleased to see in our manifesto a commitment to outlaw road charging schemes like the Cambridge Congestion Charge that would hit the poorest in our society the hardest.
How will you support our children and young people?
The quality of life a child experiences in their first five years is crucial in setting the right trajectory for their future. That is why we are doubling free childcare to 30 hours a week, supporting parents financially so that they can achieve the right balance for their children’s education. The changes proposed to child benefit would enable parents to increase the amount of extra curricular activities that help shape a well rounded education. We are also delivering a further 100,000 apprenticeship places. I have met so many young people whose careers have been transformed by this brilliant scheme.
Pippa Heylings - Liberal Democrats
Why should voters choose you?
I have spoken to thousands of residents across South Cambridgeshire and people are crying out for change. As a local Mum, small business owner and councillor, I have loved making my home here over the past 12 years. As your MP I would focus on what residents have told me matters most: improving our NHS; action on cost of living crisis; championing environmental action to clean up our chalk streams and tackle climate change. The choice in South Cambs is between me and the Conservative candidate. It’s going to be close and I hope voters will back me for a once in a generation chance for change.
Michael Gove proposed 150,000 new homes in the Cambridge area by 2050. What do you think of the plans?
There is a housing crisis and we need to build housing that is genuinely affordable. We already have some of the most ambitious housebuilding plans in the country and huge work has ensured these will be of high standard, environmentally sustainable and protect the character of our city and villages. But the top-down imposed plans from Gove and local Conservative MPs risk riding roughshod over local community voices, the Local Plan and environmental concerns whilst this government has failed to address our water supply crisis. I will continue urging government investment in water infrastructure and public transport to make what is already planned possible.
How should we meet the challenge of the cost of living and climate crises?
Tackling both the cost of living and climate crises need not be mutually exclusive. I have spent my life working on climate change: from international environmental agreements to helping South Cambs be one of the most ambitious councils on climate change. I believe Parliament needs MPs with this kind of expertise. The UK can have world leading climate policies whilst also boosting the economy and improving quality of life. The Lib Dems put climate change at the heart of a new industrial strategy, cutting emissions and bills with an emergency Home Energy Upgrade programme and providing incentives and advice to support families and businesses to transition to net zero.
Do you approve of the C2C and CSET busway plans, and support East West Rail? What transport improvements do you support and oppose here?
My instinct in all of this is to listen to the community and try to find solutions. This is too important an issue for political point scoring. As your MP I would be a strong advocate for improved public transport locally that provides real benefits to local residents and is sensitive to the countryside.
Sadly, each of the schemes do have considerable issues. The EW rail proposal has been mismanaged by this Government from the start. I don’t support the proposals as they currently stand – the business case is weak and the line won’t even be electric! We must demand better.
On C2C, I am calling for a full public enquiry to make sure all the facts are heard. The costs of CSET have spiralled with little thought given to this also being a potential route for light rail.
As MP, I would convene all different bodies responsible for transport to ensure a joined-up strategy that makes sense.
How will you support our children and young people?
If you elect me as your MP, I will champion policies that make children’s lives better including free school meals for all primary children. 340,000 children are on mental health waiting lists and Lib Dems would tackle this by putting a mental health professional in every school. Young people I speak to in South Cambridgeshire feel left behind by politics and their issues not being spoken to: they want action on climate change, public transport that works and the possibility of affording their own place to live. I will listen and fight for what matters to them.
Miranda Fyfe - Green
Why should voters choose you?
The Tories are toast anyway, so voters essentially have a ‘free vote’ this time: we can all vote according to our convictions rather than wasting it on tactical voting. None of the three primary-coloured parties are putting enough focus on actions to address the climate emergency, which is the existential issue for our society: how we act now (or not) will have huge ramifications for everyone’s future. The Green Party is the only party with climate action at its core, from which all other policies for a fairer society follow. And, every Green vote literally counts as ‘Short Money’ funding.
Michael Gove proposed 150,000 new homes in the Cambridge area by 2050. What do you think of the plans?
I made one GCP project officer chuckle in a meeting last year when they referred to ‘Cambridge 2040’ and I said “Oh, do you mean the Gove Nonsense?” But it’s worse than nonsense: it is the epitome of why chasing GDP Growth as an end in itself is catastrophic for our environment and will also lead to ever-increasing inequality in our society. The very richest will get even richer, and the rest of us will all suffer the consequences – and run out of drinking water! Cambridge is the Goose that laid the Golden Eggs, and these plans will kill it.
How should we meet the challenge of the cost of living and climate crises?
The solutions to the climate crisis are the same as those needed to end the cost of living and inequality crises: our Green Party manifesto sets out many examples of how climate action means better public services, warmer homes, stronger communities and a restored natural world. We can pay for this by asking the very wealthiest in our society to pay just a bit more in tax, and we’ll introduce a carbon tax. Investing in protecting our climate now will save vast costs in the future, and investing in public services is essential to a flourishing future for us all.
Do you approve of the C2C and CSET busway plans, and support East West Rail? What transport improvements do you support and oppose here?
No. I’ve opposed these busways for eight years, ever since the concept was first mooted by City Deal. I’ve always said and still believe that we simply need more frequent and cheaper buses running on existing roads, and to actually market them to increase ridership: that in itself would ease congestion enough for the buses not to get caught up in traffic. As for East West Rail, it is simply way too expensive – in money and carbon cost – to justify the huge environmental destruction. The EWR Bedford to Cambridge section is just a property developers’ charter, masquerading as public transport. I like the Cambridge Connect Light Rail proposal and support that. I’d like to see ‘quick wins’ being brought forward, such as reinstating the 1km “Snailwell Loop” disused railway line, which used to connect from Newmarket towards Soham and Ely: it would enable direct train connections from Cambridge to Soham, and Newmarket to Ely. Also let’s get a station for Cherry Hinton / Fulbourn. As for buses: so much could be done to improve the infrastructure around them such as bus stops and especially waiting areas; that’s where the GCP should have been spending our money all this time.
How will you support our children and young people?
Green MPs will push for billions of pounds of extra investment in education, right from Early Years through primary and secondary, to Post-16 and Higher Education. This includes better funded support for special educational needs, free school meals for all children, and in higher education the restoration of grants and ending of tuition fees. Outside of the education sphere, we will also push for free bus travel for all under-18s, and will lower the voting age to 16. Overall, though, the best support we can give our children and young people is in transitioning at speed to a decarbonised economy.
Also standing
Voters in South Cambridgeshire will also have the opportunity to select Reform UK or an independent candidate when they head to the polls next month.
The candidates will battle it out alongside the Conservatives, the Greens, Labour and Lib Dem to become the area’s next MP.
Harrison Edwards will stand for Reform UK, who unveiled its “contract” with voters, promising a programme of tax cuts, scrapping net zero targets and a “freeze” on all non-essential immigration.
Also standing is independent candidate James Gordon, who lives in Shudy Camps. Mr Gordon co-founded a law firm that has offices in London and Guildford, employs 70 people, and has been owned by an employee ownership trust since 2021.
On why he is standing, Mr Gordon said: “The people should be given a chance to show the main parties that they want ‘none of the above’.”
Mr Gordon says, if elected, he will bring “wisdom to Westminster from three decades experience of working in the SME sector”.
