REDDITCH candidates standing in the upcoming general election have shared their list of priorities if they were to become MP. 

Residents will take to the polls across the borough on Thursday, July 4, to vote for the next MP to represent them. 

Candidates have spoken about their ambitions and goals as they battle to win votes from constituents.

This is what each candidate will prioritise if elected. The list is in alphabetical order. 

 

Julie Allison - Reform UK

(Image: Julie Allison)

Housing in Redditch is under massive pressure due to population increase (related to uncontrolled immigration). Latest ‘published’ figures close to 90,000 .

Areas of Redditch have the highest population density in Europe at > 4,153 population/sqkm . Areas of Winyates and Churchill are classed as the 6th most deprived in the country. Figures from Shelter tell us > 1000 people on the waiting list for homes.

Private landlords have exited the housing sector on mass due to punitive taxes imposed by the Conservatives. Often families with children are being forced out of their homes with little or no notice.

Reform UK will scrap the 2019 tax changes for landlords. Increase council support against section 21 notices, fast track temporary housing.

Working Families, the average salary in Redditch is at £28000 per annum. As rents increase, disposable income reduces.Together with increased fuel bills and the cost of living means hard working families are struggling .

Reform UK will increase the tax threshold to £20,000. This could put an extra £3000 per annum straight into their pocket.

 

Amin - Workers Party

(Image: Amin)

I am Amin, your Parliamentary Candidate for Redditch & the Villages - Your Voice for Change.

A proud father of two, with a background in distribution logistics, and currently serving as a PC Councillor in Bromsgrove, I am thrilled to announce my candidacy for Parliament in Redditch on the 4th of July.

I am dedicated to being a strong, unyielding, and resolute advocate for the people of Redditch. It's time to break the cycle of switching between Labour and Conservatives. Your call for change has been heard, and I am here to take action.

I pledge to prioritise your needs and represent your voices on both local and national issues in Parliament. Like all of you I have had enough of the current system, so let’s reshape the political landscape in Redditch and strive towards a brighter future for our children that they truly deserve.

Join me on this transformative journey, and together, let's make a tangible impact in our community. Together, we can forge a better tomorrow.

Manifesto goals

1. Improve access to healthcare

2. Restore vital services at the Alex.

3. Foster Innovation

4. Regeneration of Redditch & The Villages

5. To fulfill our social housing requirements.

6. Ensure young people have adequate opportunities to gain vital skills and a path to put those skills to use within our constituency.

7. To incentivise SME's, start ups and entrepreneurs to help regenerate our town and flourish.

 

Chris Bloore - Labour

(Image: Chris Bloore)

I grew up in this community and for twenty five years I’ve fought for local people and services. It’s where my friends and family live and I can’t sit on the sidelines anymore and watch the people I grew up with struggle and town decline.

Everyday, in every corner of this constituency, I speak to hardworking people playing by the rules yet struggling due to the mistakes of this Conservative government.

Many local people, hoping to slow down, are now working longer and cutting back on family essentials due to the cost of living crisis. In Headless Cross I met a couple struggling to pay their new increased mortgage payments on their dream home, because of Liz Truss’s reckless gamble with our economy and are even considering downsizing.

I spoke with a family on Odell Street, who are cutting back on holidays, activities for their children and even simple pleasures like eating out or going to the cinema. Life is simply unaffordable right now for the people I grew up with in this community and we simply can’t go on like this.

Over a decade ago, I joined the ‘Save the Alex’ team to campaign against losing critical services. Politicians promised us services would be returned. Politicians told us that we should ‘judge them on their records. Well, we’re no closer to the return of those critical maternity and paediatric services and local people have noticed and are angry.

 

Andrew Fieldsend-Roxborough - Liberal Democrats

(Image: Andrew Fieldsend-Roxborough)

I moved to Redditch in 2014 and love both the town and the surrounding area. The people of this constituency have been neglected by the current government with longer NHS waiting times, longer ambulance waiting times and an inability to see an NHS dentist. That’s why much of our fully costed Manifesto concentrates on saving our NHS including introducing free personal care, increasing the number of GPs and introducing a Dentistry Rescue Package.

I’m also passionate about the environment, not only about reaching net zero which provides a huge opportunity to invest in our green industries, but also in stopping the water companies from discharging sewage into our rivers and streams. This happened 294 times last year, for 2,737 hours! We need a new regulator that can hold them to account and, bring in a sewage tax on them for these discharges as well as introduce Blue Flag status for rivers to give them legal protection.

There are so many issues that require solutions, too many to talk about here and so I encourage you to read our manifesto and judge it for yourself. A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for a strong local champion who will fight for you and your community. Vote Liberal Democrat for a fair deal.

 

Rachel Maclean - Conservatives

(Image: Rachel Maclean)

Redditch and the Villages is my home, and it’s been the honour of my life to serve as your MP for the past 7 years.

We’ve achieved a lot together, but there’s more to do.

Like at the Alex Hospital where we’ve secured huge investment from an £18.8 million operating theatre complex to the return of the Garden Suite Chemotherapy Unit.

Or the £16.6 million Town Deal we’ve secured to regenerate the town centre.

And in the villages where I have stood up for rural communities, protected our greenbelt and fought against inappropriate development.

I have a record of delivering results, and I plan to build on that should I be given the honour of being re-elected as your MP.

I’ll continue to fight to return a maternity and children’s service to the Alex, ensure the Town Deal money regenerates our town centre and stand up for strong borders and controlled immigration.

But all of this is at risk in this election. Polling for our constituency shows it’s a two horse race between me and Labour. A vote for Reform will lead to a Labour MP, which I know Reform voters do not want. I’m sure that’s not what the Reform candidate, who has praised my work, wants either.

I’m a local woman who has delivered real results, and I hope to be able to continue this work, but it’s only with your help that I can continue to deliver real results.

 

Green Party candidate David Thain has been contacted by the Advertiser, but did not get back to us before our deadline.