Yahoo News 'It’s the backbone of the country': NHS and other electoral issues highlighted in Hemlington
As the political campaigns move into their final fortnight, Teesside Live spent Friday in sunshine soaked Hemlington, one of the most westerly wards of the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency.
People chatted around the Lake and in The Viewley Centre to share the electoral issues that mattered to them. Regardless of the issues that individuals had listed as their most important political concerns, residents and businesspeople were asked specifically about their views on the NHS.
There was an almost unanimous reverence for the NHS and its importance in the country. Anthony McDougall spotted someone else being interviewed and wanted to have his say on the electoral issues.
He described the NHS as “the backbone of the country”. When asked for his take on Rishi Sunak, he agreed with someone walking past who described Mr. Sunak in unflattering terms, before asserting that “we need Nigel Farage in power, and that’s what everyone else thinks around here, all the way”.
There were mixed opinions on Rishi Sunak, with some describing him with positive and even affectionate terms, meanwhile others were keen to see him voted out of Downing Street. The mention of Keir Starmer’s name did not garner much enthusiasm.
Sometimes, voters simply said they did not know who Sir Keir was. One man who was fishing in Hemlington Lake said that immigration was the “number one thing” for him. He said that people may blame the Conservatives and Labour for not properly funding the health service, but “you can’t put 12 million people into our country in the last 20/30 years and expect the health service, the infrastructure to cope with what’s going on”. When asked about the health service, he said that the NHS “is the most important thing in this country”.
Dave, 54, who has owned his business next to the lake for six weeks, highlighted the cost of living as his primary concern, “so that people have a bit more cash in their pocket to come and spend in local businesses”. The business owner also explained how the NHS is “very important, my wife works for the NHS and the whole system is very important.”
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