Yahoo News Londoners in tight election seat use private healthcare and say Tories should 'get house in order'
Voters in a key London Conservative seat which could fall to Labour at the General Election on July 4 have said that the Tories need to 'buck their ideas up'. Residents in Finchley and Golders Green say they could be forced to shut up shop and are having to pay up to £9,000 for private surgery abroad amid huge NHS waiting lists.
Finchley in the North West of the city used to be represented by former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Now, the constituency also includes Golders Green. Tory Mike Freer - who has stepped down after receiving ‘death threats’ and a fire at his office in December - has represented the seat between 2010 and 2024.
Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have their eyes on the area. The former needs to make up a 19.6 per cent gap from 2019, the latter 11.9 per cent.
MyLondon spoke to people in Ballards Lane near Finchley Central London Underground station and asked them what they were thinking. Razia Alam, 83, has been in Finchley for more than 50 years and, until recently, lived in the same house. She was the second ever owner of the property that was built in 1897.
The former primary school teacher, originally from Bangladesh, has always supported the Conservatives since coming to the UK. But now she is considering voting for the Green Party candidate, and thinks the main issues facing the constituency are people's health, homelessness and education.
Ms Alam has been waiting for an NHS hip replacement for two years. Now, she has decided to go to Bangladesh and pay for the operation, which could cost as much as £9,000.
'The last few years didn't work that well'
"At the moment, they're very much struggling," she said of residents. "People cannot buy a house because the mortgage, you know, interest has gone up. I had to sell my house for £200,000 less because I wanted to get rid of it."
Ms Alam also said: "It's between the Conservative and Green Party. Because I have been very loyal to the Conservative Party. By nature, I am a Conservative person. I like things to grow. But the thing is [during] the last few years things didn't work that well."
She added: "Normally, British people are very conservative. That's why they remain in power for so many years. But this time, it is very difficult to say, because the Labour policy and plan [...] is so attractive to general people who are actually suffering so much."
Nainesh Patel, 60, the owner of Office Interiors in the High Street, told MyLondon: "We have got two branches - one in Palmers Green, one in Ballards Lane - and our businesses have totally collapsed. And there is no help from the local council."
The 'honest, tax paying immigrant' from Kenya added: "It's the trend. People don't have any extra money in their pocket due to the cost of living and the high interest rates at the moment." Mr Patel said that the high street needs to be 'regenerated', as it looks like a 'dump'.
'Nobody can survive'
"You don't need more hairdressers and nail shops on one high street," he added. Mr Patel said he is in contact with other local businesses, which are in 'distress' and risk 'total collapse'.
"Thirty five years in business. We might be doing something right, I don't know. But a time is coming very soon when we might need to close one of the shops. That's how bad it is… Nobody can survive."
"No party has got solid plans," Mr Patel added. "I need to see solid manifestos or something. I'm sorry to say Labour are coming in. But my word, I don't know, nobody has got good policies."
He also mentioned crime, saying that he has been targeted by shoplifters. But he is 'on his own' and cannot afford another member of staff. "They just walk off; nothing can be done," Mr Patel said.
Otatilewa Alao, 38, is a Conservative Party member and is planning to vote for the Tories because he 'doesn't have a choice'. But he said the party is 'really messing up this time around' and needs to 'get their house in order'.
The Camden Council housing officer suggested that local issues will not play as much of a part on July 4, with national themes being in people's minds instead. He said: "You can tell around you, from the rising cost of living, it's not working. The system is not working."
"If we have to face the truth," Mr Alao added, "I think we should give the Labour Party a chance… Because for the past 14 years, things have actually gone a bit, slightly down. I feel, when it's not working, we've tried so many people from the Conservatives and it's not working.
"When it's not working, the best thing we can do is, let's change and see if Labour can make it work… The masses are really crying. The general public, we want a change."
'The economy is in a shambles right now'
He was walking down Ballards Lane with Tayo Badmos, who also works in council housing. He is a Labour Party member, and said that the party's policies 'favour the majority of immigrants and the less privileged'.
"The economy's in a shambles right now," he added. "People are really hungry." Mr Alao added that an 'influx' of immigrants joining waiting lists for a home has led to housing supplies being 'stressed' when there is already 'a housing problem in the UK itself'.
Simon Winston, 68, who has lived in Finchley for most of his life, said that he is undecided despite keeping up with politics on the radio. He added that politicians are making what sound like 'cynical pitches' that they believe will 'get them in'. Mr Winston also said: "I wonder how many of those will actually come to pass afterwards."
The immigration lawyer added that the conflict between Israel and Hamas is a 'huge issue' locally. The area has a large Jewish population, but also constituents of the Muslim faith.
Mr Winston also said: "And I'm sure for other areas with other demographics it will also be huge." The long-term Finchley resident then highlighted that the area has a Labour council when asked which way he thinks the seat will land after votes are counted, and has fond memories of the Tony Blair years.
He said: "Things like the National Health Service and social things were better. You didn't hear about massive waiting lists in the NHS and shortages and so on, which you're hearing about all the time now." Before heading off, Mr Winston also said that for working families, life is 'difficult' at the moment.
'People think all parties are a lost cause'
Nadia Gurney-Randall, 61, a medical publishing consultant, has been in Finchley for 22 years, said: "I'm disillusioned with all of them."
"Our taxes," she added. "I don't know how they can be making all these promises. Where is the money going to come from? I can only see it coming from taxes.
"I'm concerned about ULEZ; I don't think we should have ULEZ. I don't know which government is going to change that. I'm concerned about it all; I don't think any of them have got a magic answer."
Ms Gurney-Randall also said that Gaza will be a big issue locally, saying that she thinks about the conflict. The Finchley resident added that she has 'had to go private' on healthcare as she 'can't trust the health service in this country anymore'.
Her contemporaries, she added, 'don't know who to vote for' and think all parties 'are a lost cause'.
Sarah Sackman, Labour candidate for Finchley and Golders Green, said: "After 14 years of Tory failure, it's time for change. We need to get back to a place where our community no longer has to suffer. Whether it's our high street, housing or health.
"We need a broad, holistic, comprehensive set of solutions that work together. For example, I have spoken to multiple business owners on Ballards Lane as well as residents, who all see their businesses and high street suffering. Petty theft, phone snatching and antisocial behaviour is commonplace and influences demand for business - it no longer makes a quick trip to the shops enjoyable.
"Fairer business rates, more police officers patrolling our streets and youth services to give our children something to do when school closes can work together as policies to combat such issues. If I'm elected as the local Labour MP on 4 July, together we can kickstart the change our community needs."
MyLondon approached the Conservative Party for comment. During an interview with the BBC broadcast on Monday (June 11), the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said: "I've been very clear, we have not made as much progress on NHS waiting lists as I would have liked, and they have risen. They are now coming down.
"And after we've got through the industrial action, and resolved it with all parts of the NHS workforce, except the junior doctors, what we have seen is over the past few months is now the waiting lists are starting to fall by about 200,000."
The Conservatives have also promised to recruit 8,000 additional police officers over the next three years if they win the General Election. New neighbourhood police officers would also be given more powers to seize knives and recover stolen items.
Mr Sunak has also outlined a 'transformational plan to drive down taxes for workers, parents and pensioners', which would see 'a suite of tax cuts worth £17.2 billion a year by the end of the decade'.
These include, the Tories say:
Total abolition of the main rate of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for self-employed
Further 2p cut to payroll NICs by 2027
'Triple Lock Plus' to protect pensioners
A tax cut for parents by ending the single earner penalty in the High Income Child Benefit Charge and moving the threshold to £120,000, up from £60,000 currently
Stamp duty cut to 'revitalise property market and help young people get on the housing ladder'
Temporary capital gains tax relief for landlords selling to a tenant to 'help people buy their first home'
Full list of Finchley and Golders Green candidates
Conservative, Alex Deane
Rejoin EU, Brendan Donnelly
Liberal Democrat, Sarah Hoyle
Party of Women, Katharine Murphy
Green, Steve Parsons
Reform UK, Bepi Pezzulli
Labour, Sarah Sackman
Independent, Michael Shad
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