All the Sevenoaks General Election candidates after your vote in 2024

Candidates from the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green, Reform UK, Rejoin EU and Social Democratic parties are all after your vote in Sevenoaks in the 2024 General Election.

The seat has been held by the Conservatives since 1924 and was won with a majority of more than 20,000 votes in 2019 but polls and forecasts this time around expect a much closer race.

We have approached all seven candidates in the race to write their pitch to Sevenoaks residents ahead of Thursday's poll.

READ MORE: Kent General Election Candidates 2024: Everyone standing across the county

We asked the candidates to briefly sum up their priorities and explain why you should give them your vote on July 4.

Adam Hibbert, Social Democratic Party

I’ve lived in Sevenoaks since 2012, raising our two children through state schooling here, following in the footsteps of my in-laws who raised both their daughters here through the 80s and 90s. MPs ought to walk in the same shoes as the families and community they seek to serve. In the SDP, we’re serious about bringing the political focus home.
For the past 30-odd years we’ve been trying out a globalised, liberal, market-first way to run the country, in Conservative, Labour and coalition flavours. The results are in: it’s a mess. Crumbling infrastructure, housing crisis, soaring cost of living, PFI debts, soaring energy cost, water and rail chaos... the government can’t even manage our own border.
The truth is that as voters, you and I are responsible. We’ve taken a back seat, believing that ‘voting for the lesser of two evils’ was the only wise thing to do. Really? Let’s not keep repeating the same mistake, again and again. Vote with your conscience. Be heard. Let your vote say exactly what you mean. Lending your vote to the SDP won’t change the world overnight, but it’s an honest vote. It will be counted. Unlike tactical votes, it will give Westminster something to worry about, and it will help us build a better Britain.
Neither recycled Thatcherism nor Blairism can fix these issues. We must create a positive new alternative, together. Please find details at sdp.org.uk/manifesto and lend us your vote. Help the SDP bring politics home.

Elwyn Lloyd Jones - Rejoin EU

We have been betrayed. The loss of Freedom of Movement has destroyed livelihoods, splintered relationships, shattered hopes of a European education and broken dreams of retirement. Brexit is sending Britain into a downward spiral, with global impacts. Brexit can never be made to work. That’s why I’m standing up and asking you to lend me your sovereignty for a short while, so I can help the UK back on course.

Together, we have food security, but alone, we cannot survive. Energy security is a challenge to all, the EU has a plan and the resources to make it possible, but alone, we can only steal from our children’s future. Who would have thought that medical security would also become an issue?
I will work with anyone from any party, who can see the bigger picture, and is prepared to promote co-operation.
We have lost control over our own future; markets will now decide our fate.
Every EU law of any significance was made and approved by the British, but not anymore. The EU is the only international authority with the democratic instruments to reign in bellicose tyranny.
We need to regain our seat at the top table, so that our voice of reason will once again be heard.

Laura Manston, Green Party

Our manifesto is ambitious, realistic and transformative. Our new, fairer tax system would raise £50 billion to 70 billion a year and our Universal Basic Income would allow everyone to study, work and live with dignity.

Our NHS used to be revered, the world over. We would nurse it back to health with £50 billion per year by 2030, reduced waiting lists, guaranteed rapid GP access, and an immediate boost to staff salaries.
Our Right homes, Right places, Right Prices charter would see 150,000 new social homes built every year and ensure that new developments come with access to sufficient public services whilst protecting our precious green belt. Our Fairer, Greener Homes Guarantee would ensure warm, safe homes that are well insulated.
Climate change poses a critical threat to the stability of our society and food sources. We would transition at speed to a decarbonised economy that runs on clean, green and cheap renewables and mitigates the harmful effects of anthropogenic climate change.
Poor transport links, polluted water and expensive energy affect us all. We would bring rail, water and energy into public ownership so profits are redirected back into restoring the services.
Our children are our future. We would end the two-child benefit cap, immediately lifting 250,000 children out of poverty, provide free school meals, introduce free bus travel for under-18s and scrap tuition fees.
Vote Green on July 4 for a fairer, greener Sevenoaks.

James Milmine - Reform UK

Other parties are busy looking at the weeds and hoping they will go away, only Reform UK has the bold policies that will get to the root causes of many of the issues we are facing.

Take immigration. We now have the equivalent population of the city of Manchester settling to live and work in the UK every year. That is a net figure. The gross figure is more like the population of the city of Birmingham. This is pushing up house prices (we need to build a new house every two minutes to keep up with demand), it’s putting strain on our already overstretched public services, it’s driving down wages, and illegal boat crossings are costing more and more lives. Other parties seem unable, or unwilling to deal with this issue, preferring to pledge reductions that they then fail to achieve. Reform UK will quickly reduce immigration down to net zero, reducing the burden and strain on our public services, and boosting wages for local people.
Take the cost-of-living crisis. Reform UK is the party of low taxation. Hard working people deserve to keep more of their pay, and we will raise the tax-free allowance to £20,000 which means every worker getting £1,500 more a year in their pocket. This is money they will then spend in our economy, boosting small businesses and retail, creating jobs and promoting growth.
A vote for Reform UK is a vote for the kind of radical change we need to fix Broken Britain.

Denise Scott-McDonald, Labour Party

My name is Denise Scott-McDonald, and I have the honour of being your Labour parliamentary candidate for the Sevenoaks and Swanley area.
Allow me to share a bit about myself. I served as a deputy council leader and cabinet lead in Greenwich, South London, an area with characteristics similar to Sevenoaks. Greenwich encompasses affluent neighbourhoods as well as pockets of hidden poverty. The residents there, much like those in Sevenoaks, are grappling with the cost-of-living crisis, the immense pressure on the local NHS, and the scarcity of affordable housing. I am committed to fighting for positive change in these areas.
My experience extends to complex political organisations like Parliament. I have held positions on the national policy boards for the Local Government Association and the London Council, where I engaged with parliamentarians and cabinet members to shape national policies.
Beyond local government, I serve as the President of the National Members Council (NMC) for the Coop Group, a prominent national position within the cooperative movement. In this role, I contribute to the strategic direction of a £11 billion revenue-generating retail giant.
I possess excellent communication skills. From 2011 to 2020, I had the privilege of lecturing in journalism and media-related courses at several esteemed universities in London, where I taught both undergraduate and master’s students. Before my teaching career, I gained valuable experience working as a journalist and news producer in both London and New York for several years.

Richard Streatfeild, Liberal Democrats

There is no doubt that this is going to be an historic election. The only question is whether Sevenoaks will play its part in that history.
The country is ready for change. And, using the data from the thousands of doors we’ve knocked in the past few weeks, the majority of people here feel the same.
The three areas which are my main priorities are among the ones which keep coming up time and time again.
First, we need to fix the NHS. Our health services are a shadow of what we have the right to expect and what we’re still entitled to expect.
Second, we must build better communities. The local lack of affordable homes and “right-size” houses impacts thousands of people throughout the area.
Third, we have to do more to protect the environment. We need to do so much more on an issue that matters to so many people, rightly concerned for the future of the planet.
All of these issues are ones that have only got worse in recent years.
Add in the cost-of-living crisis, the crashed economy and, of course, the Covid-era parties, and it’s clear why people have had enough.
We saw this in the local elections last year, when the Lib Dems won all 25 council seats in Sevenoaks Town.
So, if you want change in this constituency, and to see the end of Tory chaos, it is a vote for the Liberal Democrats that will help you achieve it.

Laura Trott, The Conservative Party

Sevenoaks is my home, and I couldn’t be prouder to represent our community. Since being elected, I’ve worked hard to make a real difference to people’s lives. With amazing support for my campaigns, we have achieved so much together including school improvements, additional train services, and safer maternity services. But there is more I want to do.
Firstly, we must continue to improve our local transport infrastructure, including for commuters, and local road and bus users. I will fight to protect our green belt, so that developers know that any speculative planning applications, without community consent, will be rejected. It is as simple as that. Local businesses make our area unique; and I will continue to promote investment in our town centres and ensure they benefit from the tax reliefs Government have put in place.
Everyone has a right to feel safe, and tackling antisocial behaviour is central to this. We now have more police, and I want them out deterring crimes and supporting shop owners. For families, I will protect our local grammar schools and ensure sufficient places for Kent pupils. I want to explore more 20mph zones outside schools and ensure the new SEND school is open without delay.
Finally, I will champion local healthcare by securing funding for our NHS services and protecting the Sevenoaks Urgent Treatment Centre. This is my community; I hope, with your support, I can continue to work every day to make it the best place to live, work and do business.

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