What West Dunbartonshire's General Election candidates are fighting for

West Dunbartonshire residents will have a total of eight candidates to choose from to represent them at Westminster in the general election next week.

The country will head to the polls in just under a week’s time to vote for a new government after the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that an election would take place on Thursday, July 4.

Paula Baker (Greens), Maurice Corry (Conservatives), Martin Docherty-Hughes (SNP), Paul Donald Kennedy (Lib Dems), Douglas McAllister (Labour), Andrew Joseph Muir (Scottish Family Party), David Smith (Reform) and Kelly Wilson (Sovereignty) are bidding for the public vote.

READ MORE: Glasgow general election 2024: everything you need to know about the vote

We asked each of the candidates what they felt the key issues would be for voters heading to the polls and why residents should vote for them.

Paula Baker - Scottish Greens

"The stakes couldn’t be any higher. We're deep in a climate and nature emergency that has been glossed over by the Tory-led UK Government. Our rivers and the air we breathe are polluted. More people than ever are struggling to make ends meet.

"We need urgent change, which is why I'm standing for election in West Dunbartonshire for the Scottish Green Party.

"Scottish Greens have already delivered positive action for West Dunbartonshire. 13,690 local young people have free bus travel and we scrapped peak-time rail fares. Thousands of local children have been lifted out of poverty by the Scottish Child Payment. Scotland is investing a record amount in climate and nature projects and creating jobs while we do so.

"But there’s only so much that can be done at Holyrood. We need MPs who will stop future drilling for damaging fossil fuels, who’ll place a wealth tax on the richest 1% to fund our public services and who’ll stand up for people seeking refuge in the UK, repealing the cruel, costly Rwanda Act.

"Tackling the nature and climate emergency is an opportunity to improve our health, provide warmer homes and lower energy costs.

"On July 4, please consider voting for our positive vision of a fairer, greener, independent Scotland. Vote like our future depends on it."

Maurice Corry - Scottish Conservative

"For too long West Dunbartonshire has not had a local champion as their MP.

"If elected on July 4th I would relentlessly focus on your real priorities, rather than pushing for independence and trying to divide us all over again.

"This area has a proud industrial history, and it is one I wish to enhance. I will back increased investment in our engineering sector and work closely with local colleges and businesses to increase the number of opportunities locally, particularly for our young people.

"As a member of the armed forces for over 40 years, I will fight for our community to be a leader in supporting our veterans and their families and ensure that they have a home of their own once they leave the forces and feel part of our community.

"Delivering those homes is easier said than done as this area is facing a housing crisis, with West Dunbartonshire Council recently declaring a housing emergency. I will urge the SNP to reverse their cuts to both the council budget as well as the affordable housing budget to make sure our area has the homes we need.

"It would be an honour to represent West Dunbartonshire as your MP and I will be fully focused on your priorities."

Martin Docherty-Hughes - SNP

"Born in 1971 and raised in Clydebank, and working from the age of 16 Martin joined the SNP in 1991 being elected as Scotland's youngest Councillor to the then Clydebank District Council in 1992 at the age of 21.

"His online election statement says: From sourcing community funding to delivering training and volunteering opportunities Martin’s work in West Dunbartonshire has given him first­hand knowledge of the issues facing the community he comes from and has worked in most of his adult life. In 2014 Martin joined the national body for volunteering, Volunteer Scotland as the National Policy Advisor."

Paul Donald Kennedy - Lib Dems

"For 30 years, I served in a wide variety of roles with Strathclyde Police Force, covering areas in Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire, and I now work as a mathematics teacher at a secondary school.

"The late Charles Kennedy, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, was instrumental in introducing me, his older cousin, to politics.

"Those experiences have shown me that elected office should be about public service and making a real difference to peoples' lives.

"That's exactly what Liberal Democrats believe too. We believe that everyone should have faster access to see their GP and have access to an NHS dentist. We believe that teachers and pupils should feel properly supported so that we can make our schools world-class again. We believe in protecting our beautiful natural environments by ending the scandal of sewage dumping.

"Above all, I want the people of West Dunbartonshire to feel represented again. A vote for a Liberal Democrat is a vote to make that happen."

Douglas McAllister - Scottish Labour

"This general election is an opportunity for change that Scotland cannot afford to miss. Every vote counts and we cannot risk another five years of Tory chaos.

"Vote Douglas McAllister for West Dunbartonshire."

Andrew Joseph Muir - Scottish Family Party

"Our unique policies support parents and family life. Strong families are the foundation of a strong nation. Family breakdown is a factor in countless problems.

"It’s inevitable that some relationships don’t work out, but our policies would promote stable family life.

"SNP, Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem, Green, Alba and Reform have one thing in common: they all endorse the killing of unborn children. We are pro-life.

"These parties also maintain the legal fiction that a man can become a woman.

"We would pull up trans ideology by the roots by repealing the 2004 Gender Recognition Act.

"Our nation is becoming divided between competing racial, religious, sex and sexuality identity groups: we would aim to bring unity and common purpose.

"As your MP, I would pursue local issues vigorously as well as being a strong and principled voice in national debate.

"It’s time to vote for what YOU believe in!"

David Smith - Reform

"I was born in the South Wales Valleys and came to live and settle in Dumbarton when I was 19.

"I served in the Royal Navy Submarine Service for nearly 14 years and left in 2013 as a Chief Petty Officer within the Marine Engineering Branch. Since leaving the Navy I have worked predominantly for defence contractors, but I have also completed work for rail contractors, the oil and gas industry and the civilian nuclear industry.

"I am very passionate about supporting all our armed forces and our engineering industries. As someone who was born in Wales and now lives in Scotland I am especially passionate about keeping our Union with the United Kingdom together.

"I have a large family. I have a son who is disabled, and my partner and I are also Kindship carers. In supporting my son and our Kindship cared for person I have a lot of interaction with local Health and Social Care Services and sit on the Integrated Joint Health and Social Care Board for West Dunbartonshire as a volunteer to express the views of unpaid carers at board meetings. All my children are in education either at primary, secondary or college very soon to be university.

"As an engineer, a volunteer and with a large family my opportunities for hobbies are very limited. However, whenever there is an opportunity I occupy myself with DIY tasks and I always have a project or two that I’m working upon. My weekends are generally spent either covered in sawdust or oil, at the top of a ladder or under the floor."

Kelly Wilson - Sovereignty

"I am a Scottish nationalist who is committed wholeheartedly to our common home of West Dunbartonshire, where we need to invest in our communities and accelerate economic and environmental development.

"Having worked both nationally and internationally in finance, health, benefits and management, I have an array of skills that I am keen to offer you as your trusted representative in parliament.

"Decades of the same empty promises given by the main parties have accelerated the decay of West Dunbartonshire, with rising poverty, food banks, littering, substance abuse and housing shortages being just the tip of the iceberg which the elected councillors continuously fail to tackle. The voters don't have to decide between the lesser evils of the main parties. Instead, they have the opportunity to vote for Sovereignty, who listens and delivers.

"At Sovereignty, we know that after decades of mismanagement of astonishing proportions, every sector in Scotland needs a complete overhaul.

"With Sovereignty's key manifesto points, including the Unilateral Declaration of Independence and not rejoining the EU, putting Scotland first, Building a Prosperous Economy, Investing in Education, Protecting the Environment and Improving Welfare, we are ready to take on this important role with our qualified and experienced members."

For those who have not participated in a postal vote, polling booths will open at 7am and close at 10pm before the count begins. Results will be announced overnight.