'Why you should vote for me' - Banbury MP candidates state their case

With less than a week until Polling Day for the General Election, we have been asking Parliamentary candidates in Banbury why they deserve your vote.

The candidates for Banbury are: Victoria Prentis (Conservatives), Sean Woodcock (Labour), Liz Adams (Liberal Democrats), Arron Baker (Green), Paul Topley (Reform UK), Cassi Bellingham (Independent), Chris Nevile (Climate Party) and Declan Soper (Social Democratic Party).

We asked each candidate to tell us why they should be your next MP.

Victoria Prentis, Conservative

I was born at the Horton General Hospital and have lived in the area with my family ever since.

I am so proud to have represented Banbury at Westminster for the past nine years and have always been a vocal supporter of the area I call home.

The Horton is my top priority. Since I was elected in 2015 I have focused on making sure we have quality healthcare that is kind, safe and close to home.

I have fought hard for key services to remain at the Horton and put pressure on the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to make sure the maternity unit is safe for expectant mothers.

(Image: Ed Nix)

Ensuring children have the best start in life is very important to me. While we are lucky to have so many good and outstanding schools across Banbury, I will continue to speak up for fairer funding.

I am also determined to see improvements in special educational needs provision, particularly following last year’s Ofsted inspection which identified some serious failings in the county council’s service.

Other priorities include improving our public transport network and getting the council to fix our potholes rather than wasting your council tax on projects that make driving more expensive.

I hope I can continue my hard work for you and make our home an even better place to live.

Sean Woodcock, Labour

After 14 years of decline under successive Conservative Prime Ministers, it’s time for change.

I am proud to call Banbury my home and as your Member of Parliament. I will work tirelessly for the people of Banbury, Chipping Norton and the north Oxfordshire villages.

People are tired of being let down by a Conservative government that is out of ideas and no longer serves the interests of the country.

It is clear that people are ready for change and Labour is ready to deliver.

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But we can only deliver change by delivering a Labour victory here.

At the last election, Labour received more votes than the Liberal Democrats and the Greens combined.

A vote for anyone other than Labour increases the chance of five more years of Conservative decline and more of the same.

As a Banbury lad, nothing would make me more proud than to have the opportunity to serve as your Member of Parliament.

Liz Adams, Liberal Democrats

Every vote for myself and the Liberal Democrat team is a vote for an MP who will be a local champion, available to listen and fight for a fair deal for the new Banbury constituency.

I am campaigning for our health services to be properly funded with improved access, for real action to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, and for better care of our environment, in particular, stopping sewage dumping and holding Thames Water to account.

The Liberal Democrats have seen growing support in the new Banbury constituency.

Just a few weeks ago, we gained three more council seats from the Conservatives.

(Image: Liz Adams)

We’ve formed a new Lib Dem-led executive on Cherwell District Council and strengthened the Lib Dem-led executive on West Oxfordshire District Council.

I have been out speaking to hundreds of people on the doorstep over the past few months and it is clear they have had enough of the Conservatives.

Labour is also offering little to progressive voters, still refusing to back proportional representation and refusing to scrap the two-child cap on child benefit which has worsened child poverty in the UK.

People are ready for real change; the Local Lib Dem team and I are ready to speak up for them

Arron Baker, Green Party 

Chipping Norton has been my home for over 20 years.

During this time, I’ve worked at the national level and operated a local business.

Married with grandchildren, I understand the pressures working families face and the daily struggles we encounter.

We live in one of the richest countries on the planet, yet nurses use food banks, children’s schools are crumbling, and affordable housing is out of reach for many.

The climate emergency continues with global temperatures expected to reach at least 2.5 degrees Celsius.

(Image: Contributed)

We need immediate action to rebuild our NHS, ensuring residents have rapid access to GPs, NHS dentists, and mental health services.

Increasing funding, restoring pay for NHS staff, and prioritising preventive care will reduce waiting lists and improve health outcomes.

Banbury, Chipping Norton, and surrounding villages deserve affordable, energy-efficient homes.

The Green Party’s Right Homes, Right Place, Right Price Charter will deliver affordable housing, protect green spaces, reduce emissions, and tackle fuel poverty.

Agricultural heritage can thrive under the Green Party’s vision for fairer, greener food and farming. By working with farmers, we aim to produce healthy, nutritious food at fair prices while protecting our environment.

We will triple support for farmers transitioning to nature-friendly practices, improving biodiversity, and reducing river pollution.

Improving public transport is essential. We pledge to increase subsidies for rail and bus travel, provide free bus travel for under-18s, and invest in cycleways and footpaths.

We can achieve this vision for everyone. Real hope requires real change.

Paul Topley, Reform UK

Everybody has had enough of the Tory infighting, incompetency and lying. They have completely failed to deliver despite an 80-seat majority.

If you want more of the same then vote Labour.

If, however, you want a proper centre-right party based on the fundamentals of good housekeeping and common sense policies then vote Reform UK.

We will end non-essential immigration combined with a focus on getting people back to work by raising the starting point of income tax to £20,000.

(Image: Reform UK)

We understand the importance of hard work and rewarding it, benefits are not a lifestyle choice but are there to help those who really need them.

Small businesses are drowning in regulation discouraging entrepreneurs.

Live and let live but stop pushing the woke culture that now obsesses many of our institutions.

Our national health provisions need a fresh approach as this one is failing, free at the point of delivery, but let’s study successful European models to see how we can do it better.

We need to properly punish water companies that think it’s ok to pollute our environment rather than invest in infrastructure so they can pay dividends to overseas shareholders. Vote Reform.

Cassi Bellingham, Independent

Don’t vote for me!

This might be the only time you ever hear a candidate say you shouldn't. Or more accurately you shouldn’t vote for me if my values don’t align with yours.

After 14 years of disastrous Tory rule, I think we all deserve better than a tactical vote; the vote to get rid of the worst of two evils.

The boundary lines in Banbury constituency have been redrawn, meaning we are a brand new entity to which all the political parties will be paying close attention.

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Now more than ever it’s vital that we vote to our values and communicate clearly to those in power, which policies are the most important to us.

I’m running on a Socialist platform of public ownership, industrial just transition and ethical internationalism.

If that aligns with your values then I’d be glad of your vote. If it doesn’t then make sure your views are heard, not buried in a tactical vote.

The Tories are toast, no matter which way you vote. We can afford to be brave and take risks in this election.

It’s not a horse race; you don’t have to back the winner.

Chris Nevile, Climate Party

Our government must honour our legal commitment to deliver on climate and environmental targets given to 92 per cent of the countries of the world.

The issue is rightly a mounting concern to the British public.  I am prepared to say what I think people need, rather than want, to hear.

We are in the race of our lives to move away from fossil fuels pervading every aspect of our society.

Fortunately, there is a solution.  We have the tools, technology, scientists and engineers we need to sort this.

We need to galvanise British businesses and UK investors in the City of London to deliver a new industrial clean energy revolution by 2030.  The wealth this creates will revitalize Britain.

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None of the main parties have a plan to deliver this.

The Conservatives and Reform UK are riven by Climate deniers and doubters.

The £8 billion that Labour is proposing to invest via Great British Energy over the next five years is a small drop in the ocean.

If they become the next Government their priorities will clearly not include an urgent and extensive rebooting of our industrial base to create a cleaner, wealthier, healthier country.

Voting for me delivers that message.

Declan Soper, Social Democratic Party

Britain is broken. I was born in 1997, right when Labour under Blair, promised "things can only get better", 27 years on, I feel like I must've missed this memo.

Successive governments headed by the two major have only offered limp managerial solutions to Britain's problems.

However, the Social Democratic Party, with our homecoming manifesto, promise a bold and ambitious future for Britain.

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Here are just some of our pledges. We will re-nationalise the "natural monopolies" of gas, electricity, water, and rail.

We will establish a British Housing Corporation which will be responsible for building 100,000 new social houses per year, much needed for our young people who are struggling to move out.

There will also be a moratorium on buy-to-let mortgages that price out those with little.

We will cut net migration down to 50,000 a year; 750,000 that we saw in 2022 is an unsustainable figure and we can't go on like that.

We will encourage and nurture home-grown British industry, which will supply jobs and boost our struggling economy.