Basingstoke parliamentary candidates campaign for your votes

Conservative - Maria Miller

OPPORTUNITIES for disabled and vulnerable people in Basingstoke were high on the agenda when Conservative candidate Maria Miller visited two charities as part of her election campaign.

Mrs Miller, who has been Basingstoke’s MP for the last 10 years, visited the Spotlight Centre, in Shakespeare Road, Popley and Basingstoke Headway, in Homefield Way, Rooksdown.

Spotlight Centre founder Michaela Riley and her four children have joint hypermobility, which means they can dislocate their joints easily.

She described the challenge of getting more people who attend the centre into employment or apprenticeships.

Mrs Miller, who has three children, said a number of Basingstoke businesses were looking to employ apprentices and told the group about the Business Inclusion Zone, which was set up in partnership with Basingstoke Mencap to try and get some of the town’s biggest businesses to employ more disabled people.

She said two thirds of disabled people in the town “want to be in work”, adding: “It is born out of the work done at Speakeasy and seeing the difference between those who had jobs and those who didn’t have jobs. We have got companies like Great Guns Marketing, the AA, Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Q Hotels.”

Founder of Headway Basingstoke, Evelyn Vincent, raised concerns over the level of funding to ensure the group can carry on its activities for people who have suffered life-changing head injuries.

Mrs Miller promised to continue working with the charity, adding: “Basingstoke is so lucky to have Headway. We will continue to work together to make the case and that is the role of an MP, to acknowledge and support organisations like Headway.”

Labour - Paul Harvey

FORMER Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council leader Paul Harvey is hoping to make history in Basingstoke by becoming the town’s first Labour MP.

Dr Harvey spoke to residents in Balmoral Court, South Ham and Normanton Road, Oakridge, on Tuesday night.

Residents raised a number of issues including the state of the NHS, cuts to Hampshire County Council’s care budgets and zero hour contracts.

Grandfather-of-two Anthony Rivers, of Balmoral Court, told The Gazette: “In terms of the NHS, I think the walk-in centre should be reopened. My sister went up the hospital last week and said it was heaving and you had to hang around for six hours. The NHS is really important to me.”

Dr Harvey told Mr Rivers that the NHS was the number one priority for him if elected and he slammed the decision to close the walk-in centre at Basingstoke hospital in March 2013.

Christine Henry, a 61-year-old grandmother-of-five, also of Balmoral Court, raised concerns about the future of former care home Deeside, which closed last autumn.

Dr Harvey replied by saying: “Whatever they (the county council) do there, it needs to mirror what we have here and they should knock it down and build bungalows.”

Grandmother-of-four Eileen Cavanagh, of Normanton Road, Oakridge, told The Gazette that she was worried about zero hour contracts and the future for her grandchildren.

Dr Harvey responded by saying: “Your point about your grandchildren and where they are going to get a house, an affordable house, is important. There is also the impact of zero hour contracts and it is clear they don’t help people and it is not enough to keep a roof over their heads.”

Liberal Democrats - Janice Spalding

THE future of the Basingstoke Common was the hot topic on the doorsteps in Eastrop.

The Liberal Democrats’ candidate for the Basingstoke seat, Janice Spalding, along with local group leader Councillor Gavin James, spoke to residents last Saturday as part of their election campaign.

Carol Lewis, 52, of Irwell Close, said the future of the common is important to her and wants to see it protected from a proposed new £10million 5,124-capacity stadium for Basingstoke Town Football Club.

She told The Gazette: “For me locally, it (her priority) is the common and they should stop messing around with it and leave it alone. I lost my dog to cancer a week ago but I used to take her there and it is a lovely open space and they want to take it away when it can’t get any busier.”

Ms Spalding said: “I know how important green fields are. I walk dogs so having somewhere to walk them is really, really important so I will strive to keep it.”

Grandfather-of-two Geoff Rushbrook, of Eastfield Avenue, told Ms Spalding that he would be voting for the Conservative party nationally, but showed support for|the opposition against the new football |stadium.

The 76-year-old also criticised all of the parties for not being transparent when it came to the percentage of tax that people earning between £130,000 and £150,000 had to pay – 60 per cent – and called for all parties to be more honest with voters on the subject.

Ms Spalding said that she, and the Liberal Democrats, believed in a fair tax system which reflected the amount that people earned was important for society and she would campaign for this.

UKIP - Alan Stone

ALAN Stone is hoping to land a double victory on May 7.

Not only is he looking to become Basingstoke’s first UKIP MP, but he is also standing as a candidate for the Eastrop ward at the borough council.

As well as the traditional election campaigning techniques, the father-of-four has been touring pubs across Basingstoke to meet residents.

On April 10, Mr Stone, along with his campaign team, spoke to residents having a Friday night drink at The Winkle, in Winklebury Way.

After a slow start, people starting coming into the pub.

Undecided voter Phil Myatt, of Wayside Road, quizzed the UKIP candidate on the future of pubs that have been locked into expensive brewery deals, the country’s debt and the NHS.

On the subject of pubs, Mr Myatt added: “The fact that they are coming to pubs is great because they are centres of the community. I think they are really under threat.”

Mr Stone replied by saying that “local shops and local pubs have to thrive” for the good of the community, and on the subject of the NHS added: “I believe in personal responsibility.

"A&E is backed up with people going there for simple things and pharmacists can give out minor drugs so people don’t need to go to A&E for simple stuff. We are promising £3billion for the NHS.”

Mother-of-two Dawn Chivers, of Roman Road, quizzed Mr Stone on what he would do to reduce the country’s immigration levels.

In reply, Mr Stone said: “We need to control the flow of people.

“We need to know how many people are coming so we can build the appropriate schools and houses.”

Independent - Elsayed Omar Selim

BASINGSTOKE father Elsayed Omar Selim is hoping to give people across Basingstoke an alternative option when they cast their votes on May 7.

On Monday morning, the Independent candidate spoke to members of the public at the Top of The Town.

It was a slow start for the 73-year-old and many passers-by rejected more information and the chance to meet the Independent candidate.

Although she is not able to vote in this General Election, Alex O’Brien, 17, of Kenilworth Road, Winklebury, spoke to Dr Selim about her concerns on the price of tuition fees.

Alex told Dr Selim: “I am going to university next year and the fees are way too high. Ideally, I would like to see them abolished.”

Dr Selim told her that if he is elected he will fight to get tuition fees abolished in full, adding: “I think they shouldn’t be there and I don’t understand why they don’t have them in Scotland and therefore why we should have them here.”

The NHS was another hot topic on the streets at the Top of The Town.

South Ham grandfather Preston Younger told Dr Selim that communication needs to be improved in the NHS, after his daughter’s recent visit to a hospital in Surrey.

He told The Gazette: “People can be left for weeks with the wrong treatment and I did notice the amount of paperwork that nurses have to go through to stop litigation and it defeats the object.”

Dr Selim replied by saying that he agreed with the 68-year-old, adding: “I will remove heavy management for a different NHS. I will give all the money to the people doing the job. It is about going back to basics and seeing doctors and nurses and that’s what it needs to go back to.”