Parliamentary candidates for York Central

Rachael Maskell, Labour and Co-operative Party

As a senior NHS physiotherapist for 20 years and representing over 100,000 professionals as Unite’s Head of Health, I’m not only well grounded to represent York, but ensure that we save our NHS from privatisation and rebuild it as a public, patient-centred service; bringing together mental and physical health with social care.

While the richest have received tax cuts, real term incomes have fallen in York by £3580 since 2010. With bills rising, this cost of living crisis is hitting families and communities hard. Labour’s programme will support people, rebalance the books and invest to grow our economy, including here in Yorkshire. My experience from living and working across the country and now in York will help make growth a reality here.

Labour will make homes affordable again by igniting the largest house-building programme of all time; developing jobs while building homes to rent and buy. With climate change at the source of so many global issues, Labour will dramatically cut carbon use and lead with a sustainable agenda.

I’m already proving to be a different type of politician – campaigning and speaking out on the things that matter to you. As our first woman MP, I’ll change politics in York.

Robert McIlveen, Conservative

I went to comprehensive school before going to Warwick and Sheffield Universities.

I now work for Network Rail managing European Affairs, having previously worked in the public and private sector. I was first introduced to York by my partner Michael, who is from the city and studied here, and we’ve been coming back even after we moved for work.

I believe I would make a great MP for you. My career background in transport and energy means I understand long-term infrastructure needs of the city, how to get projects going, how to lobby for support and how to deal with detailed legislation. I led the campaign for the railways to tackle metal theft, resulting in the law being changed so I know how to make an impact in Parliament. I would love to use these skills and experience for York’s benefit.

Having worked in both the public and private sectors, I believe we need a strong, thriving economy to support and be supported by great public services. So we need ambitious schools where children can achieve their full potential, as well as new companies growing and providing opportunities.

I want to stand up for York, to represent you and to serve the city.

Nick Love, Liberal Democrat

York Central is no longer a safe seat. The retirement of our long serving MP has thrown this election wide open and given voters a chance to break with traditional party allegiances and choose a new MP who will champion this city to ensure that it prospers over the next five years and beyond.

For over 29 years I’ve lived, worked and campaigned for local causes in York. I know what makes this city tick and I will deliver the changes needed to bring it the success its international profile deserves.

The things that I care passionately about: York’s NHS and Mental Health services; York’s schools and York’s business community, have to function successfully but have been badly let down by the dysfunctional City of York Council - run for the benefit of its management and ruling politicians.

My international business experience of over 15 years gives me the skills to hold them to account. I will ensure they don’t keep failing York residents.

So the choice is clear. Labour and Conservative candidates, both imported from London, or a local resident with real world experience and a track record of local activism who will transform this city that we all love.

Ken Guest, UKIP

Originally from Leeds, I attended university in Birmingham (studying Geology and Physics) later gaining an MSc in Geophysics back at Leeds.

I have been married for over 38 years, live in Elvington, have two adult children and one young grandson.

True to the UKIP mould of candidate, I am not a career politician; I have made my way in the ‘real world’, working 35 years in the international oil and gas industry, initially as a petroleum engineer with Shell and latterly as an Executive VP with a large US service company.

My work involved a great deal of travel with a number of short spells living overseas.

I returned ‘back home’ to Yorkshire to live in York several years ago and have been an active member of UKIP since 2011.

Above all I stand for democracy and self-governance, both of which the UK is progressively giving away to the unelected autocrats in Brussels. The economic result of our 42-year membership of the EU is a national debt mountain currently standing at £1.5 trillion, coupled with uncontrollable immigration which is swamping our NHS, our schools, the jobs market and housing supply.

Only UKIP is prepared to resolve these critical issues.

Chris Whitwood, Yorkshire First (A Voice for the Region)

I am a primary school teacher, having recently completed studies for a PGCE in York.

I am passionate about education – not just academic subjects but a curriculum for life. Because of this belief, I have spent the past three years leading a national campaign to promote the teaching of first aid in schools.

I believe that through education and greater investment, our region has the potential to flourish.

I’m standing because the UK is broken. Nine out of the 10 poorest areas in the whole of northern Europe are in our country. I want our region to have a positive future. Welcome to Yorkshire and the Tour de France has shown what we can achieve as a region. It’s time for change...

Yorkshire has the lowest GCSE results in the country. Yorkshire First calls for a ‘Yorkshire Education Challenge’ (similar to the programme that helped transform education in London) to invest in our region’s future and for decisions to be based on evidence, not political spin. Yorkshire deserves a voice and real powers so we can decide our own future and become a stronger region within the UK.

You can read our manifesto at YorkshireFirst.org.uk

Jonathan Tyler, Green Party

I was a founding member of the Green Party and its National Chair in the 1979 General Election. I moved to York in 1987 and chaired the York Environment Forum for six years.

By profession I am a railwayman: my consultancy plans timetables for integrated public transport. I jointly led the successful opposition to the closing off of York station with barriers.

The Greens are the only party with the imagination to tackle an unfair economy and enormous risks to human survival. Capitalism and sustainability are incompatible, and people’s alienation from the global system is increasingly apparent. Green policies for ‘one-planet-living’ mean building resilient economies for cities like York, securing supplies of food and renewable energy, good jobs and a society at peace with itself.

The common good requires community control of health, energy, water and the railways; taxation that forces the rich to contribute fully to the services they benefit from; councils with the power and resources to look after their citizens; and voting reform so that opinions are properly represented in Parliament.

I would make sure that York’s voice is heard in London while working with fellow Green MPs to start an urgent transformation toward a sustainable world.

Megan Ollerhead, Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

I HAVE lived in York for four years and Yorkshire my whole life. I am a post-graduate student at York University.

I’ve campaigned against the bedroom tax and have done a lot of work on improving housing in the area: tackling dodgy landlords and sky-high rent prices. I believe all public services should come back into public ownership, and I will fight for an end to privatization.

I will fight for a £10 an hour minimum wage for all regardless of age or qualifications, rent caps on private housing and an end to the zero-hours contract. We shouldn’t be paying for a crisis we never caused. The wealthy should be paying for their mistakes, not the vulnerable.

All TUSC candidates pledge to take the average worker’s wage. If elected I won’t line my pockets with the exorbitant MP’s salary, I will donate the rest to local community causes.

We need an answer that goes beyond the three main parties, and TUSC is it. TUSC is an incredible mix of trade unionists, councillors, socialists from all backgrounds, and ordinary people who are sick of what’s happening to their lives.

We deserve better than this. You could make it happen by voting TUSC.