Meet the parliamentary candidates for York Outer

Paul Abbott -UKIP

As a long term resident of York and small business owner I live in the real world. I have been married for 33 years and live within York Outer. I am a lapsed Member of the Chartered Institute of Transport and therefore understand the real impact Government decisions make on SME businesses.

However, as a relief sub-postmaster I actually see the results of the many deceits peddled by all the other parties. Being a committed executive committee member of the Communication Worker’s Union (CWU), saving Middleton Post Office is only one of my many campaigns.

As such I am ideally placed to fight for the rights of people whose patience has worn thin. The managed decline of public services beggars belief. Home care, residential homes, the Barnett formula, business rates – the recognised “unfairness” continues.

York has been denied infrastructure investment and therefore struggles to compete. The A64 and A1237 congestion means York is not open for business. The Local Plan presided over by a Labour council was a nightmare and Julian Sturdy did well to galvanise local communities. Indeed reasoned argument by local residents who appointed their own QC was dismissed without even being read.

York deserves more and much, much better than it has been getting for the past five years and indeed for the last 18 years after the Labour mismanagement both city and country-wide.

Vote for change, Vote UKIP and get UKIP.

Joe Riches - Labour

I was born and grew up in Hull and moved to York several years ago. I live in Clifton, having moved from Leeman Road and have been a local councillor for Holgate ward since 2011.

My professional background is in adult social care, having previously worked in the NHS, housing and in the rail industry at York Station. Working locally in York in frontline services supporting adults with a learning disability, I have seen the impact of the Government’s austerity programme on some of our city’s most vulnerable people. I am standing for Labour in York Outer to stand up for the many people who need a Government that will offer a real change.

Labour have a better plan for our economy which would eliminate the deficit and run a surplus by 2020. We would do this fairly – making the super-rich pay by ended Non Dom status, raising £7.5bn a year from tax dodgers and introducing a mansion tax to fund the NHS.

I have five priorities for York Outer if I am elected:

1) Defend our NHS in York from privatisation

2) Tackle York’s housing crisis. Labour would ban letting agency fees for tenants, introduce long term tenancies and bring back rent controls.

3) Dual the Outer Ring Road

4) Say no to Fracking in York

5) A fair deal for York on welfare reform – our city has been hit disproportionately by welfare reforms which have left vulnerable and disabled people homeless and thousands dependent on food banks.

James Blanchard - Liberal Democrat

I moved to Yorkshire 20 years ago, when I became the first person in my family to go to university. I have worked for some of the biggest companies in Yorkshire, but was made redundant in 2009 at the time of the recession. I know the effect losing a job can have on a family, and I will make sure we have an economy that keeps creating jobs here in York.

I now run a small business and have been a local councillor – so I know what it takes to help local people with their problems, and to make the system work for them.

I want to make sure that people in York Outer have the opportunity to make their best of their lives. That means campaigning for the best education and skills training. The Liberal Democrats in government have doubled the number of apprenticeships. I want to see them doubled again. We’ve also increased the money spent in York schools and given every child in Infant classes free school meals. We all know this is good for behaviour and results, and I want this for all primary school children.

I also want people to be treated fairly. The Liberal Democrats have lifted more than three million of the lowest earners out of paying income tax. I want more done to prevent tax dodging, so international companies and the richest pay their fair share. I will stand up for our NHS and make sure that it gets the funding it needs.

Julian Sturdy - Conservative

It has been a great privilege to represent York Outer in Parliament since 2010. I’ve always put our local communities first and I hope to build on my achievements over the next five years if re-elected on May 7.

I’m a Yorkshire farmer by trade and I’ve lived and worked on the edge of our great city all my life, more recently with my wife Victoria and children George and Florence.

Being local means I truly understand the challenges faced by the communities surrounding York. Whether it’s protecting our green belt or fighting for fairer health funding for our area, I remain absolutely committed to campaigning on the issues that really matter to local residents.

Another of my priorities is strengthening our infrastructure. I am a passionate campaigner for rural broadband improvements to bridge the digital divide. I’ve also made progress in getting a better transport deal for York, helping to secure £250 million to upgrade the Hopgrove junction and a landmark commitment from the Government to look into a permanent solution to the traffic problems on the outer ring road.

Since I was elected five years ago, unemployment across the whole of York has more than halved and I am proud that Yorkshire alone has created more jobs than the whole of France combined. As such, I hope you will put your trust in me again to always champion the needs of local residents, and to see that our great city gets back on its feet again.

Ginnie Shaw - Green

Apart from eight years in Scotland, four of which I spent as a student at Stirling University, I have lived in Yorkshire all my life. A long-standing member of the Green Party, I joined when it was the Ecology Party, in 1976. I have lived in York since 1991, for 22 years in Clifton, before moving to Osbaldwick in York Outer in 2013.

I chaired a local housing association for 13 years, initiating several innovative projects, including expansion of the Scarcroft Project for 15 to 19-year-old homeless people and the York Home Improvement Agency. I am a trustee of York Racial Equality Network.

A qualified housing manager, I was director of a national housing and disability charity for ten years and undertook several projects spanning the housing, health and social care agendas. I therefore understand the importance of joined up working and using an holistic, person-centred approach when meeting individual’s needs.

Greens believe in a fairer global society for everyone within the limits of the natural environment we all depend on. The other major parties have adopted a green mantle but lack the vision required to bring about real progress in making their words match reality.

I am standing because I want to give voters in York Outer the option of voting Green. I would work hard as the constituency’s first Green (and first woman) MP to ensure residents’ views are heard, co-operating with others across the political spectrum