Fed up of politics? Meet some of the independents standing in York

But who will you vote for?

To help you, we have invited every one of the York Central and York Outer candidates to contribute a statement setting out what they stand for – and why you should vote for them.

We’ll be publishing those statements in The Press starting from tomorrow. But here's just a hint of what to expect...

As you’d expect, all of the major parties – Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, the Greens and Reform UK – are standing candidates in each seat.

The Yorkshire Party are also fielding a candidate for York Outer – though not for York Central.

But if you’re looking for something a little different – well, there are a host of independent candidates, too.

They include musical twins Leo and Hal Mayne, standing – one in York Central, one in York Outer – on a ticket of battling political complacency.

They are both young people who feel that national politicians have failed them and their generation – and that something different is needed. “National politicians like to find ways of tackling crises without actually tackling them,” Leo says.

Twins Leo, right, and Hal Mayne, who are both standing for election, in York Central and York Outer respectively (Image: Supplied)

Other independent candidates include Darren Borrows, a biochemist standing for York Outer who believes physicists have got their model of how the universe works slightly wrong, but won’t accept this.

“If our science establishment is not in the pursuit of a greater truth in science for all of us, what is it doing? Elect me, and I will do my best to find out,” he promises.

Elsewhere, Keith Hayden is an independent, also standing in York Outer, who is campaigning for a return to true Christian values and a recognition of the sanctity of human life.

Alasdair Lord, meanwhile, standing in York Central, is opposed to the arms trade and the war on drugs. He says he is also the ‘only candidate offering a referendum on the royal family’.

Alasdair Lord (Image: Alasdair Lord)

Roger James, an independent standing for York Central, believes that ‘all tax demands are illegal unless the government can prove the money is not used to fund illegal wars’.

His Independent rival Ruairi Kendall, meanwhile, is campaigning for electoral reform. If elected, he says, he’d drive through reform – then stand down so that a proper election could be held.

Ruairi Kendall (Image: Ruairi Kendall)

To help you make your choice, we will, over the next couple of days, feature election statements from each of the 18 candidates – or at least, from 17 of them.

Cliff Bond, the Reform UK candidate for York Central, declined to submit a statement on the grounds that he is ‘not engaging with the media’.

But we will feature statements from every other candidate, whether standing for one of the major parties, or running as an independent.

We begin tomorrow, when we will run statements from all nine candidates standing for York Central. Then, on Thursday, it will be the turn of the York Outer candidates.

And then it’s over to you…