We invited all 18 candidates standing for election in York Central and York Outer to say why they think they should be one of the city’s next MPs.
Here, in alphabetical order of first name, the candidates for York Outer set out their stalls…
Andrew Hollyer, Lib Dem
Across York Outer, more and more people are turning to the Liberal Democrats as a positive choice for a fairer society, and I am looking forward to continuing to work with local residents to get action on the issues that matter most to them.
Improving access to health services is a key priority for me, and I know from personal experience how vital it is.
In 2016 I was diagnosed with cancer and saw the best and worst of the NHS throughout my year-long treatment period.
As a local councillor my priority is to make a positive difference for the community where I live, and now I will do the same for all of York Outer’s communities if elected as an MP.
For too long York Outer has been taken for granted by the Conservatives and ignored by a Labour Party that just turns up when there is an election.
Voters in this election want a strong local champion to become their next MP - I am the only candidate from the three main parties that actually lives in York Outer and has a proven track record of delivering.
In Parliament I will be a strong voice for residents' health.
I will fight to ensure that we recruit 8,000 extra GPs, give everyone 70+ and everyone with long-term health conditions access to a named GP and fight tooth decay by scrapping VAT on children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste.
We also need to fix the social care crisis. Everyone deserves high-quality care when they need it.
Liberal Democrats want everyone to be able to live independently and with dignity, and receive any care they need in their own home wherever possible. We will pay for this by reversing the Tory’s tax cut for big banks and making the large digital companies pay their fair share, not by raising taxes on hard-working people.
People in York are telling us every day that they are disgusted by Yorkshire Water’s raw sewage dumping into York’s rivers and streams.
The Liberal Democrats have a plan. We will end the sewage scandal by transforming water companies into public benefit companies, banning bonuses for water bosses until discharges and leaks end, and replacing Ofwat with a tough new regulator with new powers to prevent sewage dumps.
We will tackle the cost of living crisis by cutting energy bills through an emergency Home Energy Upgrade programme, tackling rising food prices through a National Food Strategy, and delivering free school meals for every primary school child nationally. We are the only major party promising to do so.
Darren Borrows, Independent
Science is a quest for greater understanding. It benefits all.
Our tradition in science dates back 400 years to Francis Bacon. Seen as the father of the scientific method, he proposed that belief should be theory built on systematic observation that must resist the rigors of reason and not be disproved.
Subverting this risks corrupting one of the great institutions the United Kingdom helped create. And I worry we've forgotten Francis Bacon's ideals.
In 2015, I discovered a potential flaw in our greatest model of science. I immediately gave it away to 50 Professors of Physics to disprove.
One replied, saying it was an interesting idea I should continue exploring; and suggested I do this with respect to space rather than time.
That rather missed the point.
I am not a qualified physicist; I am a biochemist. However, this seems to give me an outsider's view on something hidden to those inside. I continued to build evidence and create theory in order to make sense of my observation and express it more clearly.
In October 2015 I submitted papers for publication. These were rejected, most notably as 'Nothing new AND too specialist,' by Nature. Without attachment to a scientific institution I suspected I was unlikely to receive anything other than scepticism for something so fundamental in science.
Without the ability to share the mistake I was confident I had identified at the centre of our physics model, I continued to develop theory with regard to this single flaw. I mailed a leaflet expressing this again to 500 physicists in 2017.
The mistake is simple, if you understand physics. But you do not need to understand any physics to appreciate why the scientific method is under threat.
At present, we have the Cosmological Standard Model, which exists because we are certain a light year is a reliable measure of distance. A matter of trust.
My observation is this measurement uses time twice.
Once in the year, and again in the second used to calculate the speed of light.
If these are proportional, there is no issue, and this is assumed. But cursory examination suggests these times MUST be inversely proportional, and if so the model would be significantly different.
If it cannot be disproved, new theory becomes possible. It may even unite two disparate physics into a unified theory, the 'holy grail' of physics.
But nobody wants it. It changes what is already certain.
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.
David Eadington, Yorkshire Party
Public spending in London is £14,500 per person. But in Yorkshire it's just £11,900 per person – that’s a shortfall of over £14 billion, every year, across Yorkshire.
We receive only scraps from London's table.
The London-based parties have London-based priorities.
The Yorkshire Party is standing up for proper fair funding through a Yorkshire Regional Parliament, so that we can control our own local affairs - investing in transport, housing, protecting the environment, health and education - and put an end to London-centric politics and top-down decision making.
Issues in York which I believe are important are improving rail links to Leeds and beyond and a new rail station for Haxby; access to an NHS dentist for all; proper cycle ways with traffic segregation; and giving everyone access to green spaces through providing many more allotments.
We must also stop the dreadful pollution of the River Ouse.
Finally, good luck to all the other candidates who are participating in our democracy.
Hal Mayne, Independent
I have lived in York my whole life.
I am a musician and an active member of the Army Reserve With my twin brother Leo, standing in York Central, we believe we are the youngest candidates nationally in this general election.
I have been developing an interest in politics since 2019. I began to wake up and become more aware with the ‘scamdemic’, making politically-minded songs, with titles such as "Anthem to the Glorious Leader", "I am the Time Traveller", "The Devils UberBitch", to name a few.
Working with my brother, we are calle , 'The Mayne Lads'. Our music is available on our website www.themaynelads.com/music From what I know, I believe the political establishment has abandoned huge swathes of the population, treating the poorest voters with disdain bordering on contempt.
Like a lot of people, I am deeply dissatisfied with the constant political merry-go-round.
Over the last 50 years we have had political hand-overs masquerading as significant change, when in reality it has been a constant stream of decay, decline and disaster.
I am young and want a future but I can see with these weak national parties there is no future for any of us. National party politics isn’t working.
I believe the politicians on today's front benches wouldn’t have been considered fit to stand for election 50 years ago. These politicians like to think of themselves as being the solution. The reality is, they are the problem.
Some of my special policy areas are:
- More care and support for veterans.
- Achieve food security with a return to British pre-common market support for farmers.
- Effective taxation of multinationals and billionaires.
- Windfall taxes aren’t helping the people - direct oil companies to reduce their prices.
For more the Mayne manifesto can be found at themaynelads.com/my-politics/
Whilst there are an array of issues to be addressed in fixing our broken Britain, nothing is more close to my heart than the cause of the forgotten and neglected vaccine-harmed.
These people are real heroes, who because they trusted the government and did what they had been told was the right thing to do, are now are left to live out their lives in their broken bodies.
I believe the vax-harmed are being deliberately neglected across all the national parties.
Therefore, along with my brother, I want to set up a community across York to provide care, support and a voice for the vax harmed and spread awareness of what has happened.
To find out more contact me at myvoicemrna@gmail.com
John Crispin-Bailey, Reform UK
Change is not enough – Britain needs reform. As your Reform party candidate for York Outer, born and raised in the constituency, I am as passionate about local issues as I am about Westminster reform.
As a local parish councillor I encounter local issues first-hand, but also see the broader picture of politics in this country as both a concern and an opportunity for all of our communities.
A disruptive change in politics comes once in a generation. Now is the time for us to reclaim our voices and be heard.
Isn’t it time we said NO to the constant musical chairs of Conservative and Labour in government and opposition?
What Reform means. We will make work pay - zero income tax on your first £20k of wages or pensions, and then a single basic rate up to £70k.
We will abolish business rates for small/medium businesses in the high-street, and raise VAT thresholds to £150k. Businesses will be released to grow and prosper, high-streets will be revived, and families lifted out of the cost of living crisis.
The NHS must work for us and be cost-effective.
We will build staff retention and morale with three-year basic rate tax exemptions for all doctors, nurses and medical staff, scrap caps on medical degree intakes, train the graduates the NHS needs and pay off their study fee loans as NHS employees.
In addition, seeing a GP within three days, a consultant within three weeks, and operations within nine weeks are targets we will deliver, free at the point of use.
Utilities will be wholly UK-owned, 50 per cent in state hands and 50 per cent by UK pension funds. They are your utilities, and will operate with commercial efficiency but exist to serve the public under much tighter regulation, with caps on standing charges, and an end to sewage dumping.
New British-made technologies such as small modular reactors will help build a secure and stable energy supply, independent of events such as the Ukraine War – we want no more energy price shocks.
And yes, Britain does need a completely new immigration strategy, not the chaos of the Conservatives, who wrongly deported 83 British citizens in the outrageous Windrush scandal and yet have relocated only one deportee in more than two years under their £370m+ Rwanda Plan.
Whatever level of migration people vote for, targets are meaningless if they cannot be implemented and managed competently.
Vote for Reform on July 4 and send a message to Westminster. Because change is not enough, we need reform!
Julian Sturdy, Conservative
After fourteen years as your Member of Parliament, I am seeking re-election to continue the work we have started.
At the last election, we set out a plan for York, we stuck with it — and it’s paying off. But what happens next comes down to you.
Since I was elected as your MP in 2010, I’ve worked with local people, businesses and community groups to get action on our priorities. And together we’ve made real progress.
From jobs to growth, roads to rail links, York Outer is in a much stronger position today.
Since the last election alone, we have secured hundreds of millions of pounds of funding to dual the outer ring road from Wetherby Road to Hopgrove; build a new railway station at Haxby; open a community diagnostics centre at Askham Bar; rebuild Hempland Primary School in Heworth; upgrade York District Hospital’s Accident and Emergency department and much more.
In Parliament, I have focussed on the issues that matter most to York and taken your views from emails, telephone calls and surgery appoints direct to ministers.
I have lobbied for better Parkinson’s care; asked ministers to enshrine city centre access for blue badge holders into law; advocated for Naburn Primary School in the aftermath of their Ofsted inspection; hosted a meeting between ministers and local GPs; and fought to save Queen Elizabeth barracks in Strensall.
This is my record of delivery. But I want us to achieve more together.
So let’s not go backwards now. A vote for me will see the ring road dualled, York Central delivering 6,500 jobs as well as 2,500 homes, and trains stopping at Haxby.
A vote for me will see new campaigns for a new hospital for York, the A64 to be upgraded and more business investment in our city.
If we are to continue our successes I need your support. Let’s see our plan through and build a brighter future for local families and a secure future for the country.
Vote for me on Thursday July 4.
Keith Hayden, Independent
Hello, I’m Keith. In 1957 I was an unborn baby waiting to enter this world…… growing…. in secret! For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb….
(from the Holy Bible, Psalm 139:13).
I believe we are all unique and special, wonderfully made, and that our right to life is the most important one, whatever our age, gender, race or belief.
Now a retired teacher, I’ve lived in York for eight years and greatly enjoy and appreciate living in this beautiful historic city.
With my lovely wife I thank God for life’s many blessings - we have a wonderful daughter, amazing son-in-law, plus five precious grandchildren. We love working on our allotment, especially now when the land starts yielding fruit and vegetables.
York with its surrounding villages and beautiful countryside has huge potential to be a leading example of good living, sound business, growing enterprise and compassion to all, including the disadvantaged.
Last year it was a privilege to coordinate the King’s Gospels, a unique coronation gift of a beautifully bound set of the four books - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - handwritten by more than 2000 people in York. The word ‘Gospel’ means ‘Good News!’, and we could all do with more of that!
This initiative involved 17 local schools as well as 25 local church and community groups. Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Life is God’s gift to us all and I’m standing to protect yours and that of the next generation.
We may think our nation is in a mess, and heading for unknown disasters: financial uncertainties, wars and their fallout, climate issues, the cost of living, housing problems, the explosion of knife crime, the huge challenges for the many selfless NHS staff as well as patients’ needs, emergency services and those working in education, business, farming, engineering and construction.
As your independent candidate I would want to see all lives protected and nurtured.
I long to see our society return to true Christian values based on the Bible, so that we: - Recognise the sanctity of human life, - Respect marriage, family and caring for others - Honour our responsibilities within our communities.
Thank God that 80 years ago, as a nation, we were miraculously rescued from disaster when King George VI, the father of our late Queen Elizabeth II, called national days of prayer. We need it again – now!
Everyone is special; we are all uniquely made in God's image! There is hope!
Luke Charters, Labour
As a local dad, I’m standing to be our MP.
York Outer deserves a local MP who understands our area and the challenges faced by its residents.
I’ve lived across the constituency in Haxby, Strensall and Osbaldwick. I’m proud to be raising my family in the York area and I’m honoured to be Labour’s candidate to represent the place I grew up.
Close family members of mine are on NHS waiting lists in York, and our NHS is the main reason I got into politics.
I know the difference a couple of weeks quicker for healthcare can make to a family, as it did for mine growing up. I want to work with our heroic NHS staff to ensure that our residents get the care we need.
I attended Huntington School, which gave me a fantastic start in life and my teachers there gave me the confidence to apply and go to a top university.
Education was one of the greatest achievements of the last Labour government. I’m proud that Labour pledged to bring in 6,500 new specialist teachers as one of our first steps in government.
My wife is a primary school teacher in the constituency, and my son is educated in York too - education is an issue extremely personal to me.
After university, I went on to have a career at the Bank of England protecting our currency and working to protect fraud victims. I now work in fraud prevention.
I rely on York Outer’s services: I have spent hours in York A&E with my toddler; found it challenging to find affordable childcare for my son and found it difficult to secure appointments at my GP in Elvington.
I want to clean up York’s rivers, and I’m proud that Labour’s plans to enforce criminal sentences on polluting water bosses will mean that the sewage in our rivers is cleaned up.
I want to improve neighbourhood policing, an issue I know is particularly pertinent in Haxby and Wigginton.
If given the privilege of serving as York Outer’s MP, I want to work with local residents to understand the issues that matter most. I promise to be the hard working, constituency-first MP that our home deserves.
I came second in 2017, where I received over 21,000 votes compared with the Lib Dems on fewer than 6,000. Recent polls show only Labour can beat the Conservatives.
I’m proud that a former Lib Dem councillor, the previous York Outer Green candidate, and previous lifelong Conservatives are supporting me. York is a fantastic place to live, and I hope you’ll join me in bringing change after 14 years under the Conservatives.
Michael Kearney, Green
Much is at stake in this election, with essential public services crumbling, our economy flatlining and poverty exploding.
The Green Party is the only party offering a manifesto focused on transforming our country into a fairer, greener and more prosperous society, and being honest about the scale of the challenge ahead. I came into politics not seeking to be a career politician, but because I have lived in York all my adult life and love our city.
As a student here, I worked in low-paid jobs across the city, so understand the struggle people face to put food on the table, pay their bills, or afford a huge mortgage or rent increases.
After becoming a teacher in York, I have witnessed the extraordinary growth in child poverty, driven by job insecurity and punitive Conservative child-benefit caps.
Ordinary people are barely surviving. Our political leaders, unaffected by these issues, show no willingness to solve them.
I am not that person. I would be your champion every day in Parliament.
With the manifestos launched, it’s clear that both main parties plan five more years of austerity. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, is this really the best we can do?
Labour plans a smaller budget increase in the NHS than the Conservatives implemented at the height of their austerity cuts – meaning longer waiting lists, fewer GPs and no prospect of NHS dentists.
I would champion real investment in our NHS with rapid GP access, reduced waiting lists and an NHS dentist for everyone alongside investing in our social care system to free up beds in the NHS. Bishopthorpe should get their GP service back and Copmanthorpe an NHS dentist.
Housing in York Outer is another pressing issue with prices skyrocketing and our young people locked into insecure, private rentals. Greens would transform the sector by building 150,000 social homes every year, end no-fault evictions and retrofit UK homes to make them warmer and cheaper to heat.
All of this would be underpinned by a strong, green economy.
Unlike Labour and the Conservatives, who have left so many communities behind, Greens propose to bring well-paid, highly skilled jobs into the UK.
Greens would accelerate our renewable energy sector, invest in economic skills and training and bring our utilities back into public ownership to ensure profits are reinvested into our infrastructure for the public good.
Every Green vote shows the Labour Party that we will not accept further austerity, NHS privatisation and national decline. Starmer is taking us all for granted, assured in his belief of a whopping majority. Vote Green for Real Hope and Real Change.
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