Amber Valley’s Parliamentary candidates outline their hopes for the constituency
The five Parliamentary Candidates for Amber Valley, in Derbyshire, have been stating their hopes and plans to become the constituency’s MP as the General Election draws closer.
The previous term’s Amber Valley MP, Conservative Nigel Mills, is standing again and will be joined by four other prospective candidates including Labour’s Linsey Farnsworth, Liberal Democrat Kate Smith, the Green Party’s Matt McGuinness and Reform UK’s Alex Stevenson.
Voters have no doubt been considering the 2024 General Election’s themes including the economy, immigration and the NHS among other issues and they will be able to cast their votes between 7am and 10pm, on July 4, at polling booths.
Conservative Nigel Mills, who was asked for a statement but has not yet responded, has been elected four times and has served as Amber Valley’s MP throughout the Tory Government’s reign between 2010 and 2024 and he has been holding residents’ meetings to discuss what people’s priorities are for Amber Valley.
He has recently announced that an £8.6m investment plan for Heanor Town Centre, for which he campaigned, is nearly complete and he has highlighted the transformation of the Market Place and Grammar School sites and he has said that if he is re-elected he will deliver similar funding for Ripley and Alfreton town centres.
Labour’s Linsey Farnsworth, who is an Amber Valley Borough Councillor, has stated: “I’m not a career politician, so for me, the opportunity to become the MP for Amber Valley is about serving my community and helping the people within it.
“That’s why I became a borough councillor representing the people in my own ward: Kilburn, Denby, Holbrook and Horsley.
“I was a Crown Prosecutor for 21 years until recently stepping back to concentrate on Amber Valley.
“I’ve watched the Conservatives govern as if it were a game, and I know many people in Amber Valley are feeling disillusioned with politics and politicians. I firmly believe we need to bring decency back into politics.”
The Liberal Democrat website stated their Amber Valley candidate Kate Smith is an experienced councillor, working hard for local people for the last 20 years and she enjoys helping to fix problems and bringing people together to make things better.
Ms Smith has worked in both the paid and the voluntary sector, including the National Tramway Museum, health services, international language training, policy writing and in the office of a Member of the European Parliament.
The Amber Valley Borough Councillor is particularly interested in planning, climate change and preserving our precious green spaces for the future.
Green Party representative, Matt McGuinness, has stated: “I moved from Liverpool and have lived in Amber Valley for more than twenty years, where my wife and myself have brought up three children.
“I’m a parish councillor, a musician, the founding director of a community arts organisation, I run an events company, and campaign around positive mental health.
“There is nothing more important than politics and choosing who represents us locally and nationally. That person will have a significant impact on everything else in our lives.”
Reform UK’s Alex Stevenson stated: “Amber Valley is a fabulous place to live and I am continually working to improve things for residents.
“It is clear to me that the two-party political system is broken. Government ministers are kissing up to unelected global corporations and kicking down to the public they are supposed to represent, increasing taxes and pursuing a range of policies that are deeply unpopular with the British people.”
He added: “Successive Conservative and Labour Governments have brought our once great country to its knees. We have mass immigration, sky-high taxes, a crumbling NHS, a desperate housing crisis, and our public services are no longer fit for purpose. It is time to vote away from the two main parties. The only realistic option for change is Reform UK.”
The country will be watching the outcome of the General Election results for Derbyshire’s eleven constituencies which prior to the election was a Conservative stronghold with nine Conservative MPs and two Labour MPs before Parliament was dissolved.
With National polls currently suggesting Labour still has a considerable lead over the Conservatives, who have been in Government for 14 years, the overall outcome across all of the Derbyshire constituencies could prove to be very interesting and significant.