By Clive Jones
Liberal Democrats have been calling for a general election for more than a year – calling for the Conservatives to put an end to this catastrophic government which is out of ideas and out of talent.
For decades we’ve had an MP in Wokingham who took residents for granted. We need a hard-working, full-time, local MP who knows the area well and will stand up and fight for a fair deal for our community.
Of the three main parties, the Liberal Democrats were the only one with a local candidate already selected when the election was called.
After a last-minute scramble, both Labour and the Conservative appointed candidates with no connection with the area or understanding of what is important to local people. I have lived in this area for more than 40 years.
I went to school here, as did my children who were born in the Royal Berkshire Hospital, the same hospital that saved my life by diagnosing my cancer.
I was selected to be the Liberal Democrat candidate for Wokingham two years ago, since when I have spoken personally to more than 10,000 residents – as a local councillor, as leader of the borough council and on the doorstep. I have campaigned on the issues which local people tell me are most important to them and, if elected, I will fight to ensure that we:
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Fix our broken NHS and social care system, including building the new Royal Berkshire Hospital. In 2019, at the last general election, the Conservatives promised you a new hospital by 2030. Nothing has happened, and they now say that work won’t even start before 2031 at the earliest, meaning another 12 or more years in the existing run-down building.
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Help those struggling in the cost-of-living crisis, which has massively hiked food and fuel costs and added thousands of pounds to mortgages. Much of this pain comes directly from bad decisions made by the Conservative government, including Liz Truss’s disastrous budget.
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Stop, and reverse, the damage to our local environment by the water companies dumping sewage in our waterways whilst they give vast amounts of our money to their shareholders and executive bonuses.
In just a few days’ time, anyone with a postal vote will be able to vote for who they want to represent them for the next five years.
The polls and ‘tactical voting’ websites are all now clear that Wokingham’s next MP will be either myself, or a Conservative with no understanding of our area.
In Wokingham, Labour are out of the race.
The Conservatives have left an appalling legacy from their time in national government, just like they did in Wokingham when in 2022, after 20 years, they were voted out of office.
They left a local budget that could not be balanced thanks to the massive cuts in funding at the hands of their own government and a huge unfunded backlog of road maintenance.
Last week, the Liberal Democrats published our election manifesto, with a bold and fully costed £9bn plan to tackle the health and care crisis. We have a plan to overhaul the water industry and tackle sewage pollution, a dedicated mental health professional in every primary and secondary school and a return to community policing, including a new burglary response guaranteed to tackle unsolved crimes.
We know what is needed to fix the problems caused by the Conservatives and we are clear on our priorities.
Most importantly, after years of Tory neglect, Wokingham needs a hard-working, full-time MP who knows our community well and will stand up for what we need. If you agree, please vote for me, Clive Jones, with your postal vote or on polling day Thursday, July 4.
Clive Jones is the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Wokingham. He ca be emailed at: Clive.Jones@wokinghamlibdems.org.uk
