On June 8 the country will go to the polls in the general election. In the North East Hampshire constituency voters have six candidates to choose from.
Conservative Ranil Jayawardena has held the seat since the 2015 election, elected with 35,573 votes and is defending a huge majority of 29,916.
The Observer has been asking each of the candidates what they would bring to the constituency, should they be elected.
Next week, it will be turn of the candidates for the Basingstoke constituency. The responses from the North West Hampshire candidates can be found here.
Robert Blay, independent
I am free from party dogma, able to speak my mind whilst representing constituents against the ever increasing national and personal debt.
In recent years I have found myself disillusioned with the Tories and UKIP having played senior roles in both parties.
Voting Blay is a vote to keep the NHS in public ownership and to reappraise all its contracts especially the offshore PFI structures.
Voting Blay is a vote to bring back the Bradbury Pound, leave the EU with no strings or divorce payment, a peaceful foreign policy but strong defences, low taxes and quality education for all.
Graham Cockarill, Liberal Democrat
I am Graham Cockarill, the Liberal Democrat candidate for the North-East Hampshire constituency.
My family and I have lived in the area since the mid-1970s.
I have been a local councillor since 2001, serving on both Yateley Town Council and Hart District Council.
If elected to represent you, I will work hard to ensure that your voice is heard loud and clear at Westminster.
I will fight for the resources this area needs to provide quality health and education services, secure more jobs and provide good quality, low-cost housing.
Mike Gascoigne, UKIP
I believe that we need to build more units of affordable, council-controlled social housing, to be made available to our own young people who are spending too long with mum and dad, and need to live their own independent lives.
At the same time we need the supporting infrastructure of schools, health services, shops, roads and public transport.
Houses and flats should be made available by developing on brownfield sites where possible, or by conversion of unused office blocks.
We need to leave the EU so that small businesses can thrive, free from unnecessary regulation.
Ranil Jayawardena, Conservative
We live in a great part of the country and I have been working to make our corner of the county even better.
I care passionately about our area and our local services. That’s why we need to lock in the economic progress we have made together - through Brexit and beyond - because we can only have strong public services with a strong economy to pay for them.
In the last two years, I’ve secured more funding for our local schools, local healthcare and local infrastructure.
With your support, you’ll be strengthening my hand to get the best deal for you, your family and our community.
Barry Jones, Labour
From listening to people in the area, I have lots of ideas on how to make our constituency the very best it can be.
We have lots to work on, which includes improving patchy public transport, integrating healthcare from hospital to home, bringing class sizes down in our overstretched schools and reversing teacher, police and nurse losses incurred under the Conservative cuts.
Our green belt also needs protecting, by switching the focus of housing developments to brownfield sites.
I hope that I will see you as I canvass in the upcoming weeks.
Chas Spradbery, Green
We live in a beautiful and wonderful area and I want to keep it that way.
But despite the huge run-down areas elsewhere in the country, the Government continues promoting industrial growth in the south east, attracting more people from afar, and then imposing housing quotas to accommodate them.
The area is a commuter hub. Ever-increasing volumes of traffic, pollution, noise and hazardous roads are changing the character of the area, threatening our health.
If elected I will join with others of all parties to reverse this unsustainable policy and campaign for a better, greener future.
