THE CANDIDATES fighting the Rugby & Bulkington seat are busy campaigning ahead of the General Election on June 8. Here, Labour Party candidate Claire Edwards tells Observer readers in her own words why she deserves your vote.
Claire Edwards is a Labour councillor on Rugby Borough Council, a school governor for the last 15 years and a founder member of the Newbold on Avon Community Partnership. She is a charity trustee and currently works in the voluntary sector, part of a varied career including working at the University of Warwick, local manufacturing businesses and working for an MP and MEP in Warwickshire. A passionate advocate for Brownsover and Newbold, she is committed to developing a new medical centre and community and youth facilities in Rugby.
Claire writes:
Rugby has been my home for the last 25 years, a place where I have lived, worked and raised a family and been a hard working campaigner for local services. Don’t let the Tories have a free hand to decimate the communities we have worked so hard to support. We need GP surgeries, a secure NHS, fair working conditions and affordable new homes, quality open spaces and fairness for all – not just a favoured few. Help me fight for everyone, young and old for a better future where we all benefit.
I promise to be a hard working, responsive MP standing up for Rugby, Bulkington and our rural villages supporting the many not the few. I want to be a champion for all that’s good about our constituency and ensure it thrives in challenging times.
My local pledges are to work towards:
1. Full employment in Rugby – and that means high quality jobs with and an end to zero hour contracts
2. A secure NHS and social care. The lack of access to GPs is a scandal in Rugby and our rural communities. I will fight for better NHS facilities and resources at Rugby St Cross and protection of services at George Eliot Hospital and for proper access to mental health services close to home
3. We need every child to have an offer of a place at a local school or nursery. We need a local education service that provides quality school places for children in Rugby, supports and enhances our excellent Children’s Centres and access to affordable childcare for all families
4. A transport system that works for us not against us – we need better public transport, including a publicly controlled bus network and publicly owned rail network
5. Development that provides affordable housing in the right places with the right services, with genuinely affordable housing as a guarantee
6. Better and more protected green and open spaces, guaranteed for generations to come like the fantastic Centenary Park in Newbold
7. More police officers tackling crimes that affect us most, including cybercrime
8. Supporting fairer pensions for women born in the 1950s, the triple lock on pensions retained, protecting the winter fuel allowance, and ensuring no rise in the state pension age beyond 66
9. Action to secure equality of opportunity for all, tackle violence against women and girls, racism and discrimination with real equality for LGBT and disabled people
10. A joined up system of youth services in Rugby so our young people get the very best opportunities they need.
And I promise to commit to a Brexit that protects our employment and environmental rights and protections. Labour has a fully costed responsive Manifesto that delivers for the many not the few. Please do vote on June 8 for a local Labour MP who is committed and hard working and will be a champion for this constituency at every level.
Claire Edwards, Labour Party candidate
