BOTH Liberal Democrat 2024 General Election Candidates Refuse To Answer Our Questions - Thomas Gravatt and James Batho

 

 

We are attempting to interview and ask questions of all 2024 General Election candidates for the Southampton Test and Southampton Itchen constituencies.

Thomas Gravatt is the candidate for Southampton Test.

James Batho is the candidate for Southampton Itchen.

Weeks ago, we asked them for an interview, and to answer the following questions.

1. Why are you standing in this General Election?
2. Why are you standing for the <insert party or independent here>?
3. What will you do in the first 100 days if elected?
4. What do you think are the best top 5 policies of your party?
5. What do you think are the top 5 issues that Southampton people want addressed, and what do you intend to do about them?
6. What track record do you have of winning campaigns?

 

Other candidates answered promptly. We waited for these Lib Dems to reply. And waited. Then chased. According to their Campaign Manager:

"I have asked if the candidates for Test and Itchen are in a position to answer these questions but they have declined. Apologies but it is a very busy time."

These are basic questions that any serious candidate should be able to answer, and to answer quickly.

Southampton voters will have to make up their own minds.

 

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". It's your choice.

The other candidates for Southampton Test, with their answers to our questions, are here. 

The other candidates for Southampton Itchen, with their answers to our questions, are here.

 

Labour's Satvir Kaur Does Not Answer Our Questions - 2024 General Election Candidate for Southampton Test

Satvir Kaur is the Labour Candidate for Southampton Test at the 2024 General Election. She is a Councillor on Southampton City Council and was the Leader of the Council until a few days before Christmas 2023.

According to the Daily Echo, and repeated by BBC Hampshir, Kaur resigned just before Christmas as the Leader in order to concentrate on her campaign to be elected to Parliament.

But the full truth is not that simple. Her resignation coincided with the Council being brought to the brink of bankruptcy.

A near bankruptcy, called a Section 114 notice, that Kaur claimed was a "lie" despite the reality of the situation faced by the Council before, during and after she was Leader:

• having been the Leader of the Council since May 2022 and before that, making financial decisions in the Cabinet of the Council for over a decade having entered the Cabinet in 2013. The Cabinet contains around ten or fewer Labour councillors. The thirty or more other councillors do not get a say in those decisions which amount to millions of pounds of spending in total.
  
• the Chief Financial Officer warning of the Section 114 notice and then leaving
• the Government now having to help to bail out the Council
• the Chief Executive Officer resigning around the same time that Kaur resigned as Leader
• her successor as Leader Councillor Lorna Fielker having to deal with the sinking ship that Satvir Kaur had abandoned. Fielker then asking the Government to raise Council Tax by 15% but trying to hide this request from the public who would pay, until it was revealed in a Council public meeting
  

Does this sound like rats leaving a sinking ship? Southampton residents will have to decide for themselves when they cast their vote.

If this is the mess that Kaur left as a Councillor, what damage could Satvir Kaur do as a Member of Parliament?

Backbench MPs have very little power over spending. If she is elected, perhaps the taxpayer will be grateful for that.

But imagine what damage she could do if she actually got her hands on a Government Department with a huge budget?

Would Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer allow her to be a Minister, given Kaur's disastrous background?

With Labour Satvir Kaur's record, it is a worrying prospect for the people of Southampton and for the rest of the country, should the people of Southampton Test elect her.

And especially so given her failure to respond to the questions that we sent to her. These were sent to all candidates with contact details available.

1. Why are you standing in this General Election?
2. Why are you standing for the <insert party or independent here>?
3. What will you do in the first 100 days if elected?
4. What do you think are the best top 5 policies of your party?
5. What do you think are the top 5 issues that Southampton people want addressed, and what do you intend to do about them?
6. What track record do you have of winning campaigns?

 

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". It's your choice.

The other candidates for Southampton Test, with their answers to our questions, are here.

 

 

EXCLUSIVE: Southampton Test TUSC 2024 General Election Candidate Answers Our Questions

Maggie Fricker TUSC Candidate
for Southampton Test
in 2024 General Election
Photo: Maggie Fricker

Maggie Fricker is the TUSC 2024 General Election Candidate for the Southampton Test Constituency. TUSC is the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.

Here are Ms Fricker's responses to the six questions that we have asked of all candidates. They are provided in full. We are very grateful to her for providing them at this busy time for candidates and for TUSC.

1. Why are you standing in this General Election?

"We are standing in the General Election to give a voice for a workers fight back against Austerity, cuts to services and against the war."

2. Why are you standing as the Conservative Party Candidate?

"I’m standing for TUSC because it is a coalition of trade unionists and socialists, we come together as activists with a track record of fighting for something better for working people. We fight for better pay and conditions as trade unionists and against cuts to local services."

3. What will you do in the first 100 days if elected?

"If elected I don’t think I will be forming a government, but in parliament I would work with others who are ant-austerity and anti-war and use it as a platform to call for a new mass workers party. We expect Starmer and Labour to form the next government, but they have made it very clear they will act in the interest of the super-rich and the establishment and not ordinary people suffering the worst cut in living standards for 70 years."

4. What do you think are the best top 5 policies of your party?

"We are anti-war and anti-austerity. We demand the £500 Million stolen from Southampton in funding cuts to be returned to the city so we can reverse cuts to local services.  We believe the NHS needs a massive increase in the resources it needs and pay restoration to all workers who have suffered cuts to our living standards. We also say kick out the profiteers from the NHS and bring all services back into the public sector. We also believe we should cancel tuition fees and reintroduce bursaries so we can train the 100,000 staff we are short of in the NHS. End the war on Gaza and stop funding and supporting the genocidal regime in Israel. We also believe in voting rights at 16 and for young people to have full pay and £15 an hour minimum wage across the board."

5. What do you think are the top 5 issues that Southampton people want addressed, and what do you intend to do about them?

"We are different to the other parties standing in this election because we call for a mass campaign of ordinary people in the city to fight for the funding we need. We call for a people’s budget which would include an eco-friendly mass house building programme – building low rent council housing, and low cost transport system. We need to have a public works department that can plan properly the road maintenance we need on decent rates of pay. Restore funding for our schools and provide free school meals for all children in full time education. Comprehensive youth and sports services funded and available for all."

6. What track record do you have of winning campaigns?

"I’ve been an activist since I organized school strikes as a kid!  I was a local organizer for the Anti-Poll tax union, supporting those threatened with bailiffs and imprisonment, and finally getting ride of it all together. I’ve supported defending youth services and was part of the campaign to save Oaklands swimming pool, we also gave active support in saving the Kentish Rd respite Centre and more recently I was an active member of the successful campaign to save St Mary’s Leisure Centre and supported Nadia Ditta to save the Venny green space in Newtown. As a trade unionist I recently organized strike action at Southampton General Hospital for the Society of Radiographers and we successful saw an increase in our pay."

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". It's your choice.

The other candidates for Southampton Test, with their answers to our questions, are here.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Southampton Test Conservative 2024 General Election Candidate Answers Our Questions

 

Ben Burcombe-Filer Conservative
2024 General Election Candidate
For Southampton Test
Photo: Ben Burcombe-Filer

As already reported in our exclusive story on some of his comments, Ben Burcombe-Filer is the Conservative 2024 General Election Candidate for the Southampton Test Constituency.

Here are Mr Burcombe-Filer's responses to the six questions that we have asked of all candidates. They are provided in full. We are very grateful to him for providing them at this busy time for candidates and for the Conservative party. He declined our request for an interview.

1. Why are you standing in this General Election?

"I am standing in this election because Southampton Test deserves a choice. Currently 75% of its councilors are Labour, with the potential of a Labour MP and  Keir Starmer in number 10, all checks and balances are effectively removed.
You only have to look at Labours track record to see why this is bad news for the people of Southampton Test. The council needs to save 40m annually in a desperate attempt to stave off a section 114, something which will inevitably lead eyewatering council tax rises and cuts to services that will hammer the people the council is supposed to serve! They have not even begun trying to balance the books, because they fear reprisals at the ballot box next month.
How can they be trusted to put the people of Southampton or indeed the country first?"

2. Why are you standing as the Conservative Party Candidate?

"I am standing as a Conservative, because only the Conservatives have a plan that works for the people of the UK. Lower taxes, an end to illegal migration, CV-19 backlogs dealt with, safety and security in retirement for our pensioners and opportunities for our young people. 
Labour have no plan beyond higher taxes and open borders."

3. What will you do in the first 100 days if elected?

"People are tired of politicians making promises, so I am making only 1. My first 100 days as MP for Southampton Test  would be the same my entire tenure. Listening to the people I  would be lucky enough to represent, acting on their wishes to the best of my ability, and always putting them first."

4. What do you think are the best top 5 policies of your party?

"My favorite policies.
    1 Extension of free childcare hours – A brilliant investment in people’s potential allowing more parents to return to work, leveling up both the UK’s economy and the lives of those affected.
    2 Triple Lock Plus – I am lucky enough to still have 2 grandparents both old enough to renember D-Day. Its crucial we ensure security and dignity to our elderly.
    3 100k extra apprenticeship and getting rid of rip off degrees. In my personal and professional life I have seen firsthand the power of apprenticeships to transform lives. I have also seen the damage done by degrees that offer no real skills or employability benefits. This is a game changer for our young people. Security for those going to university that their degree is worth it, and opportunities for all.
    4 NI Cut and commitment to abolish. Hard working people get to keep more of their money, and so they should."

5. What do you think are the top 5 issues that Southampton people want addressed, and what do you intend to do about them?

"I have 1 priority not 5. To make Southampton the world leading city it should be. That means maximizing its potential by creating well paid jobs for its adults, opportunities for its young people and safer streets for us all."

6. What track record do you have of winning campaigns?

"Winning Campaigns? I was written off at 18 months old, and ever since I have been told I cannot do this, or will not be able to do that. So I have been campaigning for almost my entire life, and that fact that I am writing this as Candidate for Southampton Test is purely down to the fact I win my campaigns."

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". It's your choice.

The other candidates for Southampton Test, with their answers to our questions, are here.

EXCLUSIVE: Southampton Itchen Reform UK 2024 General Election Candidate Answers Our Questions

 

Alex Culley Reform UK Candidate
at 2024 General Election for Southampton Itchen
Photo: Alex Culley

As already reported in our exclusive story on some of his comments, Alex Culley is the Reform UK 2024 General Election Candidate for the Southampton Test Constituency. We will also be publishing an exclusive interview with Mr Culley soon.

Here are Mr Culley's responses to the six questions that we have asked of all candidates. They are provided in full. We are very grateful to him for providing them at this busy time for candidates and for the Reform UK party. 

We understand from Mr Culley that Nigel Farage, the Leader of Reform UK, will be announcing on Monday 17th June 2024 in an event in Wales, the final version of the Reform UK "Contract" which is what other parties call a "Manifesto". The draft version is in the link below.

1. Why are you standing in this General Election?

"In a recent TV interview Professor Matthew Goodwin said that many Britons feel like their country is facing a “civilisational moment”. I share this sentiment. To me, it seems like the UK is in a permanent state of managed decline.

Figuring that things aren’t going to change by shouting at the TV, I decided to get off the sofa and put myself in the line of fire. "

2. Why are you standing for Reform UK?

"Reform is what this country desperately needs on so many levels. I started reading through Reform UK’s Contract. I felt that the programme offers hope for real change.

Ultimately, if you’re sick of the stranglehold the tired CONLAB duopoly has had on our politics, don’t vote for it. Choose Reform."

3. What will you do in the first 100 days if elected?

"I would:

    • identify, and seek to build relationships with, key stakeholders in the community, for example through introductory meetings or calls;
    • recognise things on the home and business front to smooth the transition to public life;
    • try and manage expectations through consistent communication. It is going to take time to achieve significant and lasting reforms in most spheres; and
    • observe and learn. An MP’s remit demands knowledge of Parliamentary processes / workings of “the system”, not to mention a solid grasp of  a wide range of issues beyond one’s subject matter expertise. For these reasons a newbie is going to have to watch, listen and learn (with a critical eye / ear of course) to become effective."

4. What do you think are the best top 5 policies of your party?

"        i. Reducing immigration: Britian’s immigration system is broken. The Office for National Statistics (“ONS”) reported that net migration stood at 685,000 in 2023. If our population continues to grow by 600,000 per year, then we’d have a population of 80 million people by 2046 (Migration Watch). That’s equivalent to 15 more cities the size of Birmingham. Needless to say, this is completely unsustainable. Wages are already depressed, NHS waiting lists seem to get longer every year and the demand for housing is far outstripping supply. This is to say nothing about the profound cultural changes that could pose a risk to social cohesion.

Our desire to reduce immigration isn’t personal. We know that many people who come here just want to get on. I personally take a great interest in other cultures. There is much we can learn from them. Nevertheless, the electorate has repeatedly instructed Westminster to reduce immigration to manageable levels. The failure to do so is seriously damaging trust in our democracy. We need to address this as a matter of urgency.

        ii. Electoral reform: we need to break the two party cartel. Let people vote for what they want, rather than against what they least want.

        iii. Reforming the planning system: the housing crisis is crippling our country. It pits generations against each other, is significant cause of homelessness and rocketing rents. We would seek to overhaul the planning system in an effort to help people get on in life.

        iv. Our plans to help small and medium sized businesses: being a small business owner myself, I know how challenging it can be to get up and running.

IR35 rules are complex even for lawyers to understand, let alone entrepreneurs who want to concentrate on building their businesses. We would abolish them.

Current corporation tax rates are oppressive. They prevent business owners from building up the capital required for growth. We would lift the maximum profit threshold to £100k and gradually seek to reduce it to 15% from year five. Similarly, we would lift the VAT threshold to £120k to cut red tape.

        v. Scrapping net zero: In August 2023 1609 scientists and professionals (including two Nobel Laureates) signed a declaration entitled “There is no climate emergency”, calling for: (i) climate science to be less politicised; and (ii) more extensive cost benefit analysis prior to implementing restrictive measures. It is time politicians were honest about the costs initiatives like Net Zero are imposing on people’s lives. This includes tax rises, inflation in goods and services to cover the costs of adjustment and potential limitations on movement. For example, according to the Office for National Statistics, the cost of electricity increased by 425% between 2000-23. Whilst the reasons for this increase are likely to be multifaceted, Net Zero style adjustments are likely to be a significant contributory factor. Reform UK would scrap Net Zero, generating savings of £20bn per year for the next 25 years. We would also ditch renewable energy subsidies. Both would help ease the cost of living crisis."

5. What do you think are the top 5 issues that Southampton people want addressed, and what do you intend to do about them?

"        i. Preventing the financial collapse of Southampton City Council: this would necessitate further Council Tax rises and cuts to public services. My background is in financial services, particularly in ensuring sound governance and risk management. Accordingly, if elected as an MP, I would be well positioned to offer constructive challenge to the council’s management of the city’s finances.

        ii. Improving access to GP, dental and related services: this is a problem across the UK. At Reform UK we would like to slash waste, ensure as much funding is allocated to frontline provision as possible, and examine ways to increase capacity by working with private providers. I would support an investigation into how other countries deliver health services to gain inspiration for improving ours. If structural problems continue to go unaddressed then no amount of additional funding is going to improve services. Taxpayers will continue to pay more to receive less.

        iii. Improving the River Itchen’s water quality: I am loathed to let my sons play by the shore these days. I would advocate for Southern Water to invest in modernising the local sewage system.

        iv. Improving the local public transport network: Southampton Central needs a makeover. The station has hardly changed during my lifetime, despite the additional demands that have been placed on the rail network. Additionally, train services between Portsmouth Harbour and Cardiff are often overcrowded. Much of the rolling stock is outdated and trains are too short for a route that takes in so many major cities (Portsmouth, Southampton, Salisbury, Bath, Bristol and Cardiff). Much has been made about the inadequacy of the train network up north, but we are also overlooked. As a regular user of public transport, I would make a lot of noise to ensure Southampton’s transport infrastructure receives the attention it deserves.

        v. Outlining a bold vision for the city’s waterfront to generate growth: being one of the cruise capitals of the world, Southampton’s waterfront offers huge potential for entrepreneurs and workers alike. I would act as an ambassador for regeneration in an effort to maximise the waterfront’s potential."

6. What track record do you have of winning campaigns?

"Although I have substantial experience of campaigning, I have not personally won any elections. Reform UK is still a relatively new movement. In 2021 it lacked brand recognition when I first stood for the party in local elections. However, thanks to the herculean efforts of my colleagues this is no longer the case. Furthermore, I am not a career politician. I divide my finite time between running my business, spending time with my family, and campaigning."

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". It's your choice.

The other candidates for Southampton Itchen, with their answers to our questions, are here.  

EXCLUSIVE: Southampton Test Reform UK 2024 General Election Candidate Answers Our Questions

John Edwards Reform UK
2024 General Election Candidate
in Southampton Test
Photo: Reform UK

 

John Edwards is the Reform UK 2024 General Election Candidate for the Southampton Test Constituency.

Here are Mr Edwards' responses to the six questions that we have asked of all candidates. They are provided in full. We are very grateful to him for providing them at this busy time for candidates and for the Reform UK party. No candidate photo has been provided yet and will be added if provided.

1. Why are you standing in this General Election?

"I am standing in this general election because I believe that Reform UK have the answers and the policies to stop the rot in Britain that has been the hallmark of the Conservatives tenure of government. Labour's policies do not inspire me because of their failure to demonstrate their costings."

2. Why are you standing for Reform UK?

"Reform UK ideals match my own."

3. What will you do in the first 100 days if elected?

"Personally, I would get to work right away, challenging local issues as to why our city has such a chronic record of maintaining council housing stock along with the documented need to provide more homes. The Solent Freeport is still not underway compared to other freeports in the country, such as Plymouth. I want to to champion Southampton as the place to come and business and to rebuild our local economy."

4. What do you think are the best top 5 policies of your party?

"The top five policies of our party in my opinion are:

1. To raise the threshold of income tax to £20k.
2. Take 20p off fuel duty.
3. Nurses and care staff to be removed from paying income tax for three years.
4. Raise the threshold of Vat & reduce corporation tax.
5. Control immigration  / stop the boats."

5. What do you think are the top 5 issues that Southampton people want addressed, and what do you intend to do about them?

No answer provided yet.

6. What track record do you have of winning campaigns?

"I have many years of experience in in all aspects of campaigning. Kick starting Reform UK here in Southampton and seeing it grow into its present shape that continues to attract new members, supporters and volunteers is so heartening. It is giving a growing hope to many within our city that we can achieve the change demanded by so many people who feel let down by the Westminster parties."

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". It's your choice.

The other candidates for Southampton Test, with their answers to our questions, are here. 

 

ANOTHER Green Candidate Refuses to Answer Questions - Katherine Barbour Green Party Candidate for Southampton Test

It's 2 out of 2 for the Green Candidates in the 2024 General Election in Southampton. And a 100% fail on democracy and leadership.

To add to the Southampton Itchen Green candidate Neil Kelly refusing to answer our basic questions, the Southampton Test Green candidate Katherine Barbour has also refused to answer our basic questions, sent to her on behalf of Southampton residents.

We have asked the exact same questions of all candidates*. They are designed to inform residents on their vote. You can see the answers across this website. They are:

1. Why are you standing in this General Election?
2. Why are you standing for the <insert party or independent here>?
3. What will you do in the first 100 days if elected?
4. What do you think are the best top 5 policies of your party?
5. What do you think are the top 5 issues that Southampton people want addressed, and what do you intend to do about them?
6. What track record do you have of winning campaigns?

But they have been refused by Ms Barbour and Mr Kelly.

So who is Katherine Barbour?

According to Ms Barbour's register of interests at Southampton City Council, Ms Barbour is a yoga teacher.

She has been a City Councillor for just over a year. It took her eight years to be elected over seven elections. Between 2015 and 2022 inclusive, Barbour stood and was not elected six times as a council candidate for Southampton City Council. Ms Barbour’s record in local elections is as follows:

2015 Green Woolston not elected
2016 Green Woolston not elected
2017 no local election
2018 Green Portswood not elected
2019 Green Portswood not elected
2020 no local election
2021 Green Portswood not elected
2022 Green Portswood not elected
2023 Green Portswood elected

Eventually, Ms Barbour was elected in 2023 in the all-out elections on the new ward boundaries for the ward of Portswood. She came top of the 3 candidates that were elected. The other two elected were Labour candidates with shorter terms. Ms Barbour pushed out the other Labour councillor, Gordon Cooper.

So perhaps whilst you may admire Ms Barbour’s persistence, it took a long time, eight years and six failed elections. 

Green Duplicity on Labour's Portswood Broadway Proposals

Plus let’s not forget, Ms Barbour's election as the first Green Councillor came after a significant intervention on the ground in the Portswood ward from Southampton Independents over the Council’s unpopular plans for Portswood Broadway, as well as our media work. 

So let's look at this issue as an example of Green Party confusion, indecision and seeming duplicity.

Our work listened to and represented the views of residents and businesses. We often heard criticism of Labour councillors and the Labour Council during our work in the area. 

There was almost universal opposition including on the doorsteps to the Labour Council's plans, however they were cooked up and whomever was involved in cooking them up. That’s why in the interests of democracy, we opposed it loudly, as that is the democratic thing to do.

Despite asking them directly at the time, what the Green Party’s stance on the Broadway proposals was, it was difficult to tell. Greens did seem to pass the buck between each other in an example of indecision and lack of leadership. 

Likewise, in a Daily Echo report, the views of the two party representatives Mr Spottiswoode and Ms Barbour seemed to contradict each other. Ms Barbour’s view seemed to both agree and disagree with the proposals too, but under the headline “Southampton Green Party slams Broadway proposals”. It was all very confusing. 

Readers will have to decide for themselves, but this yoga-like contortion of a position seems like the typical duplicity of party politicians, something all too common. It's just Green duplicity instead of Labour. Lib Dem or Tory duplicity.

And that is just one example of Green Party indecision, duplicity and lack of leadership. 

Southampton's First Green Councillor

Nevertheless, Ms Barbour was elected. Whether she survives for long as a councillor, only time will tell. Surely she should answer questions from voters, as is claimed on the Green Party website. Yet she has not answered ours.

Would you agree that the questions asked of Ms Barbour that she has refused to answer are basic questions for any serious Parliamentary Candidate? When chased, Ms Barbour claimed that she was waiting to see if other candidates were going to answer. 

The Greens Lack Answers and Lack Leadership

What leadership is this? It is the leadership of a follower, not a leader. Politics requires leadership and Ms Barbour has failed this basic test, as has Mr Kelly.

But the Greens cannot even decide who their leader is. They have two - called "co-leaders". It's unconventional. And indecisive, just like their view of the Portswood Broadway proposals and their inability to answer the most basic of questions for Southampton people to make a decision on their vote.

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". The choice is yours.

 The other candidates for Southampton Test are here.

How Can A Councillor for Kensington Represent Southampton in Parliament? Conservative Sidney Yankson Thinks He Can

 

Southampton Independents has been getting answers from candidates in the 2024 General Election. We have been requesting interviews.

There has been no response from Sidney Yankson, a Conservative councillor for Redcliffe ward on Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council in London. He is also the Conservative candidate for the East of Southampton, in the Southampton Itchen Constituency.

Perhaps Mr Yankson is busy serving the "6,000" constituents that he claims to represent. But at the same time, on his own cut-and-paste Conservative Party Parliamentary campaign website, he now claims to live in Southampton. Questions arise from this:

1. So which group of residents is Mr Yankson representing? London or Southampton?
2. How can a councillor for Kensington, 77 miles away, represent Southampton in Parliament, and do his job representing his Council constituents too? If Kensington was adjacent to Southampton, it would not be an issue. But Kensington isn't adjacent. It is 77 miles away.
   
3. And how can he be doing both these things, and be a barrister as claimed on his website and in his Register of Interests on Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council?

We would like to ask Mr Yankson, but he has not responded to our request for interview, or answered the basic questions that any serious Parliamentary Candidate should be able to answer. These are the same questions that we have asked all Southampton Itchen and Southampton Test candidates, some of the answers for which we have published from other candidates.

Bearing in mind that Councillor Yankson is Vice-Chair, Audit & Transparency Committee, we would have thought that he likes questions being answered quickly. But this is the Council in whose area the scandal of the Grenfell Disaster occurred and it is a sad fact that Conservatives still control that Council despite the disaster in 2017.

In 2023, six years after the Disaster and despite a Public Inquiry, local people still told the Council that it "had not changed or got worse". On the day that Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the General Election, the Police said there would be no prosecutions until "late 2026 at the earliest". Of course neither Mr Sunak nor the Police would try to "bury bad news" under the General Election announcement.

Perhaps Councillor Yankson has another view or more information about his Council, or on Grenfell, or on getting justice for Grenfell, or on our successful campaign for sprinklers in Southampton City Council's tower blocks, but without responses from him, it is impossible to tell.

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". The choice is yours.

The other candidates for Southampton Itchen, with their answers to our questions, are here. 

 

EXCLUSIVE: "Written Off At 18 Months Old", Southampton Conservative General Election Candidate "Wins Campaigns"

Ben Burcombe-Filer Conservative Party Candidate
for Southampton Test at the 2024 General Election
Photo: B Burcombe-Filer

When we asked Ben Burcombe-Filer, the Conservative Candidate for Southampton Test at the 2024 General Election, what track record he has of winning campaigns, he told us:

"I was written off at 18 months old, and ever since I have been told I cannot do this, or will not be able to do that. So I have been campaigning for almost my entire life, and that fact that I am writing this as Candidate for Southampton Test is purely down to the fact I win my campaigns."

This combative response from Mr Burcombe-Filer was matched in his response to being asked why he is standing in the General Election. He said:

"I am standing in this election because Southampton Test deserves a choice. Currently 75% of its councilors are Labour, with the potential of a Labour MP and Keir Starmer in number 10, all checks and balances are effectively removed.

You only have to look at Labours track record to see why this is bad news for the people of Southampton Test. The council needs to save 40m annually in a desperate attempt to stave off a section 114, something which will inevitably lead eyewatering council tax rises and cuts to services that will hammer the people the council is supposed to serve! They have not even begun trying to balance the books, because they fear reprisals at the ballot box next month.

How can they be trusted to put the people of Southampton or indeed the country first?"

The Conservative candidate in the West of Southampton is no stranger to standing in elections, having stood for Eastleigh Borough Council and Hampshire County Council over several years. He succeeded in being elected to Bishopstoke Parish Council at the May 2024 local elections, but was not elected to the other two councils.

Mr Burcombe-Filer has appeared in various media, as a private tutor and as a fund-raiser for those living with disabilities and for disability rights.

A Sky Living TV documentary in 2015 featured Mr Burcombe-Filer, titled “What the Super Tutor Saw”. Mr Burcombe-Filer has cerebral palsy, with the Southern Daily Echo saying then that he “suspects” this contributed to his struggling in getting work before leading to the private tutoring. 

Presumably this also inspired his comments about "winning campaigns" too.

He was also quoted by the Southern Daily Echo as having “tutored children of Lords, sports stars and super-rich business leaders”. Speaking about his work, into which he “fell” after graduating from Cambridge University, he says that he loves the work. 

Inews reported in 2021 that Mr Burcombe-Filer “hopes to become a Tory MP”. Realising his ambition now, this 2024 General Election is the first time that he has stood for Parliament.

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". It's your choice.

The other candidates for Southampton Test, with their answers to our questions, are here.

 

Green Party 2024 General Election Candidate Neil Kelly Refuses Questions from Southampton Itchen

Neil Kelly Southampton Itchen Candidate
Image: Screenshot of website

We would like to tell you about Neil Kelly, but there is little information available.

Southampton Independents is interviewing the candidates for the 2024 General Election. We are holding them to account and informing Southampton residents. Candidates are answering our questions.

But not all of them. The Green Party Candidate Neil Kelly has refused to be interviewed. 

Questions were sent to him, as they have been sent to other candidates, but none of them have been answered by the Green Party Candidate for Southampton Itchen. This is odd, considering that the Southampton and District Green Party website asks for questions to be sent. 

That is exactly what we have done. Yet, they have refused to answer.

So who is Neil Kelly? We would like to show a photo of him, but the Green Party has not sent us a photo, although we have asked for that, too. So the above image is a screenshot of the website. The local Green Party website is pretty much the total of material that is available about this candidate, apart from a rather amateurish Facebook account.

Amongst social media, there only appears to be this Facebook account for Mr Kelly's candidacy and nothing else. This is in stark contrast to other candidates who use social media to campaign.

Neil Kelly has stood as a council candidate over many years for Southampton City Council, and many times, but has never been elected.

Kelly has stood for:

• Labour
• Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC)
  
• Green Party

We have offered Mr Kelly a right of reply to the other information that we have discovered.

Mr Kelly has been asked why he thinks he was not elected. He has also been asked about the lack of social media for him, despite being a candidate for public office. And he has also been asked about Green Party candidates being dropped after probes into online posts.

We waited some time for a response from Mr Kelly or Southampton and District Green Party, but only received refusals.

Why Southampton Independents Is Covering the 2024 General Election

Southampton Independents recommends no particular candidate in the 2024 General Election. We publish this information and the information about the other candidates to help inform Southampton residents for their vote, or for them to choose not to vote or to positively spoil their ballot by writing "none of the above". It's your choice.

The other candidates for Southampton Itchen, with their answers to our questions, are here.