Ashfield Neighbour News has put questions to the candidates in the two constituencies that cover the Ashfield district: Sherwood Forest, which includes Hucknall; and Ashfield, which includes the rest of the district and a small part of Mansfield.
These are the responses of Alexander Coates, the Green Party candidate for Ashfield. Click here to see other responses in Ashfield, or here to see the responses from candidates in Sherwood Forest.
We began by inviting all candidates to set out their pitch:
The Green Party is run and funded by passionate people who understand the issues facing their community. I am proud to stand for a party that answers only to constituents rather than wealthy donors.
The Tories have wilfully gutted the NHS and now want further privatisation. The US style private healthcare system bankrupts its patients with extortionate fees and prioritises care for wealthier clients. This is immoral and definitely not what the UK people want!
Tories have also cut local services and left working people fighting to survive financially while the wealth gap keeps increasing. No one should need to choose between heating and eating. Labour has made many U-turns on their pledges, including a much needed investment in clean energy which would have created many local jobs as well as setting us free from the volatile energy prices which is what caused the cost of living crisis.
Reform UK (UKIP rebranded) lied about Brexit and are now pretending to offer an alternative to Labour despite the party’s agenda matching its donors. No commitment to net zero is in keeping with its fossil fuel donors. Blaming immigration for every problem imaginable is a distraction from the greedy profiteering companies that they are too cowardly to confront. They also want us to withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights. Surely stripping us of our basic human rights is not in the public’s best interest.
If you want a party that actually cares about the rights of the many, vote Green. If you think deporting doctors from an already understaffed NHS doesn’t make sense, vote Green. If you want to tell the main parties that trashing our one and only planet is not an option, you guessed it, vote Green. It’s not a wasted vote, it’s a protest vote against our dysfunctional status quo and its racist “alternative”.
We asked the candidates to list the three main issues they are hearing from local voters, and how they would deal with these
- Unacceptable NHS waiting times
Giving the NHS the additional £8 billion funding it needs while reducing losses to privatisation. This is what’s needed to cut waiting times while keeping the NHS free to use. We also want to make our diverse NHS teams of doctors and nurses feel welcome in this country. This is the least we can do to say thank you for their perseverance in a demanding, underpaid profession. - Cost of living crisis
We will bring services into public hands. No more price gauging from big energy, rail and utilities. - The death of Sutton town centre
A Green economy would create jobs in the area to boost our local economy which can regenerate our high street. Buying from Amazon not only kills our high street but also our planet. The Green Party supports local businesses, especially low waste shops like Shop Zero in Nottingham which eliminates packaging waste by refilling your empty containers with fresh loose products. Amazon made $ 10.4 USD BILLION of pure profit in just three months this year. Imagine if even just a few of us switched our shopping habits to better value, lower waste, local shops, we could have a thriving town centre to be proud of.
One of the roles an MP has is an ambassadorial function for the constituency. We asked the candidates to set out what they thought the biggest selling point for Ashfield constituency is when describing the area to outsiders.
Ashfield is full of beautiful fields and forests which if protected, make Ashfield an ideal place to take a walk, have a picnic and own a dog. We also have a mend and make do attitude. Whenever I’ve needed something fixed that I can’t do myself, I know I can rely on local friends and neighbours to help out. This strong local sense of community makes me proud to live in Ashfield.
We asked the candidates a little cheeky question: to let us know a little-known fact about them that people might find interesting?
I don’t drive and probably never will. My commitment to net zero is reflected not only in what I say but how I live. I believe actions speak louder than words. It may seem hard to live without a car, but I’m used to this way of life and enjoy the exercise of walking to the bus stop. It is also nice not to worry about parking or car insurance.
And we finished with a difficult question: if they and their party weren’t standing in the election, which of the remaining candidates would they vote for?
Hypothetically, if the Green Party was not standing in Ashfield, I would vote for Jason Zadrozny as he is passionate about the local area and also agrees that action must be taken against climate change. This year, I am standing as a Green Party candidate so would strongly urge fellow Ashfield constituents to take this opportunity to vote Green on 4 July in Ashfield. There has never been a better time to vote Green.
