Elections come around quicker and quicker these days, don’t they? It only seems like a few weeks since election fever last gripped North Yorkshire – and that’s because it was. Rishi Sunak’s surprise decision to announce a summer election on 22 May caught many people – both members of his own party and his opponents – off guard.
Labour landslide?
Now all-out war is occurring, with candidates doing their best to press the flesh and make their mark on an election, the result of which was decided for many long ago. The Labour Party’s domination of the polls in the past two years has made many consider a Labour landslide not only likely but inevitable.
Conservatives hope, of course, that they can beat the polls. Nowhere will the fight be more intense than in the prime minister’s own constituency. However, Sunak’s confidence both in his electoral success nationally and in his own backyard has come into doubt.
The prime minister’s recent decision to leave the 80th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day landings early in order to record an interview with ITV has drawn condemnation from across the country. Residents in Richmond and Northallerton, a constituency that contains the largest military garrison in the country at Catterick Garrison, may feel particularly aggrieved at Sunak’s decision. Most of my interview with Tom Wilson, Labour’s candidate, was conducted before this incident, but I asked him for a comment on it. He responded by saying:
“I’m glad the prime minister has apologised. The 80th anniversary of D-Day should be about honouring our heroes that secured our freedom. My thoughts are with our veterans today.”
With recent polling for Electoral Calculus showing only a 3.5% gap between the Conservative and Labour candidates in Richmond and Northallerton, everything is to fight for. Tom Wilson, Labour’s candidate in the seat, is certainly confident that he may be the man to defeat Sunak.
Wilson launched his campaign in Stokesley on Saturday 1 June to an enthusiastic and energised crowd who were filled with a clear desire to win. The buzz was palpable. As Wilson addressed them, it was clear that he was prepared for a full-scale fight to cause, if he is successful, perhaps the biggest upset of the night.
Meeting the candidate, Tom Wilson
I spoke to Wilson shortly before the campaign launch to get a sense of what his priorities are and what he hopes to achieve if he is elected as the member of parliament for Richmond and Northallerton. My first question was what exactly made him want to become the Labour candidate for this constituency. He told me:
“During the pandemic, I changed careers to work for Test and Trace and subsequently the NHS.
“To see how many ordinary people were willing to sacrifice going to birthdays, weddings and funerals to protect everyone else, and work every day to keep us safe, was inspiring and made me commit to public service.
“To then see how badly the government let those people down, by breaking their own rules, and partying in Downing Street while everyone else stayed at home, was deeply insulting to their sacrifices and I knew I had to do what I could to challenge them in the next election.
“The area covered by the Richmond and Northallerton constituency is dear to me. I grew up here, hiked here, swam here, shopped here. My extended family live here. It would be an honour to represent such a beautiful place with such wonderful people.”
I wondered what Wilson considered to be the main distinction between him and the other candidates.
“All the polls and data show the election in Richmond and Northallerton is a race between Labour and the Conservatives, with Reform in third. I’m local, being comprehensive schooled in Darlington, and have dedicated my career to public service. If elected, I’m fully committed to serving the full five-year term and will ensure the residents of our constituency are heard strongly in the next government.”
The main issues of the campaign
I wanted to understand what Wilson believed were the main issues of the campaign – what did he think people would be talking about the moment?
He replied that clearly the NHS, of which he has experience given he works for it, needed support. Wilson was clear that, although there had been some investment in Northallerton, there is still a huge backlog for patients who are facing a lack of access to treatment.
“Labour has turned around waiting times before”, Wilson added “and we will do so again – Labour is committing to cut down the backlog to under 18 weeks by the end of the next parliament”.
Wilson also wanted to make sure that that the cost-of-living crisis, river pollution and supporting local high streets were high on his list of priorities.
“People are really feeling the pinch at the moment, and we’re seeing people really struggling”, he concluded, “we need a government that will turn our economy around and get our country growing again”.
Housing and transportation in Richmond and Northallerton
I then turned to housing. Wilson has been an active housing campaigner for a number of years so I wanted to ask him about the importance of housing and what he would do as the local MP to help encourage it?
“Housing is a huge issue in this country, the housing crisis being one of the main factors behind our languishing economy and cost-of-living crisis”, he began.
“New stock is particularly needed in and around cities, which only Labour will deliver with our commitment to planning reform. But we can continue to play our part here by building where there’s demand. One of the things I’m most proud of in this area is our strong record on exceeding our old housing targets, one of the best records in the country, and in a sensible way to serve local people.”
Housing and transport often go hand in hand, so I asked Wilson what he hoped to achieve for transport in the area? He argued that he would work with the newly elected Mayor of York and North Yorkshire – Labour’s David Skaith – and, if elected, a Labour government led by Keir Starmer, to improve services across the constituency.
Health and the environment
Returning to healthcare, I asked Wilson how he thought his experience working with the NHS would help him empathise with the concerns of patients across the constituency and be able to work to alleviate those concerns if he is elected.
“The NHS is full of inspiring people, but it is really struggling right now”, he told me. “Many of the issues it is experiencing come back to capacity and demographic changes having an impact on demand. We need to expand the NHS’s capabilities in the short term by bringing in private capacity, while reforming the service to best serve those who need it most. It is also a priority to tackle our recruitment crisis and making it a desirable place to work for staff. None of these challenges can be solved overnight, but Labour seems to be the only party discussing them at all.”
Turning to the environment, given how interlinked it is to the health of the community, I wondered how important Wilson considered the environment to be, particularly river pollution.
“River pollution and sewage dumping is a national scandal”, he said. “It is an environmental crisis, an ecological crisis, and a public health crisis all rolled into one. We need the next government to crack down on the water companies polluting our rivers and ensure that those who have acted in any way illegally stand trial.
“Labour is committed to going the extra mile to protect our environment and stamping down on pollution. Having junked their commitments to our environment to keep a small group of Tory MPs happy, the Conservatives simply cannot be trusted.”
Businesses and farming in North Yorkshire
I asked Wilson how he would seek to work with businesses across the constituency. He said he would work in lockstep with a Labour government to ensure that businesses, both locally and nationally, were given as much support as possible.
“Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have been doing hugely important work collaborating with businesses and their workforce on our plans for government, and I will be a champion of the high street in parliament to ensure everyone here benefits.”
Given how rural Richmond and Northallerton is as a constituency, I asked Wilson what message he would like to send to farmers in the area.
“Of everyone in this country let down by this government, I think farmers have been let down the most. It is an incredibly difficult time to be in the agricultural sector, with no satisfactory replacement to the system of subsidies we had as members of the EU”, he said.
“We need to empower farmers to adapt their businesses with less red tape, as they are ultimately the real experts on how to make farms profitable. Over this campaign, I will be reaching out to our farmers in Richmond and Northallerton constituency to hear from them what the next government needs to do to help them and bring their voices to parliament.”
Make sure to use your vote
Finally, I asked Wilson what his message would be for voters if he could sum it up in one sentence?
“I am standing to provide a real, credible choice for Richmond and Northallerton, which is competitive between Labour and the Conservatives for the first time in years – send a message to the Conservatives that cannot be ignored and vote Labour.”
Wilson is clearly enthusiastic about the constituency he is standing in and has a great deal of support from his local constituency Labour Party. The question will be, of course, if he can convince voters that he is the right person to be their MP.
It’s a decision only they can make. This election will decide the direction of the country for the next five years if not longer. So, wherever you are and whoever you support, make sure to get out and vote on the 4 July.
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