William Ross - TUV - East Londonderry

William Ross, formerly an Ulster Unionist MP, is standing for the Traditional Ulster Voice in East Londonderry. Currently chairman of the TUV, he is coming back into frontline politics, or hoping to, as the heart and soul of unionism gets a tugging and a tussling as the various unionist parties vie for pole position. Most unionists these days appear to have had previous unionist incarnations, and Willie Ross is no exception!

Ross says, “Many people will ask the question why I have put my name forward again for front line politics. Quite simply, like many thousands of decent Ulster men and women I have been outraged by the general behaviour of many Members of Parliament, including some from Northern Ireland. They have fallen short of the high ideals they professed and which people expected of them." So the political sleaze of recent years will be, partly at least, an election issue in this part of Northern Ireland.

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Priti Patel - Conservative - Witham

Witham is a new constituency in Essex. It has been formed by lopping off bits from Braintree, Colchester and Maldon to create a seat that is notionally Conservative with a majority of around 7,000. So it is almost a certainty that Priti Patel will become the MP for Witham. Apart from being a Saxon town in Essex with Roman remains, Witham was a short-lived spa town with pretensions of rivalling Bath and Cheltenham. A certain Dr. Taverner promoted his newly discovered mineral spring by stating, "This most excellent mineral water whose singular virtues and efficacy will render it beneficial in many if not in most chronic diseases incident on mankind".

I'm sure the Conservative message in Witham with have similar "singular virtues and efficacy" as the campaign progresses.

I give Priti Patel's Campaign Site a Voter Friendly 6/10 for Election Information.

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Gary Walker - Independent - Lincoln

This election is producing an interesting crop of serious candidates standing as independents. One such is Gary Walker in Lincoln. His campaign is based primarily on the health service (having spent 22 years in the NHS) but he also concentrates on the scandals in politics generally. He tells voters via his campaign website, “I will represent you and fight for what matters to you. In the coming weeks you have the chance to give Lincoln a completely new exciting future, free from party politics.”

It is always difficult to know how much a candidate like Mr. Walker can affect the outcome in a particular constituency. Lincoln, though, has "form" when it comes to voting, especially with the backing of Dick Taverne as a Democratic Labour MP in 1973.

I give Gary Walker's Campaign Site a Voter Friendly 7/10 for Election Information.

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