General Election Candidates 2024: Ashton-under-Lyne

JULY 4 will be known for something else than American Independence Day this year – it is the date the country goes to the polls in a general election.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s call for a summer vote took many by surprise but campaigns are up and running and questions being asked?

The lines have been redrawn as Audenshaw and Dukinfield have moved into the Ashton-under-Lyne constituency – which if polls are correct may be the home of the Deputy Prime Minister.

However, Labour’s Angela Rayner has competition on her doorstep after the Workers Party of Britain launched its national campaign outside its town hall.

And with a professional wrestler among those standing, if it ever threatens to get physical there may be a battle.

Here, those standing tell The Correspondent about their aims and what they stand for.

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Ashton-under-Lyne Candidates

ROBERT BARROWCLIFFE (REFORM UK)

I’M AN analyst at a local laboratory, as well as a professional wrestler!

I was born in Tameside Hospital, grew up in Hyde, went to college in Ashton, rented in Mottram, lived in Stalybridge, and now own a house with my fiancée in Mossley.

I’ve never moved out of the area and I’ve seen the decline of Droylsden, Dukinfield, Audenshaw, and Ashton-under-Lyne first-hand.

Growing up, we would come to Ashton for a family day-out.  We would go to the markets, wander around the Arcades, go to the swimming baths and watch a pantomime at the theatre or visit our war museum inside our great town hall.

All of that is going, if not, already gone. Ashton-under-Lyne is a dying town.

I’m not a politician, so I’m not going to tell you that there is a quick and easy answer to these issues and make a bunch of false promises that I couldn’t possibly deliver, but I owe zero political favours and I’m self-funded.

I am willing to work with the local council, to bring life back into town by reducing crime through zero-tolerance policing, supporting small and medium sized businesses with tax relief, restoring our beautiful but decaying buildings and ultimately regenerating what was once a great town.

Like most, I grew disillusioned with the state of politics in this country. However, I feel an obligation to stand because I love our home and I love all the people that live here, and we desperately need to turn it around.

I will stand for the people of Droylsden, Audenshaw, Dukinfield and Ashton-under-Lyne, and together we can turn our great towns and our great country around.

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LIZZIE HACKING (CONSERVATIVE)

Ashton-under-Lyne has been ignored by Labour for too long and needs an MP that listens and puts your priorities first. As one resident told me, ‘if Labour run the country like they do here we are in for a real mess’.

In 2021, the Conservative Government gave Tameside Council £20m for regeneration and three years later the Labour-run council have nothing to show for it. I would hold them to account and ensure that investment is delivered for residents.

I know what it’s like to grow up on a council estate in a single parent family and would put aspiration at the heart of everything I do. Having worked in education for the past seven years, I understand how important it is to give children the best possible opportunities to enable the greatest choice for their futures. I would work with local schools to help them deliver the fantastic education for our children.

I know how devastating antisocial behaviour can be for a community and would partner with the police and local stakeholders to tackle crime. As a trustee of a mediation charity, I have seen the importance of a focus on prevention, rather than just cure to help deescalate community tensions.

For an MP who will fight for you and hold Labour to account, vote Conservative on 4 July.

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DOMINIC HARDWICK (LIBERAL DEMOCRATS)

I AM a lifelong Mancunian. Born in Withington, I went to Manchester Grammar School, and then studied Ancient History at the University of Manchester.

I now work in a family clothing company and am a local councillor in Stockport.

My roots in Tameside go deep. My mum was born in Ashton-under-Lyne Hospital and brought up in the shadow of Moore’s Hat Factory in Denton (where my grandparents worked as hatters) and went to Ashton Grammar School.

I spent a lot of time growing up in Tameside with my grandma, uncles, and aunts, going around the market and building model planes with my uncles.

I’ve known and loved the area since my childhood.

Our priorities for Ashton are health and social care, the cost of living and our environment, both built and natural.

My family has had bad experiences with Tameside Hospital and I want to see the hospital improved, along with the social care available to our residents.

We would scrap the two-child limit benefit cap and bedroom tax to ameliorate the cost-of-living crisis.

We would end the sewage scandal that sees local waterways like the River Tame befouled by greedy water companies.

As the Lib Dem candidate, I support community-led regeneration plans that put local needs first and foremost.

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AROMA HASSAN (WORKERS PARTY OF BRITAIN)

I AM the product of parents who aspired to leave the world a better place than they found it.

I have inherited those values and hope to effect profound and meaningful change, which I have always pursued through my activism in the voluntary sector.

As your representative, I intend to be hands-on and present in all eight wards.

I will champion projects by engaging with local leaders who have dedicated their lives to improving our communities.

Together we will work to ensure transparency in funding allocation and regular consultation with the public before and after projects are undertaken.

Making sure funds are truly spent on projects that serve the community instead of vanity projects that are repeated every few years.

I will tackle anti-social behaviour and push for new youth projects to engage our young people, community centres and recreational facilities for healthy bodies and minds and investigate the failure of our children’s services.

As a party, we intend to address the cost-of-living crisis by nationalising our energy and water to reduce ever-increasing bills and costs of running a household.

In addition, we will reduce the terminal housing shortage our country faces by investing in affordable housing in Tameside, where the current waiting list is approximately 7,400.

We will end the privatisation of our beloved NHS and seek to increase funding across health services and improve working conditions, while reducing waiting times and enhancing access to services for all.

We also pledge to hold a referendum on NATO membership and make our foreign policy aligned with creating peace and prosperity, not war.

My over-arching ambition is to bring integrity and accountability back to politics.

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LEE HUNTBACH (GREEN PARTY)

HAVING been born and raised in the area, I feel honoured to have been chosen again, as the Green Party candidate to represent Ashton-under-Lyne.

Greens are the only party being honest about funding public services and rectifying the inequality in our society.

A moderate wealth tax on the super-rich would fund services lost by decades of tax cuts for the fat cats.

A nationwide retrofit of home insulation would create new jobs, boost the economy, reduce emissions and crucially, reduce costs to those who are suffering the most.

As an elected Councillor, I gave up work and attended all council, as well as police and community meetings, giving feedback to residents with regular newsletters.

I spent 10 months teaching armed services veterans a nationally recognised horticulture qualification, donating my full salary back to the Curzon Ashton Community Foundation, that funded the training.

I created the Waterloo Wombles in 2018 to focus on litter picking across my ward and in 2022, founded the Junior Wombles, encouraging exercise and community spirit amongst youngsters.

I helped plant hundreds of trees in Waterloo Park and helped maintain school and community garden areas.

I also campaigned against the closure of Ashton Pools and the demolition of the conservatory in Stamford Park.

Tameside residents have already shown their faith in the Greens with an increase in vote share from nine per cent to 18 per cent, in local elections, over two years. It’s time to take the next step.

For real hope and real change, vote Green on July 4.

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ANGELA RAYNER (LABOUR)

SERVING the people of Ashton-under-Lyne since 2015 has been the honour and privilege of my life.

Since I was elected, I have always promised to do all I can to get the best for Ashton, Audenshaw, Droylsden and Dukinfield.

I am so proud to represent the people of this constituency. I hope you will re-elect me so I can continue to do so.

Times are hard and families are struggling after 14 years of chaos. Food, fuel and household bills are soaring, but wages and benefits are not keeping pace.

Too many people feel worse off, trapped in the cycle of insecure work and unable to plan for a better future.

It’s time for change and I’m determined to make life better for people.

As a single mum who grew up on a council estate, I know the importance of education, decent housing and secure work.

I’ll fight every day for families to have the same opportunities I had under the last Labour Government.

Through my plan to make work pay, Labour will deliver a new deal for working people. We will end fire and rehire and zero hours contracts and guarantee your rights at work from day one on the job.

My plans to Get Britain Building will make sure the right homes are built in the right places. I’ll deliver the biggest boost to affordable, social and council housing for a generation.

Labour will put police back in neighbourhoods to make streets safe again and drive down crime and anti-social behaviour, including in some of the most deprived parts of the constituency.

With your vote on July 4, I can continue working for you locally and take a strong, northern voice to Parliament.