On July 4 the country will go to the polls for the General Election.
Nationally, Electoral Calculus predict Labour will have a 272 seat majority of 272.
Predicted votes are 21.9% Conservative; 41.4% Labour; 10.8% Lib Dem; 14.8% Reform; 5.6% Green and the remaining 5.7% going to SNP, PlaidC and ‘other.’
In the 2019 General Election, before the boundary changes that have come into force this year, Conservative Craig Mackinlay took the South Thanet seat with more than 56% of the vote.
He polled 27,084 votes, some 10,587 ahead of nearest competitor, Labour’s Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt, who gained 16,497 votes.
Mr Mackinlay announced he would not stand in the forthcoming General Election due to the continued medical appointments and procedures that he continues to face.
On Wednesday, May 22 he returned to Parliament after eight months, having had his arms up to the elbows and legs up to the knees amputated due to an extreme case of septic shock.
However, that same day Conservative leader Rishi Sunak called the snap election and Mr Mackinlay made the decision not to fight for the seat.
Veteran Conservative Sir Roger Gale, who held the North Thanet seat since 1983, was elected with 30,066 votes – equalling 62% of the poll. Labour’s Dr Coral Jones took 12,877 – 27%.
However, for this election in East Thanet the poll has Labour with a 91% chance of winning the seat and Conservatives on 9%.
In Sandwich and Herne Bay – which includes areas of Thanet – the prediction is currently 45% Conservatives and 55% Labour.
In East Thanet there are eight candidates vying to become the area’s next MP.
We have asked the candidates to answer some questions on issues that matter to Thanet.
Here Polly Billington, standing for Labour in East Thanet, tells us her views on subjects ranging from housing development to the NHS:
Housing development- particularly on farmland – and the housing numbers dictated for the Local Plan are a concern for many residents.
What is your view on this, can government reduce housing need figures due to them being based on 2014 ONS stats which do not seem to reflect the 2024 situation and need?
Alongside this Thanet needs more social housing, how would you tackle this?
Thanet is a victim of Tory failure on planning. The Conservatives have allowed planning permissions to collapse to record lows because they are too weak to stand up to their backbenchers, members, and cronies whose interests are best served by limiting the supply of housing to buy and rent. Thanet’s Local Plan including the allocation of farmland for homes was put together under a previous Conservative council administration. Attempting to reverse existing housing allocations would only invite legal action from developers, costing local taxpayers millions and ultimately fail. Anyone suggesting otherwise is lying to you.
I speak to far too many people living in their childhood bedrooms well into adulthood because they can’t afford to rent or buy a home locally. Labour will reform planning law, prioritising building the homes we desperately need for the next generation on the “grey belt”, those parts of towns like car parks and waste ground that could be the site of new places for people to live.
Under Labour, first-time buyers will be given first refusal on new homes in their local area.
The building of new social homes is also at record lows. More and more people are stuck in the private rented sector when they should either own their own home or have a council house to rent. Labour is committed to council housing. Labour-run Thanet District Council promised to deliver over 400 council homes in their first term; in less than a year, they are already over halfway to that target, a huge increase on the previous delivery average of 18 homes per year. This will continue to be the direction of travel under a Labour government.
I have made a personal commitment to no new builds without infrastructure. Labour will ensure that new energy, water and transport infrastructure, schools, and doctors’ surgeries that local people need are hardwired into plans for homes. Local leaders will be invited to bid into government with proposals for sites which will benefit their area. If developers want my support, they’ll need to listen to and act on your concerns first. You’ll be the first to hear about building plans in your area and we will shape them together.
A balance needs to be struck, resisting unfettered rural development regardless of purpose, and restoring pride in our rural and coastal communities. Whilst we recognise the need to address the Conservatives’ housing crisis, we will also introduce a land-use framework in England allowing us to promote sustainable, regenerative farming, help us meet our climate goals, and strengthen ecosystems as we restore nature.
Minster Marshes – There is a campaign against the National Grid plans for a converter station as part of the Sea Link project. What are your views on this?
Nature is crucial to help us fight climate change, so the importance of a land use framework that balances the competing needs of clean energy infrastructure, biodiversity, farming and homes for people cannot be overstated.
Currently there is no national assessment of where such large pieces of energy infrastructure should go, and it is left to National Grid as a private company to propose sites. I am absolutely committed to achieving our climate goals through clean energy and decarbonising the grid and lowering energy bills while protecting nature.
The UK under the Tories has become one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. I am a life-long environmentalist and am proud that Labour created our national parks, opened the coastal footpath, and passed the world’s first laws to tackle climate change. We will continue this legacy and restore pride to our countryside and seas.
Southern Water sewage releases in our sea – how would you tackle this?
As an environmental campaigner, this is an issue very close to my heart. The current Southern Water situation is a genuine scandal. The Tory sewage crisis is polluting our seas and rivers, damaging tourism and putting our health at risk. I will make sure that water company bosses face criminal charges if they fail to clean up their toxic mess. Under Labour’s plans, Ofwat would be able to block six out of nine water bosses’ bonuses last year due to high levels of pollution into our rivers, lakes and seas.
Labour will give Ofwat the powers to ban the payment of bonuses to water industry bosses who are found to pump significant levels of raw sewage into our precious rivers, lakes and seas.
Expanding the regulatory powers of Ofwat is part of Labour’s wider plan to put the water industry under “special measures” to end the Tory sewage scandal by 2030.
We will:
- Ensure that the CEO’s of water companies will face personal criminal liability for extreme and persistent lawbreaking
- Introduce severe and automatic fines for illegal discharges that water CEO’s cannot ignore
- Force all companies to monitor every single water outlet
Water companies are largely owned by foreign companies and investors: not an ideal situation but it is the reality. I oppose paying them billions of pounds to take the industry into public ownership which would not fix one metre of pipe. Stronger regulation and sanctions is a faster and fairer way to secure the outcomes we need.
Cost of living – Thanet families are struggling to make ends meet, businesses also struggle as a result and there are a large number of empty shops in our towns. How will you help the economy to recover and how will you help our families and businesses?
Labour will not play fast and loose with the economy like the Conservative have, which has driven up mortgages and the cost of food, energy and housing. We will enforce strict fiscal rules to create stability in the economy and will not raise income tax, VAT or national insurance.
Furthermore we will help people with their energy bills, funded by a windfall tax on the oil and gas giants. This will help us keep energy bills down for good, with a Warm Homes programme and setting up GB Energy which will help shift our economy to cleaner, cheaper, homegrown power.
We will also regulate short term holiday lets, to ease the rise in rents locally. They are hollowing out our communities and putting pressure on services like waste management and policing. Of course, as a seaside community we want to support and develop our tourism industry and that includes holiday accommodation. Hotels and BnBs are licensed and regulated: so too must short term holiday lets, so that they don’t crowd out long term private renting for local people and drive up the cost of rents in the area. Regulation can enable our tourism industry to thrive without depriving local people of homes and the amenities they need.
I have been working with a number of businesses and residents to support the campaign in Ramsgate to tackle the issue of empty shops and will continue to fight for change that will help revive our town centres. Labour will create a strong “community right to buy” to help address this issue, and reform business rates, reducing the pressure on small firms and shifting the burden onto the online giants. But we also need to feel safe in our town centres and that requires more police too. Labour will hire 13,000 more police and PCSOs, to help keep our streets safe.
I am committed to being an MP for everyone, fighting for a year round economy in Thanet. That will require a modern regionally based industrial strategy, building on our strengths here: our environment, our heritage and our people. I will support small businesses, establish a New Deal for Working People that sees the end of exploitative zero hours contracts and reform apprenticeships.
NHS – Thanet has a severe shortage of dentists and there are not enough GPs, getting an appointment is problematic.
There is also desperate need for improved mental health services, both adult and child. What are your views on this?
Thanet is effectively a dentistry desert. Our survey indicated only one surgery in the whole of Thanet takes children as NHS patients.
The problem with GP access here is long standing and has definitely got worse in the last ten years or so according to residents, and nationally we have lost 4,500 GPs over the last decade. This is a chronic problem in many coastal communities and I will work with other MPs from similar areas to tackle the issues we face with healthcare and health outcomes.
We’ll reduce pressure on GPs and emergency care by recruiting thousands of mental health staff to give more people access to treatment before they reach crisis, and we will end the shortage of health visitors so parents can get advice on their child’s health without having to use these routes into the NHS when they don’t need to. And we’ll free up beds, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and tackle delayed discharges by doubling the number of district nurses and improving pay, terms and conditions for care workers to give vulnerable patients more support and rehabilitation at home.
Labour will create an open-access mental health hub for children and young people in every community. We will also introduce professional support in every secondary school and bring in the first ever long-term, whole-Government plan to improve outcomes for people with mental health needs.
Labour will double the number of medical school places, so we are training the doctors and nurses we need, ensure that people can see a doctor when they need to, and reform the dentists’ contract which deters many from taking on NHS patients.
If we really want an improved NHS it will mean change, including shifting to a preventative approach, tackling health problems at source especially those caused by poor housing and poor employment and job prospects. All of these affect our health in Thanet.
We will establish a National Care Service, take on a decade long commitment to reform social care and support unpaid carers.
Youth services: There has been a loss of funding for some youth services (such as Pie Factory and The Pavilion in Thanet). What are your views on provision of youth services and how this should be done?
The importance of Pie Factory and the Pavilion in young people’s lives here in Thanet is huge, and they are not the only ones so loved by their users. Many young people have told me how their lives have been turned round and enhanced by having safe places for them to try new things, meet their friends and share experiences in a supportive environment outside of school. They are invaluable for the young people, their families and the wider community, broadening horizons, offering new opportunities and keeping people safe and out of trouble. The cuts inflicted on these services by Kent County Council are short sighted and will cause long term damage to the prospects of young people and to our community.
That is why Labour is committed to a partnership with local government to establish a fair funding formula for them to invest in front line services like Pie Factory and the Pavilion. We will develop a national network of Young Futures hubs to bring local services together, deliver support for teenagers at risk of being drawn into crime or facing mental health challenges and, where appropriate, deliver universal youth provision.
Manston airport – the DCO is now confirmed and it appears there will be no further legal appeals. What is your view of the airport/cargo hub scheme and what involvement , if any, will you have with the scheme going forward?
I am aware that the issue of Manston Airport is a divisive one locally and I have heard both sides on doorsteps. The pros and antis have developed a dialogue of the deaf and want a champion for their campaign – I don’t think that is the role of an MP, especially since now the consent has been granted and it is up to the developers to make their scheme work.
I will press all decision-makers to enforce the highest environmental standards on development at Manston, in order to protect the health and wellbeing of our East Kent communities. I will also be considering the development of Manston within the context of broader economic regeneration in our community.
My focus is on how we create well-paid, long-term jobs, support existing local businesses, revive our East Kent economy and offer good future prospects for our young people. Sadly, that is not where the current debate on Manston ends up. I look forward to being able to shape the overall economic regeneration of Thanet if I am elected.
Asylum – what are your policies on asylum and small boat crossings?
There are two questions that need answering when it comes to migration: do we need them or do they need us? Some people are fleeing terrible situations and there are no safe routes for them. Others may be able to fill gaps in our workforce but that needs to happen in a planned and sensible manner, not via who can afford to pay for and survive a dangerous passage. We need to speed up the process of their claims and crack down on those who profit from this illegal trade. Labour’s fully costed five-point plan to reform the asylum system includes;
- A serious crackdown on criminal smuggler gangs, through a new Cross-Border Police Unit and deeper security cooperation with Europe
- Ending hotel use, clear the Tory asylum backlog, and speed up returns to safe countries 3.Reforming resettlement routes to stop people being exploited by gangs
- A new agreement with France and other countries on returns and family reunion
- Tackling the humanitarian crises at source helping refugees in their region Labour will set up a 1,000 strong. Returns and Enforcement Unit to ensure failed asylum seekers and others with no right to be here are removed.
We will publish responses from the East Thanet and the Herne Bay and Sandwich candidates as we receive them.
