We invited each candidate to supply up to 500 words on why they deserve your vote, optionally including a photograph and a link to an election address. We have published their submissions verbatim, no editorial changes have been made. Any errors are those of the candidate.
Party description: Labour Party
Jonathan has lived in Guestling with his wife, Elaine, for the past 11 years and has lived in the Hastings and Rye area for 35 years.
Jonathan is a retired nurse and worked at the Royal East Sussex Hospital prior to transferring to the Conquest Hospital in 1992.
As Secretary of UNISON Hastings & Eastbourne Healthcare Branch, he has supported staff and campaigned to protect the NHS services locally.
As Secretary of Hastings & District Trades Union Council, Jonathan liaises with other unions in the area, coordinating with campaigns and promoting equality.
Jonathan, like other Labour Candidates across Rother, has made 5 pledges to residents:
- Fight to Protect Public Services£6M has been cut from Central Government General grants to Rother District Council (RDC) since 2011. There is a need to find innovative ways of generating income by the use of the Public Works Loan Board and other grants.
“I will continue to campaign to protect public services by calling for their proper funding. I have done so for years and from my time working in the public sector I have first hand experience in understanding the impact of these cuts.” - Make a Fairer Rother District CouncilLabour councillors will push to review the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTR), to introduce a 100% CTR for the 2165 poorest Rother households. The cost of this to RDC is £61K, which would be partly offset by a reduction in collection costs.
“It is a matter of fairness and priorities. We want to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. There are pockets of hidden poverty in Rother both within the villages and in Rye itself .” - Improve Democracy and AccountabilityThe needs of Rye and Winchelsea have often been left behind at Rother, for example over £500K per year is provided by RDC for the De La Warr Pavilion.
“I will make sure that Rye & Winchelsea gets its voice at RDC to campaign for resources to be relocated to this part of Rother.” - Tackle the Housing CrisisRDC has not hit its house building targets. To enable our towns to thrive, Labour will ensure that the provision of affordable housing is at the forefront of any developments, whilst at the same time respecting the area.
“There is a desperate need for affordable housing within areas such as Rye and Winchelsea. The best way is by locally led housing developments for people with links to the area, such as with the Icklesham Parish Community Land Trust development.” - Protect our Heritage and Environment“Rye & Winchelsea are wonderful historic towns, but with that, comes a responsibility to protect them for the future. Not only through responsible tourism, we also need to play our part in combating the greatest threat to our planet – Climate Change, by supporting all forms of renewable energy.”
Promoted by Eileen Masters, on behalf of Jonathan Lee both at Hastings & Rye Labour Party, 84 Bohemia Road, St Leonards on Sea, TN37 6RN.
Click here to download the supplied election address.
Image Credits: Jonathan Lee .