Meet the candidates standing to be your MP in the South Holland and the Deepings constituency

Here the candidates standing for the South Holland and the Deepings constituency set out why you should vote for them in the General Election on July 4.

Each candidate was offered the chance to provide 250 words.

Rhys Baker - Green Party

Rhys Baker, your Green Party candidate for South Holland and The Deepings, brings a wealth of experience in education and local governance. At 36, he has focused his career on advocating for disadvantaged students and students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. His recent transition from a Special Educational Needs Coordinator role at a grammar school to a more hands-on teaching approach is a testament to his dedication to inclusive and accessible education.

As a local councillor and cabinet member for Waste and Environment at South Kesteven District Council, Rhys has led cost-saving initiatives such as installing LED streetlights, energy-efficiency upgrades in leisure centres, and advanced recycling programs. He is a staunch advocate for residents, addressing housing concerns and successfully contesting environmentally detrimental projects.

Rhys enjoys relaxing with his wife and two children in his spare time, volunteering at his local church, and keeping fit with ballet, powerlifting and swimming programme.

Rhys’s campaign prioritises reopening the Deepings leisure centre, resisting large solar farms and intrusive electricity infrastructure, and revising policies to secure the economic stability of our horticultural sector. On a national scale, he champions full NHS funding, a higher minimum wage, the abolition of the two-child benefit cap, and robust action on environmental and housing challenges. Rhys envisions a community where healthcare is accessible, schools excel, and the local economy is strong. He is a candidate who will never have to choose between his constituents and the party whip.

Vote Rhys Baker for Real Hope and Real Change.

Jack Braginton - Liberal Democrat

The Conservative Party have held this seat for longer than I have been alive, yet in all that time I have never known such vocal discontent as I hear now. And I hear it everywhere, in every corner of our constituency. It all feels broken. Huge NHS waiting lists, a cost of living crisis, raw sewage illegally dumped in our rivers and waterways. There are more children in poverty in South Holland and the Deepings now than there were five years ago. On that heartbreaking record alone, it is clear to me that the Conservative Party have betrayed our trust and are not fit to continue representing our communities.

The question I hear from so many constituents is: “who else is there?” The Conservative Party have, by their own admission, given up. The Labour Party have no interest in rural communities like ours. Reform UK offers no meaningful solutions to the systemic causes of these problems. It is only the Liberal Democrats who will stand up for our rural communities, and prevent us from being left further behind by the Westminster Establishment.

We have a plan. To reverse Conservative tax cuts for the big banks, to fund an overhaul of the health and social care system for communities like ours. To get that waiting list down, people back to work, and our local economy growing again. As your MP, I will never prioritise the rich and powerful of London over you. My duty is to you, no exceptions, no excuses.

Sir John Hayes - Conservative

For over 25 years here in South and Holland and The Deepings I have taken up countless individual cases and championed numerous causes. From my first campaign with Angela Newton for the new Johnson Hospital, to now helping to secure more than £62 million of Conservative Government funding to boost South Holland, I always back local priorities.

This election is about who best represents local people. In my view politicians shouldn’t just turn up at elections – year-round work counts. Living locally, Susan, William, Edward and I use the same roads, shops and public services as those I’ve represented because we believe what’s good for you is good for us.

This election is also about who governs Britain. It’s a straightforward choice between a stable Conservative Government or the risk of Labour’s Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner. Voting for other candidates just helps Labour win.

For our area, the risk that the £62 million Government funding to replace the Castle Sports Centre, rejuvenate Spalding and repair local roads is all at risk if Labour favours its own priorities. Please vote for me to guarantee South Holland’s extra funding.

The Conservatives will cap immigration and end income tax for pensioners by guaranteeing the state pension is always below their tax-free threshold. Labour will stop plans to cut immigration and tax the state pension.

Humbled by the positive difference I have made to thousands of families, I respectfully ask for your vote to continue my work for you.

Paul Hilliar - Labour Party

Standing as the South Holland and the Deepings Labour candidate is the greatest honour of my life.

Born and raised in Spalding, and having lived in Surfleet and Weston Hills, I have a deep understanding of our community. Working on a local market stall and for an agriculture firm, I've seen firsthand the hard work and dedication of our people, yet many still struggle to make ends meet. This is why we need a Labour government. Our area is crying out for change, and I owe it to the people of South Holland to offer them a real choice.

In speaking with hundreds of voters over the past few weeks, I've heard your concerns and priorities. My commitments reflect what matters most to you.

My priorities for our area are:

- Protect community spaces: I will do all I can to protect and revive our precious spaces, such as the Deeping Leisure Centre.

- Support the Spalding Flower Parade: I will do all I can to ensure it survives and thrives once again.

- Revitalise high streets: By tackling antisocial behaviour and using community right-to-buy schemes for empty shops.

- Restore the NHS: Providing 40,000 more appointments weekly and a new Dentistry Rescue Plan.

- Back British farming: Reducing red tape and ensuring 50% of public sector food is British-made.

- Protect our environment: Introducing a land-use framework to balance food and energy production.

Together, we can create a brighter future for South Holland and the Deepings.

Mark Le Sage - Independent

I have lived in South Holland all my life, all three of my children have attended local schools, I am a proud father and grandfather. I have been working locally as a nurse for ten years and I have been a local councillor for the last 12 months.

Over 20 years I have mostly been a single parent, I understand the complexity of working and looking after a family. I already support families and single parents in South Holland and The Deepings through my charity work with Ella’s project.

I will:

- Help to reduce excessive Conservative NHS waiting lists

- Campaign for better access to GPs & dentists

- Insist money meant for South Holland and The Deepings doesn’t end up in Lincoln (Spalding relief road)

- Improve safety and anti-social behaviour in our towns

- Campaign for tighter control on immigration

- Do all I can to help with the Conservative cost of living crisis

- Fight against all disruptive and unnecessary quarries, solar farms and pylon projects

- Insist on better funding for district and county councils

- Only ever have one job

- Never put self interest before the residents of South Holland and the Deepings

As an Independent I can always act in the best interest of South Holland and The Deepings and not toe the party line.

I have always lived in the ward; your problems are the same as my problems, please don’t split the vote.

Vote for your local Independent candidate

Matthew Swainson - Reform Party

Having led local and national chapters of Round Table (young Rotarians) when I lived overseas, I understand the demands and satisfaction of public service.

I have never harboured any political ambitions, but I have become so dismayed with the state of politics and politicians in the UK lately that I could no longer stand by and watch as our country gets wrecked by career politicians, who gaily promise us the earth at election time, only to break those promises for the following five years.

I believe that government has become far too large in the UK, and that too often it seeks to control and dictate our lives, rather than securing the foundations like education, borders, healthcare, defence, and law and order, so the people can thrive in freedom.

At the same time, governments have consistently allowed large multinationals to generate enormous profits, while passing onto the taxpayer (you and me) the costs of underpaying their staff, polluting the environment, and all too often committing giant fraud (financial crisis, PPE scandal) which goes unpunished.

The country is in crisis. It is past time to stop listening to loud-mouthed self-publicists with their empty promises, appalling economic, social, and “scientific” ideas, and to return to reality – and the facts that we all knew ten minutes ago.

It is going to be a hard slog, but as Churchill said “if you are going through hell, keep going”. Will you join me in sending a message to Westminster: We are your masters!

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