Calder Valley candidates: who gets your vote?
THE RACE for the Calder Valley constituency is heating up.
On November 27, three out of the contituency’s four candidates went head to head at an evening-time education hustings at Elland’s Brooksbank School.
Organised by Calderdale Against School Cuts (CASC), the event - attended by Liberal Democrat Javed Bashir, Lahas bour’s Josh Fenton-Glynn, and The Liberal Party’s Richard Phillips - saw the candidates answer vital questions on plans for education in the Calder Valley.
This included topics on school spending, further education, national curriculum reform, keeping teachers in work, small schools, and the arts.
Conservative candidate Craig Whittaker did not attend the education hustings.
However, Mr Whittaker will hope for re-election as the constituency’s MP - a position he
held since first winning the seat in 2010.
Mr Whittaker, who received 26,790 votes in the 2017 General Election, beat current Labour candidate Josh Fenton-Glynn by a slender 609 votes; a tight deficit Labour will hope to overcome this time round.
However, it could be good news for the Conservative candidate after the Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage pulled all of his party’s candidates out of the running for constituencies held by Tory MPs.
Mr Fenton-Glynn’s campaign received a boost last month when the local Green Party announced it wasn’t standing a candidate, instead encouraging its members to vote Labour.
A surprise entry for the constituency was The Liberal Party, who have put their faith in candidate Richard Phillips to contest the seat.
Also on the ballot paper is Calder Valley resident Javed Bashir, who is standing for the Liberal Democrats.