Meet your candidates for the upcoming General Election.
As the General Election approaches, we have collated a list of your candidates for the Paisley and Renfrewshire North seat.
Voting will take place from 7am to 10pm on July 4 and the people of this constituency are being given a chance to choose who will represent them in the UK parliament.
Alison Taylor - Scottish Labour Party
Alison Taylor, Scottish Labour Candidate (Image: Supplied)
Alison is your Labour candidate this election and says she wants to manage a better transition to net zero, investment in town centres, public transport and infrastructure.
Having been a charted surveyor for 30 years, Alison says she is “rooted in the community” and wants to bring her leadership, life experiences and team-building skills to the role.
She said: “I am rooted in this community. In 2017, I helped campaign against the closure of the Children’s Ward at the RAH – something that was important to me personally as a mum.
“If elected as your MP, I will be working as part of a Labour government, not sitting on the sidelines in protest. A government that will improve our public services, investing £135 million more into the NHS in Scotland, by closing down tax loopholes.
“We need to rebuild our county together. Labour will deliver opportunities for all by growing the economy and creating a new green energy company headquartered here in Scotland creating jobs and bringing down energy bills.”
Andrew Scott - Reform UK
Andrew Scott, Reform UK candidate (Image: Supplied) Andrew will be running for MP as part of the Reform UK party. He wants to tackle issues such as income tax, reforming the NHS and scrapping net zero.
Andrew cared for his nana at the end of her days and says working as a carer means he knows how urgent it is to have a working health service.
"I am standing for Reform because they are the only party that will help ordinary working people. By raising the tax threshold to £20,000 we will raise seven million people out of income tax and make it worthwhile for about two million in the benefits gap to return to work. Scrapping net zero will save everyone at least £600 on their energy bills and pay for income tax cuts.
"To retain healthcare and social care staff, we will have three-year basic tax rate holiday. To pay for this we will stop the banks charging us interest on the money the Bank of England printed to pay for lockdown. We bailed these banks out in 2008 and they have a cheek charging us Quantitative Easing costs."
David McGonigle - Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party David McGonigle, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party candidate (Image: Supplied) David is your Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party candidate. He has been a councillor for two years and says he is “delighted” to have been selected by the party to run for MP.
David has worked and lived in the constituency, and he wants to “focus on the real priorities” and be a strong voice at Westminster to fight for investment, good jobs and new opportunities in Paisley and Renfrewshire North.
He said: "I am already enjoying speaking to voters and listening to them about their priorities.
"John Swinney has made it clear that he will continue to prioritise his party's push to break up the United Kingdom, rather than the real challenges facing people in Paisley and Renfrewshire North.
"I want to see action to reduce NHS waiting times, to restore Scotland's schools to their previous world-leading standards and for our councils to get a fair funding deal to protect local services.”
Gavin Newlands - Scottish National Party (SNP)
Gavin Newlands, Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate (Image: Supplied)
The Scottish National Parties candidate for Paisley and Renfrewshire North is Gavin Newlands.
Up for re-election Gavin has served the constituency for nine years and says he has been proud to stand up at Westminster for people across the community.
He said: “I want to continue that work and continue the campaigning I’ve done on issues like the despicable fire and rehire tactics used by unscrupulous employers, more action tackling violence against women and girls, a fairer deal for football fans, to continue bringing jobs and investment to Renfrewshire.
“In those nine years I’ve held over 1,000 advice surgeries – more than any MP in the UK, helped constituents – regardless of their politics - with over 30,000 cases, and spoken over 1,500 times in Parliament. I’ve been an advocate for our communities in the corridors of power at a time when others have been sat on their hands and been silent."
Grant Toghill - Liberal Democrats
Grant Toghill, Liberal Democrat candidate (Image: Supplied)
Your Liberal Democrat candidate is Grant who says “people have had enough and it’s time for change".
Grant wants to focus on issues such as GP appointments, tackling climate change and supporting schools and businesses. He also wants to fix the “broken relationship with Europe".
He said: “There was a time you could see your GP at the first time of asking and your dentist still offered NHS care, Scottish education was amongst the best in the world and all the ferries worked. It was so much easier to rent somewhere to live or to buy your first home, our economy was growing, and business thrived.
“We’ll reduce your bills and tackle climate change by rolling out a national insulation programme, and we’ll get the government-owned water company to clean up its act and stop filling our rivers and our beaches with sewage. It’s time for change.”
Jen Bell - Scottish Green Party
Jen Bell, Scottish Green candidate (Image: Supplied) Jen Bell will be standing as your Scottish Green Party candidate.
Over the past 10 years, Jen has been an LGBT youth activist, community kitchen manager, shop steward representing retail workers and now a practising educator through the University of the West of Scotland.
She said: “It would be the honour of my life to serve the community as your Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire North.
“While the SNP and Labour bend the knee to oil and gas, stoke division and dangerous culture wars, I will stand alongside our workers and communities fighting the climate crisis and the cost of living crisis at every opportunity.
“We can build independent, resilient local communities that are protected against extreme weather, investing in renewables and training the green jobs of the future. We can save our world and make it worth living in, compassionate and inclusive of all.”
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