Vote for me to stay in the EU, says Corby candidate Chris

Corby and East Northants remainers can only help scrap Brexit by giving him their vote, says Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Stanbra.
Liberal Democrat Chris Stanbra (second from left) on the campaign trail with supporters.Liberal Democrat Chris Stanbra (second from left) on the campaign trail with supporters.
Liberal Democrat Chris Stanbra (second from left) on the campaign trail with supporters.

Staying in the European Union is the candidate’s number one priority this election although he acknowledges it will be difficult to take what has always been a Labour or Conservative seat.

The father-of-two, who has been a local councillor for many years, said the recent national polls that say his party is falling behind are out of step with what he is finding.

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He said: “That is not what I’m feeling. In the places where we are targeting we are doing really well.

“In other places there will be tactical voting going on and we are finding it hard to cut through that. The main thing for me is stopping Brexit. We must not leave the EU.

“If people in the Corby and East Northants constituency want to remain in the EU they should vote Liberal Democrat. We are the only party saying we would stop Brexit. The Labour party says it would negotiate a deal and then have a referendum. Why would a political party negotiate a deal ad then not campaign for it?

“On the doorstep people are very much engaged with the Brexit debate. The area has not changed to a remain area but some people in the area have definitely changed from leave to remain. My feeling is now there is a majority in the country for remain.”

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The EU situation aside, the candidate says climate change and housing are on his priority list. He put forward the recently accepted proposal to declare a climate emergency at the county council and says he will ensure the council sticks to its pledge.

He said: “Corby needs more council housing – we need an absolute step change in that and councils need to lead on this. Councils need to put up the money and develop on where the land is available.”

He added: “There is not a unifying plan for attracting employers to Corby and I think that is something the new unitary should take up. We need to ensure that there are the right jobs there for young people who have been to university and want a job to come to. We need more office jobs and more service jobs.”

The accountant, who has lived in the town since 1980, is also keen for a train service north of the town.

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He said: “These are the things employers will look to when considering Corby as a place for relocation – connectivity. We need a service to places such as Leeds and Manchester.”

Another concern is the waste plant in Shelton Road, Corby, that was recently approved and he says if elected he will lobby against the development.

And, about crime, he thinks the move to reduce Police Community Support Officers in the town was a wrong one.

He said: “A huge error was made. Up to about 2010 there were plenty of neighbourhood wardens and PCSOs who were visible and knew what was going on in the communities, therefore crime went down. Because it went down people mistakenly decided they were not needed anymore. I sincerely hope we will see an increase in both as they do make a difference.”

He will be standing against just two other candidates – the Conservative Tom Pursglove and Labour’s Beth Miller in the election. This is the narrowest choice in the constituency for 32 years.