Being elected as a member of parliament is a great privilege and as your Labour candidate I take that very seriously.

As an MP I would have two fundamental responsibilities, the first being accountable to the electors of North Herefordshire regardless of whether you supported me or not. My job is to represent the interests of constituents.

The second responsibility is to the party that I represent because being elected as a Labour MP you would expect me to support a Labour government. However, where there is a conflict which I believe is detrimental to my constituents I would be independently minded to say so.

As a town councillor in Bromyard and also being involved in charity work and chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as being a planning consultant, I deal with a broad range of issues affecting a cross section of society on a daily basis.

On national issues which of course affect you locally I am deeply concerned by the cuts in public services that have impacted peoples everyday lives and if the present government is returned that will continue.

The Tory or May manifesto was unveiled just a few days ago and already as I write this it is unravelling by the hour and this is supposed to be from a strong and stable leader.

I am appalled by proposals that seek to set generation against generation at a time when the country is so divided desperately needs to come together.