ELECTION 24: Make you mind up time in Boston and Skegness constituency

It’s 42 days since Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the General Election and battle buses will be out for the final time today (Wednesday) before voters go to the polls on July 4.

Amidst all the political drama nationwide and predictions of a massive win for Labour, we have seen our own campaign hit the national headlines.

High profile Reform candidate Richard Tice, while visibly out and about in the constituency, brought in the big guns namely party leader Nigel Farage – who paid two visits to the area during the campaign, including one occasion during the controversy over a canvasser’s racist slurs – and Wnn Widdecombe.

Matt Warman on the other hand, who has held the Conservative seat for nine years, is hoping his record, including his campaign against pylons that threaten the county, will win him a fourth term and the opportunity to remain the constituents’ ‘champion’. He has been seen out for pub politics and coffee mornings.

Labour’s Alex Fawbert is the only woman standing and has avoided local hustings, claiming voters would prefer to see candidates out and about rather than sniping at each other on stage. But the Army veteran has drawn her battle lines in recent days in the media and agreed to outline her priorities in our video.

Other candidates have simply been knocking on doors hoping they can win voters with promises of change and alternatives to mainstream politics.

If you are still struggling to make up your mind, we gave the candidates a final chance to outline their priorities after six weeks talking to constituents and learning more about their concerns. See the video with this article to hear what they have to say.

Here are the candidates (in no particular order):

​Matt Warman – Conservatives

• Cutting NHS waiting times with a new age
• Fighting the plan for pylons
• Lowering taxes to help your household

Matthew Robert Warman is a Conservative Party politician and former journalist who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Boston and Skegness since 2015. He has served as Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from July to September 2022. Warman was an Assistant Government Whip from April 2019 to July 2019. He served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital Infrastructure from July 2019 to September 2021. He says: “It has been a privilege to serve Boston and Skegness as Member of Parliament for the last nine years. I’ve been glad to help over ten thousand individual constituents with issues, and work with partners to attract unprecedented millions of pounds in funding to our area. As your Conservative Parliamentary candidate I’ll be making the case for nationally sticking with the plan that’s working – delivering an improving economy, protecting pensioners, strengthening our borders and defence and ensuring opportunities for our young people. Locally, I’ll be asking you to return me as your MP to continue the battle against pylon pollution across our Lincolnshire landscapes and fight for food security. I’ll always fight for you and be your local champion in Westminster.”

Richard Tice – Reform

• Make work pay
• Freeze immigration
• Stop the boats
• Scrap net zero – fight pylons
• Zero waiting lists

Richard James Sunley Tice is an English businessman and politician who has been chairman of Reform UK since 2024, previously serving in the role from 2019 to 2021. He became the leader of Reform UK in March 2021, and stood down as leader in May 2024 in line with Nigel Farage’s much publicised return. Mr Tice is now the Party’s chairman. He says: "I think it would be fantastic for this great constituency to have a proper national voice in Westminster standing up for the residents – and from everything I’m hearing that has not been the case.” On immigration he says: "We have had mass immigration that’s putting huge pressure on housing rents that have gone up 20 per cent, pressure on ambulance delays, A&E waiting times, hospital waiting lists. It’s just not fair, particularly for young people. Mass immigration depresses wages – again particularly unfair on young people. It’s the residents who pay for it. It’s just unfair – it destroys jobs when hotels are taken over. I’ve seen it here and in many other towns – and I’m afraid it leads to an increase in crime. I’m just telling it as it is because the residents of this constituency in Boston and Skegness know what’s going on. What we need is smart immigration by freezing immigration, welcoming essential skills and high qualifications.”

​Richard Lloyd – Liberal Democrat

• Dental healthcare rescue plan
• NHS
• Sewage
• Cost of living
• Farming

"'During my chats with people in the Boston & Skegness constituency, I have been asked a number of interesting questions like "why should I vote Green?". "isn't voting Green a wasted vote?" and 'isn't the Green Party too small to make a difference?" In response to these concerns, I have pointed out that I have witnessed a great deal of sympathy for green politics, that the Green Party is stronger than it ever has been in terms of parliamentary candidates, and that it appears to be having a real impact both locally and nationally. I am just an average chap who lives in the constituency and I am proud to stand as the Green parliamentary candidate here. This is a chance for the people of Boston & Skegness to reject the squabbling of the established parties, and to vote for real hope, real change, and a fairer, greener, future.”

​David Dickason – English Democrats

• Create scrutiny panel to hold him to account
• Represent constituents and businesses
• Preserve English culture and traditions

“Promises are made by candidates to secure votes and then ignored,” says English Democrats candidate David Dickason. “I pledge that if elected, I will create a scrutiny panel of volunteers from across the constituency to hold me accountable as a Member of Parliament.”Mr Dickason says the panel will consist of a wide representation of residents, farmers, and other businesses: “I pledge to fight to increase pensioners tax allowances and to ensure the State pension is exempt from tax, I will vote against any move to increase retirement age any further. Our towns are in a spiral of decline, looking more like a different country every day. I will fight against this to ensure these areas are recognisable as being in England. Power lines and pylons are currently an issue. It appears that the government has signed off on huge pylons to be sited across the Lincolnshire countryside. These should be underground cables and not the cheapest option, which is detrimental to Lincolnshire. I support the farmers and local businesses and will fight for a fair deal for them.” Mr Dickason is a retired senior police officer who relocated to Lincolnshire seven years ago, living in the Boston and Skegness constituency.

​Mike Gilbert – Blue Revolution

• Vote for political change

"Michael Gilbert Boston and Skegness like Britain in general is suffering from 40 years of a failed party political system. So much that has damaged our lives has issues been created and promoted by Westminster and its political parties. War with Iraq, Student loans, council house sales, housing bubbles and a complete over reliance on a kind of debt that only makes the already rich even richer. This nonsensical roundabout can only be stopped by clipping the wings of all political parties and electing instead people from the local constituency who have knowledge of the area and 'skin in the game'. It will take time before the mass of the general public realise we need a new and more revolutionary political settlement that stops politicians behaving as though we are still living in the 18th century, and they can do what they like, towards a system where they represent us and only us, and they have to listen to our legitimate concerns. We have started this revolution in 2024.”

​Alex Fawbert – Labour

• Tackle NHS appointments, dentists and cancer wait lists
• Save high streets, stop ASB and bring business back
• GB energy, environmnet, clean power, offshore infrstructure, skilled jobs and clean beaches
• Schools, breakfast clubs, apprenticeships, mental health support
• Affordable/ social housing

Alex Fawbert is Labour candidate for Boston and Skegness. An army veteran and former teacher at Haven High School, she was born in the Fenside area of the town. A committed member of the Labour Party and a graduate of the Jo Cox Leadership Programme, Alex wanted to stand in Boston and Skegness because she felt the area had been left behind. She says: “Boston and Skegness have some of the highest levels of deprivation in Britain, below average income and some of the lowest levels of home ownership. Our public services are broken, local public transport is severely lacking and skilled jobs are few and far between. I love this area, it’s in my blood, generations of my family have lived here, and I want to give something back. As well as supporting the Labour Party’s pledges regarding NHS appointments, dentists and cancer wait times, saving High Streets, GB Energy, schools and building affordable housing, Alex also wants to address local issues like shortages of buses that prevent people from getting to work or school and hospital appointments. She wants to tackle rough sleeping in the area and work with local stakeholders to improve opportunities for young people.

​Chris Moore – Green Party

• Defend the NHS
• Affordable homes
• Immediate ceasfire in Israel and Gaze
• Protect seas and rivers
• Defend nature and tackle climate emergency

“I am Chris Moore, 67, a retired teacher with two adult children and four grandchildren. My interests include music, sport and writing. I volunteer as a radio presenter for Pilgrim Hospital radio, and have previous experience of fronting shows for the town’s community radio station. I volunteer as a reader for ‘The Talking Newspaper’ here in Boston and serve as a Parish Councillor for Fishtoft. I am just an average guy with an interest in politics: nothing more, nothing less. Having lived in Boston for many years, I know the local issues that everyone is affected by: cost of living concerns, anti-social behaviour, getting a GP appointment, pot-holes, housing, inequalities and tensions in both Boston and Skegness. I want to do something about them; not from some theoretical, intellectual perspective, but in a straightforward, practical way.

Also, nationally, we are suffering from a climate emergency: This needs addressing too. I believe in a fairer, green society. I would like to see the minimum wage increased to £15 and benefits increased, privatised utilities returned to public ownership, a carbon tax introduced for the main polluters, the voting age reduced to sixteen and a higher level of taxation placed on multi-millionaires and billionaires.”

Polling stations open at 7am until 10pm. For one near you visit here.