Lib Dem candidate outlines his priorities
by Hayley Robinson
Delighted – that is how Keith Nevols
says he feels about being selected by the local Liberal Democrat
party to fight for the Sittingbourne and Sheppey seat at the
General Election.
The local government manager from
Milton Regis was the only candidate to apply for the job, but it
wasn’t a dead cert that he would get it.
Members still had to vote on
whether they wanted him to represent the party. Had they not chosen
him they would have had to have gone back to the drawing board.
But after giving a presentation and
being questioned by members during a meeting held in Sittingbourne,
Mr Nevols’ selection was approved.
It will be a challenge for him as
he’s never been a councillor. However, he did stand for the Swale
Central ward in the county elections last June.
Mr Nevols, of Trinity Road, said:
"I feel very excited about it and I’m looking forward to getting
the campaign going and getting our message out to the people as I
think we’ve got some attractive policies to offer.
"The Liberal Democrats will cut
taxes to stimulate the local and national economy and we stand for
an open and transparent society, where the people rule the
politicians, instead of the other way round.
"It’s the first time I have run for
Parliament and I’ve not been a councillor before. In fact, I only
moved to the area six years ago but I have been involved with
politics in one way or another since the 1980s."
If chosen as the new MP for
Sittingbourne and Sheppey there are a couple of local issues he
wants to tackle straight away.
He said: "One is the high prices
commuters are having to pay now the high-speed train has been
introduced.
"I think we should be encouraging
more freight on the railway and giving customers a break by
freezing or reducing fares.
"There are also a lot of planning
applications for waste incinerators in the area which we will be
keeping an eye on.
"Then there’s the regeneration
plans for Sittingbourne. We need to bring in some big names and
there’s not much to do in the evening. I’m aware of the plans to
transform the old town cinema into a nightclub and I think it’s a
good idea but I’m not sure if it is the right location for it."
If you would like to contact Keith,
email him at keithnevols@hotmail.com or join his Facebook group
"Keith Nevols – Liberal Democrat candidate - Sittingbourne &
Sheppey".
Thursday, January 28 2010