The parliamentary seat of Tonbridge is seeing a hard fought battle for votes, in sharp contrast to the last General Election five years ago when the Conservatives dominated and took a 64% share of votes.

A poll this week from Electoral Calculus suggests that the Conservative vote share in Tonbridge could fall to just 32%. Both the Green Party and Reform UK campaigns are benefiting from having well-known candidates who live and work in the area.

An election leaflet delivered today from the Conservative Tom Tugendhat, who was the MP until the election was called, concluded: “Thursday’s election will be very close and nobody knows what will happen.”

In an interview for West Kent Radio and Southborough News, the Green Party candidate, Anna Cope, told me the Greens were now the opposition to the Conservatives in the constituency, based on local voting patterns.

Anna Cope (pictured below) said: “There has been a real momentum towards the Green Party in recent years.  In 2019, there were no Green councillors and we now actually have 11 – stretching from Tonbridge itself all the way up to New Ash Green, which is a real heartland for the Greens.”

Anna Cope says she has a real feeling for what local people want, as she lives locally, has been elected to the Borough Council twice and teaches at a local school.

Anna Cope argues that the Green Party’s policies are “working towards a fairer, greener planet.” Their plans include nationalisation of the water industry, more cycle lanes, a rejection of Gatwick expansion and a reversal of benefit cuts.

The Green manifesto envisages an extra £250bn a year of public spending – that’s a 20% increase on current levels – with £80bn a year of extra borrowing. But Anna Cope denies that the plans are too radical for many voters, insisting instead that the Greens are the only party being honest with voters about the sums required to improve public services and the environment.

Her full interview is available to watch here:

Meanwhile, the Conservative candidate Tom Tugendhat argues that his recent local campaigns have successfully delivered for Tonbridge residents.

Those campaigns include restoring a Post Office in Tonbridge High Street, a new Edenbridge medical centre, better flood protection and persuading Sainsbury to invest £20 million reopening the space occupied formerly by the Tonbridge Beales shop.

Tom Tugendhat (pictured below) told me: “As a former soldier, I know how important it is to deliver.  And having had the privilege to serve this community for nine years, there are a huge number of things that we’ve achieved together. There’s a lot more to do.”

On national issues Tom Tugendhat says the Conservative manifesto plan for £17bn of tax cuts is justified by recent economic growth, despite the UK government’s huge £ 2.7 trillion national debt.

He argues that Labour’s plan to tax private school fees and impose business rates on private schools is “bad for everybody in the educational system”, because he says it will make fees unaffordable for some parents and so add to pressure on state school places.  He concludes: “It is not going to save any money, it is going to cost money (for the government).”

On climate change, Tom Tugendhat says the government has already invested hugely in wind and solar power. And he argues that nuclear power – which is rejected by the Green Party and was delayed by the Lib Dems – is vital for cutting carbon emissions. He also wants to stop Gatwick’s new runway plans.

Tom Tugendhat says: “A vote for anybody else except me is going to effectively used as an endorsement for Labour, because it will just increase the majority they are trying to achieve.” Watch Tom Tugendhat’s 20 minute interview here:

The Reform UK candidate, Teresa Hansford, told West Kent Radio reporter Julia Neal about her local credentials.  Teresa Hansford has had a business in Tonbridge for the last 12 years and has lived in the town for 22 years.

The Reform UK candidate said: “I am absolutely passionate about Tonbridge. I have always been active in the local community. I love the area and I love the people and I just basically love England.”

Teresa Hansford argues that personal taxes should be cut and she believes Brexit hasn’t been properly implemented. She also wants no more people coming into the UK than leaving it for a period, arguing: “immigration is basically good, but we have got to get a hold on it.”

On local issues she says social housing should be run by companies that are more local, while she says  local public transport is too disjointed and expensive and there aren’t enough cycle lanes. More from Teresa Hansford here:

The Liberal Democrat candidate in Tonbridge is John Woollcombe. He is a qualified barrister who says he would bring skills of rigour and competence to being the town’s MP.

John Woollcombe warns that both the Conservatives and Labour have what he called “extreme” elements in their wings.

He pointed to the “disastrous right wing” Liz Truss mini-budget and argued that “we could see the same with Labour because Kier Starmer is speaking a very different language from the language he spoke when he was trying to appease Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters. At any point we could be threatened by those elements.”

John Woollcombe (pictured below) says the Lib Dem manifesto: “is about providing the public services that people need and the care and social care – and improving the standard of living.” He says the Lib Dems would hire more GPs and make conditions better for those doctors already working in the NHS.

John Woollcombe says he is concerned by increased noise from Gatwick expansion, but doesn’t rule out supporting a new runway. He told us: “It is not about opposing it. It is about the timing of it and about exactly how it is going to be implemented and whether there are any benefits for local communities.”

John Woollcombe told us the Lib Dems wanted to “rebuild our relationship with Europe, align professional standards and rejoin the Erasmus scheme (for students in the EU).”

He says the immigration issue has been put forward as a “distraction” from the ageing population that is putting increased pressure on the health system. To understand more about John Woollcombe’s views watch here:

West Kent Radio next spoke to the SDP candidate, Ian Grattidge, who told us he was a career accountant – mainly in the civil service – and has also worked in the charity sector. The SDP promises to nationalise the railways and utility companies. The party also wants to abandon Carbon emission reduction targets. Ian Grattidge was neutral on Gatwick expansion plans.

Also standing in Tonbridge is the Labour candidate, Lewis Bailey, and the representative of the Independent Alliance (Kent), Tim Shaw.  Neither Labour or the Independent Alliance (Kent) accepted opportunities to be interviewed for West Kent Radio.

The West Kent Radio website has a special Election page allowing you to listen to in depth interviews with most of the candidates:

https://www.westkentradio.co.uk/news/election-24/

The radio page includes a recording of students from the Judd School with 5 minutes of their thoughts on the main election issues.

For lovers of podcasts, you can also listen to candidates in the Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells constituencies by listening to the latest episode of the podcast, WEST KENT TALKING, which is available on Apple podcasts and other podcast apps.

The three main political parties in Tunbridge Wells all say they have a good chance of winning the seat, despite the fact that the constituency has been held by the Conservatives since it was formed in 1974.

The Liberal Democrats have focused sizable resources on Tunbridge Wells as a key target seat, having just won overall control of the Borough Council.

The party selected Mike Martin (pictured below) as their new candidate nearly two years ago and he says he spoke to 5,600 local residents before the campaign even started.

Mike Martin says his skills are “leadership” and “bringing organisations and communities together”. He is a former army officer, led a charity and has written various books.

But in recent weeks he has been criticised by his opponents for failing to appear with the other candidates to answer public questioning at local hustings events.

Mike Martin missed the Soroptimists women’s group hustings event (attended by 100 voters), the hospitality hustings (60 attending) and also decided to leave the other five parliamentary candidates to attend the Tunbridge Wells Church Hustings (see below).

A Lib Dem spokesman said: “Because this was an unexpected “snap” election, with very little time until polling day, Mike Martin and his team had had to make careful choices about how to prioritise his time, including holding as many one to one discussions as possible with local residents on their doorsteps.”

The spokesmen pointed to Mike’s appearance instead on a BBC Radio Kent half-hour programme on June 21st where candidates answered questions chosen by the BBC from those submitted by the public.

Mike also agreed to a 20 minute interview with me for the community station West Kent Radio, which is available here to watch on YouTube.

Speaking in that interview, Mike Martin said he wanted to get the town centre “sorted out”, with new housing paired with infrastructure. The Lib Dems are pledging 8,000 more GPs and want a guarantee that for urgent cases a GP appointment will happen within 24 hours.

On the rapidly rising UK population, Mike Martin said: “We don’t have targets on immigration. We are focused on training and paying our workforce properly, which naturally will bring down the levels of people that come into the country”.

On climate emissions, Mike Martin proposes insulating more homes and halting new North Sea oil and gas projects. He opposes Gatwick’s planned expansion – but he also surprisingly wants to cut the cost of flying for most people.

The Lib Dems say that “frequent flyers” (who take more than two return flights a year) will be punished with extra taxes, but Air Passenger Duty should be abolished for people taking one or two return flights a year, arguing “the average family takes two return flights a year …people who work very hard should be able to take holidays”.

He opposes Labour’s tax on private school fees and there would be no new housing on the Green Belt.

The Labour candidate is Hugo Pound (above), who has lived in the town for 32 years. He says he has good listening skills, being a psychologist by training.

Hugo Pound is a former governor of Judd School and Skinners Kent Academy. He has been a Borough Councillor for 5 years and has been the councillor in charge of planning for the past two years.

He dismisses the Liberal Democrats claim to be the main challenger to the Conservatives, pointing out that Labour came second to the Conservatives in both the 2015 and 2017 General Elections.

Hugo Pound says: “Small parties like the Lib Dems do well in local elections – and they typically don’t do well in General Elections. Here in Tunbridge Wells, the polls are suggesting that all three of the main parties are very close together.”

On the NHS, Hugo Pound says that Labour will be pragmatic, using the private sector to reduce the waiting lists in hospitals and moving more people out of hospitals into social care.

He admits that Labour’s new taxes on private school education have been “contentious” for some voters. Labour has promised that private schools will start paying business rates, while a 20% VAT tax will also be added to school fees.

Hugo Pound points out 93% of children attend state schools and he says that the state system needs extra funding and “that money has to come from somewhere”. He says if children are benefiting from “special needs” provision at a private school then the fees will not be liable to the VAT tax.

He said if any staff at private schools lose their jobs then “they will come into the state system – if they are dedicated to teaching, they will teach within the state system.” Hugo Pound’s full answers are here:

On climate emissions, Labour would – like the Lib Dems – halt new developments of North Sea oil and gas projects.

Hugo Pound rejects Gatwick expansion and also rejects the Lib Dem proposal to cut the taxes on air tickets paid by most people. He said the Lib Dem policy: “doesn’t make any sense…we need to reduce the amount of air traffic that we see in our skies…it is filthy.”

On planning, Hugo Pound says the widely reported idea that Labour will impose more house building on green fields is wrong. Instead he says: “there will be more consultation, more recognition of Neighbourhood Development Plans, more respect for the consultation process with residents.”

The Conservative Party had to act fast to choose a new candidate after Greg Clark (above) announced on 24th May that he had decided not to run again after 19 years as the town’s MP.

The Conservatives chose Neil Mahapatra (below) who believes his business experience would benefit investment in the town.

Mr Mahapatra has set up companies in fast-growing markets from electric vehicle charging to rural internet and medicinal cannabis.

He says he “loves” the constituency having been brought up near Maidstone and enjoyed watching Kent county cricket at Tunbridge Wells. His mother was a doctor at Pembury Hospital.

Despite the UK already having amassed £2.7 trillion of debt, the Conservative manifesto promises £17bn of new tax cuts.  Neil Mahapatra says the economy is now growing and that does leave room for tax cuts.

He thinks the NHS needs to improve efficiency by reducing tiers of management, rather than necessarily have even more funding. Spending on the NHS was increased from £150bn in 2010 to around £180bn a year currently. Neil Mahapatra’s full answers are here:

Neil Mahapatra explained that he believes that the Conservatives have “made huge strides” in improving standards of state education since they took power in 2010. He said the proportion of schools ranked good or outstanding has been lifted from 68% to 88%.

He opposes Labour’s new taxes on private schools, which he says will impose more stress on state schools as some parents pull their children out of the private education due to the increased fees.

Neil Mahapatra says he voted to remain in the EU but he now opposes the Liberal Democrats idea of working towards rejoining the EU single market with free movement of workers between the UK and EU.

He opposes Gatwick expansion plans but defends the continued exploitation of fossil fuels from the North Sea on the grounds that it makes us less dependent on fuel from Russia and the Middle East.

Neil Mahapatra says Labour are likely to win nationally, but says Tunbridge Wells needs him to be elected as a strong MP who is able to oppose Labour’s tax plans and push back against the ideas of the Liberal Democrat run Tunbridge Wells Borough council.

The Reform UK candidate in Tunbridge Wells is John Gager (above). He is an IT specialist who has lived in the constituency for 12 years.  He says legal and illegal immigration is “out of control” and he wants net immigration to be cut to zero.

John Gager highlights the other key Reform UK policies of personal tax cuts worth £59bn, “making work pay”, promoting small business and clearing NHS waiting lists within two years.

He also wants to end Net Zero climate targets (with more UK oil and gas production), to “remove destructive gender and woke ideologies from schools” and provide young people with help with student debts.

The Green Party candidate in Tunbridge Wells is John Hurst (pictured above).  He promises voters that his party’s programme would create “a greener, fairer country”.

In the party’s latest internet posting, John Hurst says: “We live in one of the richest countries on the planet, and yet nurses are using food banks, our children’s schools are crumbling, a roof over our heads is all too often unaffordable, and a hospital appointment or a dentist is like gold dust. Our promise to you is that all this can change”.

The Green Party programme involves a huge rise in public spending and an extra £ 170bn a year in personal taxation, hitting earners over £50,000pa and taxing more pension contributions.

The sixth Tunbridge Wells parliamentary candidate is an independent, Hassan Kassem (above).  He says he is interested in social justice. He promises “a vision of hope and a platform for change.”

Hassan Kassem’s website declares: “Over the last three years, I worked at a national charity, promoting a new kind of policymaking that centred on public participation. I will set up local citizens’ assemblies and forums to hear your concerns and ideas and involve you in creating the change we want to see”.

Hassan Kassem proposes a “Green New Deal” with nationalisation of energy, water, rail and mail. He wants more support for local entrepreners and British farmers, saying he is shocked that just 17% of fruit and 55% of vegetables consumed in the UK are grown here.

Another way of learning more about the candidates is to listen to the latest edition of the podcast WEST KENT TALKING, which is available on Apple podcasts and other podcast platforms.  You can hear interviews with most of the candidates in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.