
Runcorn and Helsby by-election candidates' minute manifestos
A by-election is taking place in the Cheshire constituency of Runcorn and Helsby on 1 May, following the resignation of the previous MP Mike Amesbury.In total, 15 people are standing to be the seat's next MP. We asked each candidate to send a minute-long video about why they were standing.You can see them each below in alphabetical order by candidate surname.
Catherine Blaiklock, English Democrats
Dan Clarke, Liberal Party
Chris Copeman, Green Party
Paul Duffy, Liberal Democrats
Peter Ford, Workers Party of Britain
Howling Laud Hope, The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
The Official Monster Raving Loony Party have been asked to provide a minute manifesto.
Sean Houlston, Conservatives
Jason Hughes, Volt UK
Alan McKie, independent
Graham Moore, English Constitution Party
Paul Murphy, Social Democratic Party
Sarah Pochin, Reform UK
Karen Shore, Labour
John Stevens, Rejoin EU
Michael Williams, Independent
Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Linda Reynolds alleges Mark Dreyfus had conflict of interest when he signed off on Brittany Higgins' $2.4m settlement
Linda Reynolds is suing the commonwealth over Brittany Higgins' $2.4m settlement, alleging in court documents that former attorney general Mark Dreyfus committed 'misfeasance of public office' by denying her an opportunity to defend herself against allegations she mishandled the incident. It comes as the federal anti-corruption watchdog released its findings on Thursday, concluding there was 'no corruption issue' in Higgins' settlement and 'no inappropriate intervention' by the Labor government. In an updated statement of claim to the federal court on Wednesday, the former Liberal senator alleged Dreyfus had a conflict of interest in signing off on the settlement in December 2022 because of public statements he had made. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Reynolds is suing the commonwealth and its lawyers for damages and legal costs in an effort to 'vindicate and restore her reputation', the statement of claim said. Reynolds' claim alleges Dreyfus' role in the matter 'enabled and encouraged the falsity of Ms Higgins' claim', referencing a speech the then opposition attorney general made in March 2021. In the lower house, Dreyfus quoted a speech Higgins delivered on the lawns of Parliament House where the former Liberal staffer claimed 'people around me did not care about what happened because of what it might mean for them' and that she was a 'political problem'. 'It's very clear the prime minister [Scott Morrison] has made looking after Liberal party mates his main focus – not looking after women, not looking after the country and not looking after the rule of law or justice but looking after his political mates,' Dreyfus said at the time. The deed, released during Bruce Lehrmann's failed defamation case in December 2023, compensated Higgins for her loss of earning capacity, legal costs, medical expenses, domestic assistance and '$400,000 for hurt, distress and humiliation'. As part of Higgins' claim, the former staffer alleged the commonwealth had breached its duty of care because Reynolds and her staff mishandled the matter and did not adequately support her. Documents released to the Western Australian supreme court last year showed Reynolds was asked to not attend the mediation in December 2022 or make any public commentary about Higgins and to maintain confidentiality of information related to the settlement and civil claims in order to give the commonwealth the 'best position to achieve a resolution at the mediation'. The settlement was signed a week later. In court in August 2024, Reynolds accused Dreyfus of 'seeking to silence' her. She said the claims that she had not given Higgins adequate support after her alleged rape in March 2019 were 'utterly defendable'. 'My defence was to be no defence … I was outraged.' Reynolds told the court the letter had made her 'very angry' and she considered the federal government was attempting to 'lock me down'. The day before the mediation, 13 December 2022, Reynolds sent the June letter from her personal email address to Janet Albrechtsen, a columnist at the Australian newspaper. 'The letter of confidentiality was never signed by me so my recollection is while they sent the proposal, what the Commonwealth wanted in terms of locking me down, I never agreed,' Reynolds said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'So therefore I had no particular concern about sending that to Ms Albrechtsen.' In October 2023, Reynolds referred the settlement to the National Anti-Corruption Commission to examine the process. The Nacc released the findings of its preliminary investigation into the matter on Thursday, concluding there was 'no inappropriate intervention' by the Labor government. The Nacc found there was 'no material difference' in legal advice received by the former Coalition government before the May 2022 election and advice subsequently received by the newly elected Albanese government. The Nacc concluded: 'There was no inappropriate intervention in the process by or on behalf of any minister. The then attorney general approved the settlement in accordance with the departmental advice. 'There is no evidence that the settlement process, including the legal advice provided, who was present at the mediation, or the amount, was subject to any improper influence by any Commonwealth public official. 'To the contrary, the evidence obtained reflected a process that was based on independent external legal advice, without any inappropriate intervention by any minister of either government. There is therefore no corruption issue.' In a statement on Thursday, Reynolds said she was 'bitterly disappointed' by the decision, questioning how the settlement 'could possibly settle unsubstantiated and statute-barred claims made against me' without 'taking a single statement from me or speaking to me at all'. Dreyfus responded that he regretted 'the baseless allegation of corruption has been so widely publicised ahead of this finding and hope future matters can be resolved in a more timely manner'. A case management hearing is scheduled in Perth next Thursday. Reynolds is awaiting the judgment of a separate defamation case in the Western Australia supreme court against Higgins over a series of social media posts, published in July 2023, which the former minister claims damaged her reputation.

Western Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Western Telegraph
Anglesey and Celtic freeports job hopes 'downgraded'
Plaid Cymru's Luke Fletcher criticised the pace of change at the Anglesey freeport as well as the Celtic freeport based around Port Talbot and Pembrokeshire. Mr Fletcher said people were promised transformative economic benefits, tens of thousands of jobs, billions in investment and a green revolution – "but years on, we are still waiting". "That's a fact, that's a reality," the shadow economy secretary warned. "Now, if freeports are meant to be a cornerstone of our economic strategy, then we need to actually understand exactly what we're getting and, right now, there's a huge lack of clarity and credibility." Freeports, originally a Conservative UK Government policy, offer tax breaks in an effort to boost business. Mr Fletcher said an initial promise of 20,000 jobs by 2030 was revised down to 17,000 on the Welsh Government's website, a decrease of 15 per cent. He added that the Celtic freeport was downgraded by 31per cent from a promise of 16,000 jobs to nearer 11,000 today. "All we've seen from the Celtic freeport so far are strategies, frameworks and meetings: no clear delivery, no major employment, no visible change," he said. Rebecca Evans, Wales' economy secretary, told Senedd members it remains early days with "an awful lot" of work going on behind the scenes and the freeports only open for business for a matter of months. Samuel Kurtz, the Conservatives' shadow secretary, welcomed the Celtic and Anglesey freeports but raised concerns about sites in England such as Teesside being further along. He also hailed "significant" progress at Wales' two investment zones – based on advanced manufacturing in Wrexham and Flintshire, and semiconductors in Newport and Cardiff. In her statement, Ms Evans said the Welsh Government has agreed full business cases for both freeports and the final agreement with UK ministers was close to completion.


Spectator
7 hours ago
- Spectator
Farage was the Spending Review's real winner
When Chancellors approach a major moment like a Spending Review, they tend to have a figure in their mind's eye – someone who embodies the type of voter they hope to win over at the next election: a Mondeo man or Stevenage woman. Rachel Reeves clearly had a very specific figure in mind for today's Spending Review. But unlike her predecessors, this was no Labour voter. Her Spending Review was laser-focused on Nigel Farage. Between a laundry list of spending pledges that would have you believe Britain is in a boom, Reeves took aim at Farage. She castigated him for backing Liz Truss's mini-budget and for spending too much time at the pub (arguably one of his best attributes). However, in choosing such tangential attacks, Reeves only drew attention to Labour's fear of Farage. Labour's spending commitments confirmed they view 2029 as a two-way fight with Reform. Record funding was announced for Scotland and Wales, ahead of local elections next year in which Reform are expected to wipe the floor. Days after Farage put steel-making front and centre of his campaign for Wales – at Port Talbot, no less – Reeves made sure to underline Labour's commitment to the steel industry, reconfirming half a billion for Tata Steel. This was paired with a cash injection for up to 350 of the most deprived communities: 'Funding to improve parks, youth facilities, swimming pools and libraries', with a focus on jobs, community assets and regeneration. In the absence of a plan to deliver real wage growth and long sought-after 'renewal', Reeves is hoping that, come the next election, quick and dirty projects can be plastered onto the leaflets of Labour MPs, in time for them to claim they have actually delivered change. You don't need to look far back to see whether or not this will work. It was not that long ago that the Conservatives also gave eye-watering sums to the NHS and tried to cling on to the Red Wall with an almost identical 'levelling up' plan, based on pots of funding for local regeneration projects. They too had Green Book reviews and bus fare caps, as recycled by Reeves today. So why double down on a strategy that was hardly popular with the electorate? With Starmer's 'missions' – of which only one even got a mention from Reeves today – so closely echoing the last government's 'five priorities', you'd be forgiven for thinking that Labour strategists are suffering from collective amnesia. Labour's failure to learn from recent political history speaks to their arrogance, rooted in a deeply held belief that Britain's problems are the result of '14 years of Conservative government'. It's why they came into No. 10 with no plan or narrative for what they wanted to achieve in government. And it's why they are pursuing the same strategy, choosing the same policies, to be implemented by the same group of civil servants – yet expecting a different result. The winner? Nigel Farage.