Mike Stubbs – Labour Party Candidate – GE2019

Mike Stubbs, Labour Party Candidate for the Stone Constituency, has sent through his candidate profile and questionnaire responses.

All four Stone constituency parliamentary candidates have been asked to prepare a candidate profile and to provide responses to a number of questions that we sent to them all.

All responses are unedited and therefore are the candidate’s own words

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Mike Stubbs – Labour Party

A Personal Statement (who you are, your link to Stone, relevant experience to being our MP and why you’re standing to be an MP)

Well as I’m sure you know, my name is Mike Stubbs and I’m the Labour Candidate for the Stone Constituency. I’m 45, happily married to my lovely wife Kathy, and we’re blessed with our son Eoin who is six. Professionally, I currently work at Aston University in Birmingham as a European Funding Accountant as well as being a local Councillor in Newcastle under Lyme. Being a local Councillor leaves little time for hobbies but I’m a trustee for the National College of Osteopaths and I volunteer every Sunday for my local ‘Junior’ Parkrun, something I enjoy greatly. For my troubles, I’m a Port Vale supporter having spent time progressing through the juniors and I currently volunteer for a local community station covering the Valiants for all their home games, something I have enjoyed much more this season compared to the last couple.

From an experience point of view, I have been a local Borough Councillor for nearly a decade, including a few years as Leader, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, so I have extensive knowledge of the various tiers of National and Local Government, so I could hit the ground running as your MP. Handling casework would be an extension of what I currently do as a local Councillor and having liaised with various organisations over the last 10 years, I am able to make good use of the professional relationships I have built previously to the benefit of my constituents in Stone. As a former chief executive within a local renewable energy company, I have also built up the skills to run a successful office and I’m able to motivate a small, but talented group of colleagues, to give themselves completely to the needs of local residents. I also served within the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Training) Branch for thirteen years, reaching the rank of Flight Lieutenant, working with hundreds of Air Cadets from across the County including right here in Stone.

So the ultimate question: why am I standing to be your MP? Well, I believe I can improve the lives of each and every resident within the Constituency and give you all the representation you deserve. Stone is standing at a crossroads and we all have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change the way we progress and I bring an enthusiasm that has been missing from our elected official for far too long. As I’m sure you know, Westminster has long been populated by the political elite, unrepresentative of the local population, and I strongly believe it is time that the UK as a whole send more people that have lived and worked in our towns and villages, to better serve the needs and wants of residents.

Do you live within the Stone Constituency?

I currently live in my home town of Kidsgrove, around 15 miles north of the town of Stone, but have spent a lot of time both professionally and personally in and around the Stone Constituency. I was formerly the Royal British Legion Community Fundraiser for the whole of North Staffordshire which led me to spend time working with the community in and around towns and villages like Stone, Eccleshall and Barlaston, and as the Leader of Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council I was responsible for areas such as Madeley and Loggerheads so know them all well. As a teenager, my two best friends lived in Cheadle so I spent my formative years in the town and when they return home, I can still be found in Cheadle’s excellent watering holes.

Why have you specifically chosen to stand in the Stone Constituency?

For as long as I have been politically active, I have watched in horror how the current incumbent takes advantage of holding a perceived ‘safe seat’, showing little regard for his constituents. When the internal selection opened within the Labour Party to select a candidate for Stone I leaped at the chance to give the residents of Stone a real choice, someone willing to stand up for their interests and not an MP using his position to concentrate on his personal political position.

How long have you been affiliated with the party that you’re standing for?

I came to the Labour Party via my trade union Unison. Whilst working at Stoke on Trent Council I became a union member and eventually took a​n executive position as the Branch’s Treasurer. After moving on professionally, I continued my membership and was approached by the former Stoke on Trent North Member of Parliament Joan Walley to consider becoming a local Councillor in a future election. The rest, as you say, is history. I joined and twelve months later I became both a Parish and Borough Councillor for Talke and Butt Lane Ward in Newcastle under Lyme. I’ve been a member of the Party for over a decade now.

The geographical area of the Stone Constituency is quite extensive, how do you ensure that you can keep in touch with the issues affecting all of the individual towns and villages that are contained within the boundary?

Since my selection, I’ve been fortunate enough to commit all of my time to visiting as many towns and villages within the area having taken special leave from my employer. As you suggest, due to the size and complexity of the Constituency, it’s incredibly important to visit all corners to get first hand knowledge of the problems should it be the Hospital in Cheadle, building on greenfield sites such as Tilling Drive in Stone or the disaster that is HS2 that will tear through our green belt throughout the Constituency. When I am elected, I will continue to visit the towns and villages and will ensure local surgeries take place on a regular basis.

The town of Stone has seen rapid growth in recent years with a number of new housing estates. What would you do to ensure that the town’s infrastructure and services are also expanded to absorb the additional headcount?

Our current and future generations will need suitable housing, but the current National Planning Policy Framework is nothing more than a developers’ charter, allowing large scale developers to concentrate on profitable builds and not what is actually required. When Labour form the next government, I would lobby appropriate departments to gain access to the Local Transformation Fund, a pot of money used exclusively to fund infrastructure projects decided at a local level alongside other funding sources. Bus services have been devastated by the Conservatives, despite carrying more people than any other mode of public transport, so I would work with all interested parties to increase and expand local services, reinstating the tens of routes that have been cut, particularly hitting rural communities.

I would bring together transport and land-use planning officers for our towns and villages and try to create a situation where walking and cycling are the best choice locally: safe, accessible, healthy, efficient, economical and pollution free.

Young people have been let down by the Conservatives. Nationally, at least 750 youth centres have closed since 2012. Too many young people now have nowhere to go, nothing to do and no one to help them with their problems. As a former youth instructor, I will work with local authorities to ensure a professionally staffed National Youth Service Centre is established in every suitable location and I will guarantee every young person has access to local, high-quality youth work.

I will also work with the appropriate authorities to ensure that health care, via GP Surgeries, education, via local schools and road infrastructure, via the County Council is maintained to a high standard and improved where needed.

Stone High Street, like many across the UK, is finding trading difficult. What are the key areas that you think need tackling to stimulate the High Street considering the needs of consumers, business owners and attracting new investment?

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Our high streets are being decimated by store closures and jobs losses. High streets are more than places to shop, they are places we go for culture, company and character. I would fight to revive our high streets by trying to stop bank branch closures, working with suppliers to ban ATM charges and giving local government new powers to put empty shops to good use.

Business rates are also causing real issues for high street retailers and others. I will work with the government to review the option of a land value tax on commercial landlords as an alternative and develop a retail sector industrial strategy for the local conurbation.

When you talk about the town of Stone to people what type of statements (positive or critical) do you make?

Just in the few days I’ve been the Labour Parliamentary candidate I have been so warmly welcomed by everyone I have met, regardless of my political persuasion. As such, I speak in glowing terms of new friends here in the Constituency and have long respected the work ethic and community spirit of local residents.

HS2 will run close to Stone, with a railhead being built in Yarnfield. What’s your position on the HS2 project and will it benefit Stone?

As time has progressed, my support for the HS2 project has reduced exponentially, especially given the complete lack of benefit for residents in Staffordshire. Currently the expected cost of the project is in the region of £56B but as recently as late August the Non Executive Director of ​HS2 Ltd forecast that this cost could increase by a further £30B. Whilst I am a firm believer that we need to be moving more passengers and importantly, freight, the current HS2 plan is nothing more than a scheme to allow more skilled people of the Midlands to work in London at the detriment of the workforce outside of the M25.

What’s your personal opinion on Brexit and is it aligned with your party?

I was and ‘remain’ a supporter of the UK’s membership of the European Union, though I understand that there is an urgent need to update its structure and operations. With regard to the Party’s position on Brexit, I support the attempt to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement, ensuring employment and environmental protections are secured and that the proposed border down the Irish Sea is removed immediately. Most importantly, the Good Friday Agreement should be protected as no one wants a return to the troubles we experienced just a generation ago. Then we should ask the people which option they would prefer.

If the UK is unable to conclude a trade deal with the EU by the end of any transition period do you support us leaving the EU with No Deal?

I most certainly do not. A No Deal Brexit, regardless of the utopia the likes of Mr Cash and Mr Johnson forecast, would be financially disastrous for the UK, especially for areas such as Stone and the wider North Staffordshire area.

Do you support a second referendum now that the electorate have the details of an agreed deal vs the status quo?

I do. As I previously said, I strongly support a confirmatory referendum. So many falsehoods were peddled during the first referendum but we are all three years wiser, and I strongly believe that a second referendum would bring an end to the divided communities we live in.

Brexit has been divisive and without a time machine how would you unite the country going forward?

Brexit has been the question of our generation, but there is so much more that we need to proceed with if we are to progress as a community. Once a final decision has been made, we need to move on and coalesce around the major issues of our day. We are in the middle of a climate change emergency that needs bold and decisive action, not only by our leaders but from all of us as individuals. We have people dying on our streets, this in one of the richest economies in the world, and we need to move past the populist view of the world prescribed by the likes of Donald Trump. We need to start thinking about ourselves as a community again and look past the discord of the last three years.

If you were elected what would be the top five areas that you’d be trying to change?

1. Connectivity- Be it buses or broadband, it’s essential to improve connectivity across Stone.
2. Youth Services – Stone is losing its young adults at an advanced rate, with 16 / 17 year olds making up only 2.5% of our population. For our town and villages to remain sustainable we need to invest in our youth.
3. Health – The Constituency is receiving a poor deal from organisations such as the Combined Commissioning Group, Foundation Trust and Accident and Emergency.
4. Policing – Staffordshire Police has lost in the region of 800 officers over the last decade and our police stations are closing at an alarming rate. I will work with the Staffordshire Commissioner to ensure that our Constituency receives its fair share and more of newly recruited officers moving forward.
5. Local Government – Councils are the collective voice of local communities and are on the frontline in delivering many essential public services. They need to be structured and funded correctly.

Any closing statement about why people should vote for you?

This election will shape our country for a generation. It is your opportunity to transform our towns and villages, so that it works not just for a few, but for all of us. It is a chance to deliver the real change Britain needs. Some people say this is the Brexit election. But it’s also the climate election, the investment election, the NHS election, the living standards election, the education election, the poverty election, the fair taxes election. Above all, it’s the change election.

I am not prepared to put up with communities blighted by lack of investment, endless cuts to vital services and hundreds struggling to make ends meet across the Constituency, while tax cuts are handed to the richest. We can do better than this. How can it be right that in the fifth richest country in the world, people’s living standards are going backwards and life expectancy is stalling? A vote for me is a vote for real change in Stone and I look forward to becoming your MP on December 12th.

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