Witney MP candidates: why should we vote for you?

Residents will have the chance to pick one of these candidates to be their next MP when polling stations open on July 4.

We asked all six MP candidates the same question: what exactly do you stand for?

Robert Courts, Conservative

Serving as your MP for the last eight years has been the greatest honour of my life. I care passionately about our local community.  I have always strived to be a diligent and effective MP, championing the issues that matter most to us.

Conservative candidate Robert Courts (Image: Contributed)

I have always stood on a core set of values that I think is best for our area and our country – low taxation, a smaller state, personal responsibility, defending our Union, defending our borders, backing our British farmers, supporting our Armed Forces, competitive regulation as well as firm, fair policing. 

I care passionately about our local community, always listening to residents and championing the issues that matter most to us: our green spaces, our heritage, our local businesses, our rural community including our waterways and of course, our world-renowned RAF base in Brize Norton as well as the UK Defence Academy at Shrivenham, which for the first time - at this election - is part of the Witney constituency.  

Locally, we have for far too long been suffering with the Lab/Lib/Green Councils of Chaos, who have inflicted poorly managed and incompetent policies on our community, often against clearly expressed local opinion.

Only I am, and can be, your strong local voice to hold them to account. 

Charlie Maynard, Lib Dem

I want to play my part in helping our community and country. There is a huge amount that needs fixing, both locally and nationally – from the long waits to see GPs to the sewage that pours into our rivers when it rains. NHS dentists are impossible to find; carers are struggling looking after loved ones. Then there’s the cost-of-living crisis that’s tough for everyone and has driven many more families to seek help from local food banks.

Lib Dem candidate Charlie Maynard (Image: Contributed)

In political outlook, I’m pragmatic and centrist. I founded and built a global business over 24 years and I like working with people to get things done. I’ve been a West Oxfordshire district councillor since 2022 and have seen first-hand what the challenges are. As an MP, I’ll use all my energy to fight for our community—working on the problems while also celebrating all that we have. 

I believe in hard work, listening to and trusting people, and working as a team. There is so much more that unites our community than divides us.

Antonio Weiss, Labour

This is a beautiful part of the world. But it has been badly let down by 14 years of Conservative chaos, aided and abetted by the Lib Dems.

Household bills are sky-rocketing. Sewage is in the Windrush and Thames, dumped with impunity by water bosses. Our environment is under threat, with our farming community betrayed. Public services are on their knees. New developments and housing need better supporting infrastructure.

Labour candidate Antonio Weiss (Image: Contributed)

Labour will rebuild our public services, so you don’t have to wait weeks for an NHS appointment. We’ll lower energy bills with Great British Energy. We’ll champion our armed forces by fully putting into law the Armed Forces Covenant. We’ll secure our borders and cut down on crime. And we’ll properly back British farming, by using the power of the public purse to buy high quality local produce.

Andrew Prosser, Green Party

As an MP I will make sure that climate and nature is at the heart of all policies.

I am pushing for Thames Water to be brought back into public ownership, and broken up into smaller local organisations, rather than continuing as a giant out of touch monolith. I will push for a properly funded NHS and community services to bring down hospital waiting times and stop getting to see your GP or a dentist feel like such an uphill struggle.

Green Party candidate Andrew Prosser (Image: Contributed)

My plans to end the housing crisis include building more council-owned social housing, particularly in our town centres, protection for private renters through rent controls, an end to no fault evictions, and ensuring that new developments come with great community services.

I will work a fairer, more representative voting system and Parliament, and bring an end to the dubious practice of providing rewards and honours for political appointees and wealthy business donors.

Richard Langridge, Reform UK

Our country is in steep decline. Nothing works anymore. Our economy is stagnant. The NHS is no longer fit for purpose. Our public services do not work, and are in the grip of a ‘woke’ ideology that is affecting every area of our lives. We are paying the highest taxes since 1948.

We achieved Brexit, but have wasted the opportunities it should have given us. We suffer from runaway immigration that is impacting on our housing supply, our health service, and the education of our children.

Reform UK candidate Richard Langridge (Image: Contributed)

Neither the Conservatives, nor Labour, have any answers, or the political will, to do anything about it all.

Reform UK will raise the income tax threshold to £20,000, taking 7million people out of paying tax altogether, freeze immigration, scrap net zero and the crippling and unfair energy subsidies, end NHS waiting lists and leave the ECHR now.

Barry Ingleton, Independent

I am the candidate who understands the needs of business. The founder and CEO of the main social enterprise that works hard within SEN educational opportunities and I believe that we all have a responsibility to look after our own environments, which then improves our communities and wider environmental needs.

Independent candidate Barry Ingleton (Image: Contributed)

Voting for me is the only way of ensuring that Witney and surrounding towns and villages have an MP with no party responsibility and a 100 per cent focus on the constituents.

I pledge to improve access to GPs, NHS dentists, more opportunities for young people with SEN, care support, the right homes in the right places with infrastructure to match, and make company leadership accountable for polluting our environment and the areas we love.

I will build an open, transparent social media platform just for individuals living in the Witney constituency and face-to-face network events. This type of innovation will give the greatest MP contacts in any area, thus building a strong partnership that goes all the way to Westminster.