GENERAL ELECTION: Your Boston and Skegness Constituency candidates

Matt Warman, who has held the Conservative seat for nine years, is hoping his record will win him a fourth term but is currently facing strong opposition from the high profile former Reform Party leader and now its chairman Richard Tice. Labour are leading the polls nationally, the party’s candidate for Boston and Skegness, Alex Fawbert, will be hoping for success locally. Here are the candidates in the election:

​Matt Warman – Conservatives

Matthew Robert Warman is a Conservative Party politician and former journalist who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Boston and Skegness since 2015. He has served as Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from July to September 2022. Warman was an Assistant Government Whip from April 2019 to July 2019. He served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital Infrastructure from July 2019 to September 2021. He says: “It has been a privilege to serve Boston and Skegness as Member of Parliament for the last nine years. I’ve been glad to help over ten thousand individual constituents with issues, and work with partners to attract unprecedented millions of pounds in funding to our area. As your Conservative Parliamentary candidate I’ll be making the case for nationally sticking with the plan that’s working – delivering an improving economy, protecting pensioners, strengthening our borders and defence and ensuring opportunities for our young people. Locally, I’ll be asking you to return me as your MP to continue the battle against pylon pollution across our Lincolnshire landscapes and fight for food security. I’ll always fight for you and be your local champion in Westminster.”

Richard Tice – Reform

Richard James Sunley Tice is an English businessman and politician who has been chairman of Reform UK since 2024, previously serving in the role from 2019 to 2021. He became the leader of Reform UK in March 2021, and stood down as leader in May 2024 in line with Nigel Farage’s much publicised return. Mr Tice is now the Party’s chairman. He says: "I think it would be fantastic for this great constituency to have a proper national voice in Westminster standing up for the residents – and from everything I’m hearing that has not been the case.” On immigration he says: "We have had mass immigration that’s putting huge pressure on housing rents that have gone up 20 per cent, pressure on ambulance delays, A&E waiting times, hospital waiting lists. It’s just not fair, particularly for young people. Mass immigration depresses wages – again particularly unfair on young people. It’s the residents who pay for it. It’s just unfair – it destroys jobs when hotels are taken over. I’ve seen it here and in many other towns – and I’m afraid it leads to an increase in crime. I’m just telling it as it is because the residents of this constituency in Boston and Skegness know what’s going on. What we need is smart immigration by freezing immigration, welcoming essential skills and high qualifications.”

​Richard Lloyd – Liberal Democrat

“I am honoured to have been selected as the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Boston and Skegness. I was born in Grimsby and understand both the great opportunities and the challenges faced by coastal communities such as those in Skegness as well as the more rural areas of our part of Lincolnshire. I have been speaking to people across the constituency. The most common issues are the lack of GPs and Dentists, improving wages and building social housing. In addition, on education we need to improve SEND provision here in the constituency and the Liberal Democrat policy on providing free school meals to all primary school children is a personal priority. I got into politics on the back of tackling poverty and inequality and as your Liberal Democrat candidate will stand up for all constituents regardless of background or nationality, especially as we look to tackle the issues in the NHS and care sector where we need more skilled and dedicated staff. This is not a single issue election despite what some might try and have you believe. Away from the campaign I am married with two school aged children and am currently a Delivery Manager for a software company.”

​David Dickason – English Democrats

“Promises are made by candidates to secure votes and then ignored,” says English Democrats candidate David Dickason. “I pledge that if elected, I will create a scrutiny panel of volunteers from across the constituency to hold me accountable as a Member of Parliament.”Mr Dickason says the panel will consist of a wide representation of residents, farmers, and other businesses: “I pledge to fight to increase pensioners tax allowances and to ensure the State pension is exempt from tax, I will vote against any move to increase retirement age any further. Our towns are in a spiral of decline, looking more like a different country every day. I will fight against this to ensure these areas are recognisable as being in England. Power lines and pylons are currently an issue. It appears that the government has signed off on huge pylons to be sited across the Lincolnshire countryside. These should be underground cables and not the cheapest option, which is detrimental to Lincolnshire. I support the farmers and local businesses and will fight for a fair deal for them.” Mr Dickason is a retired senior police officer who relocated to Lincolnshire seven years ago, living in the Boston and Skegness constituency.

​Mike Gilbert – Blue Revolution

Blue Revolution candidate Mike Gilbert moved to Boston in 1992, where he raised his children, has family ties to Skegness and has worked in the constituency. He says: “I worked for the Civil Service and have seen first-hand the destruction of the public sector. I am now self-employed as a manual worker and an active community volunteer. If, like me, you feel the political system is broken and no longer represents you, lend me your vote. If politics makes you bored or angry, please don’t vote for a traditional political party that believes that the current system works. Vote for a person who knows it doesn’t work. Vote for me; the only candidate at this election who wants to change this unfair system. Your vote for me conveys to the establishment that you no longer want the status quo. Your vote for me is the first step in a journey toward real and meaningful political change. Why are we in a political mess? Over the last 40 years, our country has been turned into a politician's paradise and hell for the rest of us. We have seen the slow destruction of our towns, cities and way of life. Change and decay on a scale that is only worse during wartime. How we fix this political system? We need a new bus, not a new driver who thinks the existing system works.”

​Alex Fawbert – Labour

Alex Fawbert is Labour candidate for Boston and Skegness. An army veteran and former teacher at Haven High School, she was born in the Fenside area of the town. A committed member of the Labour Party and a graduate of the Jo Cox Leadership Programme, Alex wanted to stand in Boston and Skegness because she felt the area had been left behind. She says: “Boston and Skegness have some of the highest levels of deprivation in Britain, below average income and some of the lowest levels of home ownership. Our public services are broken, local public transport is severely lacking and skilled jobs are few and far between. I love this area, it’s in my blood, generations of my family have lived here, and I want to give something back. As well as supporting the Labour Party’s pledges regarding NHS appointments, dentists and cancer wait times, saving High Streets, GB Energy, schools and building affordable housing, Alex also wants to address local issues like shortages of buses that prevent people from getting to work or school and hospital appointments. She wants to tackle rough sleeping in the area and work with local stakeholders to improve opportunities for young people.

​Chris Moore – Green Party

“I am Chris Moore, 67, a retired teacher with two adult children and four grandchildren. My interests include music, sport and writing. I volunteer as a radio presenter for Pilgrim Hospital radio, and have previous experience of fronting shows for the town’s community radio station. I volunteer as a reader for ‘The Talking Newspaper’ here in Boston and serve as a Parish Councillor for Fishtoft. I am just an average guy with an interest in politics: nothing more, nothing less. Having lived in Boston for many years, I know the local issues that everyone is affected by: cost of living concerns, anti-social behaviour, getting a GP appointment, pot-holes, housing, inequalities and tensions in both Boston and Skegness. I want to do something about them; not from some theoretical, intellectual perspective, but in a straightforward, practical way.

Also, nationally, we are suffering from a climate emergency: This needs addressing too. I believe in a fairer, green society. I would like to see the minimum wage increased to £15 and benefits increased, privatised utilities returned to public ownership, a carbon tax introduced for the main polluters, the voting age reduced to sixteen and a higher level of taxation placed on multi-millionaires and billionaires.”

Hustings​

A Love, Eat, Pray hustings is taking place at the Centenary Methodist Church in Red Lion Street, Boston, on Sunday, June 23, from 4pm to 5.30pm.

• A hustings at Skegness Grammar School tomorrow (Friday) has been cancelled due to the unavailability of Labour’s Alex Fawbert due to other engagements. The school said it did not feel the event would be balanced without her.