High Wycombe discuss general election options
Some people say they won't be voting at all!
Last updated 3rd Jul 2024
People in High Wycombe High Street have revealed who they are backing in the 2024 general election – while some say that they will refuse to vote.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Local Democracy Reporting Service sampled the political mood of shoppers and those on their lunchbreak ahead of the July 4 vote.
Social media consultant Tom Strudwick, from Kent, claimed that it was a ‘national privilege and responsibility’ to cast one’s ballot.
The 29-year-old who lives in Aylesbury said: “I’ll be voting for Labour because I believe they have got a very clear path.”
He added: “It’s just an exciting opportunity to vote for a Labour leader, rather than to wait for another Conservative leader to jump on the bandwagon.”
But Labour are effectively the same as the Conservatives and all the other parties, according to Ian Haynes, 47, who said he would not be voting and ‘does not believe in any of the candidates’.
The retail worker, who is also a part-time carer, said: “I don’t believe in it. They just want money all the time. It’s the rich people getting richer and the poor people getting poorer.”
Meanwhile, Lee Millward from High Wycombe also said he did not plan to vote in this year’s election, but that if he did, he would opt for one of the more ‘radical’ parties like Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats or the Green Party rather than Labour or the Tories.
The 52-year-old community manager, who favours a system of proportional representation, said the lack of a fully-fledged A&E at Wycombe Hospital and the high street were two of the local issues that had grabbed his attention so far during the campaign.
He said: “I have heard there is millions of pounds going into a facelift for the high street, so I am obviously for that. I think it needs a facelift.”
Beaconsfield residents, Daniela Furer, 52 and her daughter Jade, 21 were a firm ‘yes’ on whether they would vote in the election but said they wanted to ‘read all the manifestos’ first to enable them to ‘make the right decision’.
Procurement worker Daniela, who is originally from Brazil, said: “I am sort of leaning towards the Green Party even though it is a minority.”
She added that the Green Belt, homelessness and education were some of the key issues for her ahead of polling day.
Student bartender Jade added: “Jobs and taxes are going to be big one as well, because our money has not exactly been put to good use under the Tory government.”
Meanwhile, Muti Mughal, from High Wycombe, said they were leaning towards voting Green but were ‘in two minds’ about whether to take part in the election as many mainstream politicians were too focused on ‘identity politics’.
The 24-year-old said: “It is a culture war about stuff that doesn’t really matter. There is no effort or care that I put into the working class, the cost-of-living crisis, how people are struggling.
“It is all about trans issues, which doesn’t mean anything to anyone. It is ridiculous.”
Candidates standing for election in High Wycombe
The candidates standing in Wycombe for the general election are Khalil Ahmed from the Workers Party of Britain, Steve Baker from the Conservative and Unionist Party, Toni Brodelle from the Liberal Democrats, Catherine Bunting from the Green Party, Ed Gemmell from the Climate Party, Richard Phoenix from Reform UK, Ajaz Rehman as an Independent, Emma Reynolds from the Labour Party, and Mark Smallwood as an Independent.