Liberal Democrat Party Parliamentary candidate for Mid Sussex Alison Bennett reveals priorities: fixing the NHS, improving education and creating a society ‘where people can be themselves’
The Liberal Democrat Party Parliamentary candidate for Mid Sussex has revealed her priorities and spoken about the issues she would address if she wins the constituency at the General Election on July 4.
Alison Bennett, 47, from Hurstpierpoint, has been Deputy Leader of Mid Sussex District Council for the past year.
She joined the Liberal Democrats in 2015 following that year’s General Election on May 7, which was also the date of the local elections.
Mrs Bennett said: “The upshot of that was that 54 out of 54 district councillors were conservatives, so there was no opposition on the District Council.”
She said it was an election where UKIP did well in the area too and said she did not want to bring her children up in that political environment.
“I wanted to do what I could to provide some kind of alternative to that,” she said, adding that ‘it was better to get involved and try to change things’.
Mrs Bennett said she wanted to get involved with the Lib Dems in particular because she agrees with their core ideal that ‘nobody should be enslaved’ by poverty, ignorance or conformity.
“That speaks really powerfully to me,” she said. “I think education is vital for people being able to achieve their potential.”
She continued: “As a liberal I don’t think anybody should feel compelled to fit in with other people’s expectations of them. I think we should create a society where people can be themselves.”
Mrs Bennett said that if she were to win the constituency her number one priority would be to ‘rescue the NHS’.
She said: “It’s on its knees – the workforce and healthcare professionals are under so much pressure and so much strain.”
She said people are struggling to get the health care that they need but said: “You can’t fix the NHS unless you work out a plan for social care. That’s a really big priority for us in this general election.”
Mrs Bennett said she knows people who cannot get support to pay for social care and said of the Lib Dems policies: “We think that social care should be free and it should be based on your need, not on your ability to pay.”
Her other priorities include young people’s education and their mental health, which she says is concerning her ‘more and more’. She said many children suffer with anxiety and depression and is worried that those with special needs are not getting the education support they require.
Another concern is inequality. Mrs Bennett said: “When I became a mum and I remember being in the maternity ward, a ward of about six beds, and being struck by the thought that even on the day these babies had been born, not everybody’s life chances are the same. Because of which families they were being born into, they weren’t going to get equal opportunities.”
Mrs Bennett said the environment is important to the Lib Dems too, specifically removing sewage from waterways and the sea. She believes the Conservative government has not done enough on this and said the Lib Dems would like a new water regulator to make sure water companies are held to account.