David is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Widnes and Halewood. As the product of a poor family background with an abusive father, David moved to Whiston’s Halsnead Park to live with his grandmother and went to the nearby comprehensive. He later settled in Widnes.
Living in a caravan, then dealing with her death when he was eighteen, left David with a strong understanding of life at the margins of society. Since then, with a bit of luck, David is now a businessman and successfully runs a small software and design company based in Liverpool.
These life perspectives help David to understand what it’s like for a broad cross-section of society, and has brought him in contact with the poorest people and the richest. He’s seen the privileges brought about by wealth, understands the economics that have led to the richest getting richer whilst everyone else feels squeezed and struggles to afford things that were easy enough to pay for twenty years ago.
What will David do for Widnes & Halewood?
Asked what he’ll do for Widnes, David said, “If I’m lucky enough to be elected to serve the constituency I’ll bring my experience to bear when it comes to scrutinising laws that are passed and make sure that they don’t hinder the lives of people living in the area.
A great example of the problems generated by poorly thought through governance can be seen in the two bridges crossing the Mersey from Widnes to Runcorn. The payment system is grossly unfair, leading minor forgetfulness to lead to substantial fines. The cost is hard to bear for people who live just outside Halton but need to cross the bridge for work. The public transport network in the region is poorly integrated, meaning that for many there are few timely options for getting to work. Good governance would have stepped in and asked difficult questions and prevented things moving on.
As a software developer I found I had a tendency to not let go of difficult problems until I’d worked them out. And that’s the spirit I intend to bring to parliament if I get elected.”
Carrying on, David explained, “I’m not a natural politician. In many ways I probably don’t fit into the mould. I’m grumpy, I worry, and I’ve never really sought power. But after seeing what’s been done to the country and to the area I just couldn’t stand back any more. I’ve lived elsewhere. In Paris, Belgium and Spain – partly because of a weird childhood, and partly due to my professional life. My wife I met when travelling in Peru, and she happens to be Polish. So I can see the strengths and weaknesses in this country. A lot is good, but not when you have the rich making rules to benefit only the rich. Rules that benefit those that play a game but never really do anything constructive. That was revealed so well during the PPE scandals of the Covid pandemic.”
David goes on to talk about trust in politics, “I really think one of the reasons why politicians aren’t trusted is down to not really thinking about the impact of their changes on the less advantaged. Look at ULEZ implementations – often leading to substantial costs for people who are already struggling. The thing is, ULEZs are generally a good idea – reduced pollution is important to our health. But if we don’t work carefully to ameliorate the costs and communicate that well then the benefits will be lost in angry protests.”
“Ultimately,” David finishes, “I’m boring. I’m not especially funny or charming. I don’t like snappy soundbites. I actually think this is serious stuff that has a real impact on people’s lives that’s so often ignored. I appreciate that might not win me an election, but it might just help me inspire other people to get involved as well. Ideally younger and more dynamic people for whom the future is longer and perhaps scarier than my past. If that’s what comes out of this, then I’ll be delighted.”
Please feel free to ask questions on this page below, and David will be delighted to answer everything he can.
David can be followed on the following social media channels:
The area covered by Widnes and Halewood includes Widnes, Halewood, Whiston, Cronton, Halebank, and Hale Village. You can view the constituency area at the Election Maps website.
Published & promoted by Tom Sutton (Liberal Democrats) all at 101 Heath road South, Weston Village, Runcorn, WA7 4QH
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