Labour has held Nottingham South constituency for 25 years – but with the majority fluctuating in the past three elections, the seat is not considered safe.
Alan Simpson won the seat from Conservative Martin Brandon-Bravo in 1992 with Labour’s biggest majority since then coming in 1997, with 13,364.
The majority continued to decline until Lilian Greenwood took over as the Labour candidate in 2010 with a majority of 1,772.
However in the last election Ms Greenwood won with a majority of 6,936.
Despite the 2015 majority increase, other candidates will be hoping to win the seat from Labour for the first time in a quarter of a century.
Result in 2015: LABOUR HOLD – Lilian Greenwood
Majority: 6,936
Electorate: 69,154
Turnout: 63 per cent
Constituency boundary
Questioning the candidates
Lilian Greenwood – Labour
Why should people vote for you?
“I’ve been the MP here for the last seven years and the people here can vote for me on my record – a record of standing up for Nottingham South and getting a good deal for the people here. In Clifton, we have had the A453 widened after the Tories shelved it. It took two years of campaigning. We are surrounded by houses that have solid wall insulation as a result of the campaigning that I did with Labour and local residents and right now, we are standing outside Milford school. If the Tories get back in, they will cut this school’s budget by £173,000. I’m committed to standing up against those school cuts and the Tories don’t care.”
What local issue is most important to you in Nottingham South?
“It’s about the future of our children – we know we’ve got Brexit coming and it’s more important than ever that our kids get the very best possible start in life, that they get the education and the skills that they need. Every single school in Nottingham South is set to lose under the Tories.
“On average, across all the schools in Nottingham South, they will lose £584 per pupil. I’m committed to standing up against those cuts to make sure Nottingham schools have the money they need and the Tories simply don’t care. May will wave those cuts through and that is the choice before people on June 8.”
What has the area got most going for it?
“I couldn’t condense it down to one thing. I moved to Nottingham 25 years ago and absolutely love Nottingham South. It’s an absolute privilege to be the MP.
“The people here are just fantastic and it has been brilliant the past few weeks having time to go out and talk to as many of them as possible. I just want to carry on doing the work and making the difference for them.”
David Hollas – UKIP
Why should people vote for you?
“People in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and this country voted for Brexit. Voting for UKIP will ensure that there is a strong voice holding Theresa May to account and that she doesn’t back down on what people voted for in last year’s referendum. We will be strong and stand up for the people of Nottingham to ensure what has been voted for in the referendum will be carried through.”
What local issue is most important to you in Nottingham South?
In this constituency, the biggest issue is education. I have looked at the education, I was educated in this city, I have seen the performance of the education in the city and it is woeful.
“Last year, Michael Wilshere, the chief of Ofsted rated it as a second class system. In 2015, the performance of this city was below the national average – we are 150th out of 152 councils. That is a generational failure. This isn’t something that has happened overnight and if those kids are not getting the education they should be getting, they are not going to be able to participate in the two universities that we have and they are not going to be able to participate in any jobs and it will be another generation of kids that have been failed without an education and their kids will then be failed. We have got to sort it out.”
What has the area got most going for it?
“I love Nottingham – I was born in Nottingham, I was born in Bestwood, my mother came from Basford, I went to school in Bramcote, I lived for a bit in Wilford. What I like about Nottingham is its vibrancy. Nottingham as a city is great and I love it.”
Jane Hunt – Conservative
Why should people vote for you?
“I am Theresa May’s representative in Nottingham. I’m going to work hard for the city and she’s going to work hard for the country. We need a good Brexit negotiation and she is by far the best candidate to do that. We need a strong economy and we need it to develop and grow small businesses in Nottingham and that’s my job.”
What local issue is most important to you in Nottingham South?
“Locally, it’s education. The Labour City Council have run education for many many years and as you can see, if you look at any of the stats, we are not doing so well, or at least haven’t done until recent years. We were 150th out of 152 for GCSE results and what we really want to be able to do is improve education. That’s on the way with 10 schools throughout Nottingham being put in special measures in 2013 but only eight of those are out with two still in. Now what we need is to work with the heads, the teachers and the parents to help those pupils and work nationally with the government to improve education in this city.”
What has the area got most going for it?
“The people. They’re great – really lovely people on the doorsteps who will always say hello in the streets. There are those who remember me from 2015 of course and they are really great people.”
Adam McGregor – Green Party
Why should people vote for you?
“We have a number of priorities in this election – we’re going to be standing up for the NHS, we’re going to be standing up for the environment, we’re going to be standing up for young people and human rights.
“We have a number of radical policies that a number of other parties won’t approach, like we want a four day working week, we want to introduce a universal basic income to eliminate poverty. These are things that we think matter and are the things that we will be standing up for.”
What local issue is most important to you in Nottingham South?
“The one thing I think Nottingham South people should be thinking about when they cast their vote is when we go into the Brexit negotiations, whether we want to go blind into whatever deal Theresa May thinks is best for us and just have her negotiate that or whether we have a ratification referendum on whatever the deal is.
“The first referendum was the start of the democratic process, it wasn’t the end. We believe that everyone should have the right to have a say on what the deal is and if we don’t like the deal, we should have the right to reject it.”
What has the area got most going for it?
“It’s so multicultural – you’ve got a whole mix of different people here in areas like Radford where people are from all sorts of different cultures like the Caribbean. It’s the kind of multicultural, cosmopolitan city that we want to be a part of and that’s why I like living here.”
Tony Sutton – Liberal Democrats
Why should people vote for you?
“We are the only party that is committed to giving people in Britain a choice on the terms of the Brexit negotiations. We would ask for a second referendum on those terms to let them speak about their future and their choice.”
What local issue is most important to you in Nottingham South?
“It’s the economy. Brexit is a dangerous thing for us because if we leave the single market, there are terrible possibilities of losing business. 44 per cent of our exports go through the EU. If we lose access to the single market, that will have repercussions on jobs, employment, wages and the economy in general.”
What has the area got most going for it?
“I love Wollaton Park, I think it’s a wonderful place. Wollaton hall is wonderful. When we came to Nottingham in 1978 for an interview for a job with Boots, my family and I had a picnic in Wollaton Park and we decided that’s the place we want to be.”
