By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
The Nottingham East constituency may have changed shape, but pollsters don’t except this deep red Labour seat to change hands.
The constituency covers St Ann’s to Sherwood, Hockley to Hyson Green, and has now gained Castle ward in Nottingham city centre following a boundary review.
It has voted Labour since 1992, although former MP Chris Leslie defected to Change UK in 2019 over dissatisfaction with then-leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Nadia Whittome took up the Labour mantle in the next election and romped to victory with 64 per cent of the vote and a 17,000 vote majority.
At the time she was the youngest sitting Member of Parliament at the age of 23 – a position unofficially known as the Baby Of The House.
Results in 2019 – Labour HOLD – Nadia Whittome
Turnout: 60.4 per cent
Electorate: 66,262
Majority: 17,393
Questioning the candidates
Rosey Palmer – Green
Why should people vote for you?
The climate is in crisis and the Greens are the only people with a consistent strategy for real change and hope in the climate, in wildlife and therefore in our species.
What are the most important issues in Nottingham East
It’s a wonderfully green constituency and we need to keep it that way. There are housing plans when money becomes available. Areas where housing is proposed need to be much better designed as thoroughfares for the disabled and for those who walk.
What has Nottingham East got going for it?
The people in this area are extremely diverse, extremely creative and extremely active. Very often Sneinton is a buzzing marketplace with a Vegan market. Many businesses have grown and flourished here.
Anita Prabharkar – Liberal Democrat
Anita was unable to attend the interview. Party representative Lloydie James Lloyd stood in for her.
Why should people vote for the Liberal Democrats?
Like most people, we know the system is broken and things aren’t working for people. It takes hours to get an ambulance, weeks to get a GP appointment and sometimes months to get urgent cancer care. The Liberal Democrat manifesto is a bold, ambitious manifesto to save the NHS, fix the crisis in care and deal with the cost of living crisis.
It’s ridiculous we’re in a situation where so many systems are broken. Whether it’s nationally with Conservatives cutting things or local government systems not working and Labour authorities’ misspending, we know things need to be fixed.
Our manifesto is detailed – a bigger document than Labour or the Conservatives have offered – and is fully costed so we can provide the people of Nottingham East with a fair deal.
What are the most important issues in Nottingham East?
It has a national government that seems not to care and a local government that seems unable to deal with things properly. The NHS and social care are big issues.
We’re standing in Sneinton Market which was funded by the EU, and Keir Starmer has said he will not bring us closer to Europe by rejoining the customs union. The Liberal Democrats will do that. It will add billions to our economy and help the creative industries.
The Liberal Democrat have bold, costed plans that will make Nottingham East a better, more prosperous place to live.
What has Nottingham East got going for it?
I moved to Nottingham over 15 years ago and I stayed here. One of the great things is the grassroots organisations that are here. The people really care about the city and work really hard to create small organisations that make a big impact and a big difference. They need more support and recognition in the city. The local authority and government should enable them to do bigger and better things.
Nadia Whittome – Labour
Why should people vote for you?
Nottingham has been my home my whole life and I’ve been really proud to represent our city in Parliament over the last five years. I’ve fought for our communities to have the funding they need. I’ve fought against austerity and the cuts to public services, NHS, schools, social housing. I’ve taken the government to task over the enormous cuts to our city council, which is worth around £100m every year since 2013. The housing crisis has been a key plank of my work on the Levelling Up & Housing select committee – I’ve been pushing for better renters’ rights, keeping rents down and for more social housing to be built.
I’ve argued that the climate crisis and the cost of living crisis are two sides of the same coin, and households deserve more financial support to be paid for by a windfall tax on fossil fuel giants. I’ve argued for a publicly-owned energy company that will provide clean, cheap energy, keeping down bills and protecting the planet.
When I was elected, I promised to share my salary with the community. That’s what I’ve done and will continue to do.
What are the most important issues in Nottingham East?
The cost of living crisis is having a huge impact, whether unaffordable rent hikes, mortgage increases or long waiting lists. Low pay has become the norm and isn’t increasing in line with food prices and bills. We’re seeing people not able to heat their homes and put food on the table. The way disabled people have been treated by this government is appalling.
I’ve been arguing for better funding for our NHS and all of our public services, which the Conservative government has cut to shreds over the last 14 years. Schools, roads, transport are in a really dire state. I’ll continue to fight for decent conditions and public services to have the funding they need – hopefully under a Labour government this time.
What has Nottingham East got going for it?
There’s so much it has to offer. Our cultural and creative scene is second-to-none. We have galleries like the Contemporary, theatres like the Playhouse and Theatre Royal, and small venues like the Bodega, JT Soar and the legendary Broadway.
We’ve also got amazing community organisations that have been doing great work in the face of austerity like Nottingham Law Centre and St Ann’s Advice Centre. They provide help to people on the sharp end of austerity. Switch Up gives young people the opportunities they need and tackles youth violence. I’ve been privileged to be able to amplify those organisations.
Issan Ghazni (Workers Party of Britain), Naveed Rashid (Independent), Debbie Stephens (Reform), Ali Khan (Independent) and Johno Lee (Conservative) didn’t attend the interview and didn’t provide written answers.
