Election candidate for Labour James Naish sets out his plan for Rushcliffe should he be chosen as your MP.
We spoke to the Labour candidate for Rushcliffe constituency in the forthcoming General Election James Naish about this campaign.
Why should Rushcliffe residents vote for you to be their next MP?
I want the country to wake on the morning of 5 July to a fresh start because the country isn’t working as well as it should. You only have to look around you to see that things are going backwards rather than forwards. Schools, roads and health centres are creaking.
Labour will do things differently. We have promised to implement tough fiscal rules and to strengthen the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.
To transform the NHS into a neighbourhood health service and to start building a National Care Service. To set up publicly-owned GB Energy to build greener infrastructure. To give communities control over buses. To take rail into public ownership. To take tough action on failing water companies. And improve access to nature and promote biodiversity.
As a Council Leader in North Notts, I have led and developed the effort to secure a multi-billion-pound fusion energy prototype plant for Nottinghamshire as well as over £60m of Government grants. Our Local Plan is projected to create almost 10,000 jobs while securing new schools, healthcare investment, new bus services, flood mitigation infrastructure and affordable housing. The same can be done in Rushcliffe.
Your next MP should have the ability to influence key decisions on your behalf. This will only be possible by electing a strong Labour MP to ensure that Rushcliffe and the East Midlands get their fair share of investment.
What do you think is the biggest issue facing Rushcliffe?
There are a couple of big policy areas that extend beyond Rushcliffe but are impacting us here.
For example, there were over 563 days of non-stop sewer storm overflows in Rushcliffe in 2023. People are horrified by this. Labour will put failing water companies under special measures to clean up our water. We will give regulators new powers to block the payment of bonuses to executives who pollute our waterways and bring criminal charges against persistent law breakers. We will impose automatic and severe fines for wrongdoing and ensure independent monitoring of every outlet.
Another example is declining nature and biodiversity which dozens of residents have contacted me about. They want to see action. As part of our plans to improve responsible access to nature, Labour will create nine new National River Walks, one in each region of England, and establish three new National Forests in England, whilst planting millions of trees and creating new woodlands. Labour will expand nature-rich habitats such as wetlands, peat bogs and forests so families can explore and wildlife can thrive, including on public land. Labour is committed to reducing waste by moving to a circular economy.
Locally, ever-increasing house prices and the lack of housing diversity and supporting infrastructure is a big concern. The Rushcliffe Local Plan Monitoring Report 2022/23 shows that 38.5% of the houses built since 2011 are 4+ bed homes and 65.6% are 3+ bed homes. We are on track to deliver a minimum of 13,150 new homes between 2011 and 2028 which is positive (6,747 had been built at the end of 2022/23) but will this meet a demonstrable local need? Or are developers primarily calling the shots?
At the same time, the district as a whole isn’t seeing as much infrastructure investment as residents would like. Rushcliffe Borough Council is currently sitting on over £45m of Section 106 money which hasn’t been spent on the communities now living with increased pressures caused by ongoing development. This is three times more money than any other council in Nottinghamshire. 996 hectares of land have also been removed from the green belt for development since 2014, and there is significant pressure on school places.
If elected, I will seek to proactively work with Rushcliffe Borough Council to fully understand future housing and infrastructure needs for the next Local Plan period, based on my experience of making Neighbourhood and Local Plans. After all, development isn’t a goal in itself – it is a means to deliver benefits, facilities and jobs for Rushcliffe residents.
Finally, potholes! People are genuinely now having to spend extra money on car tyres and damage. Labour will fix an additional one million potholes across England in each year of the next parliament, funded by deferring the A27 bypass.
What’s one of Rushcliffe’s major advantages in terms of future projects?
I currently work in the energy industry for a company that is rolling out £2.5bn of green infrastructure. I believe this is really important to our future so I’m making public commitments to drive forward the discussion about how the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station can deliver both high-quality jobs and a positive environmental impact. The site could deliver lots of regional economic growth in the near future but this needs leadership and, together with the new East Midlands Mayor, I hope to be able to drive this.
Note: Candidates have been invited to send their views which will be published in the coming days should they respond.
Ruschliffe Candidates
James Grice (Reform)
Richard Mallender (Green)
James William Naish (Lab)
Harbant Kaur Sehra (Ind)
Greg Webb (Lib Dem)
