GE Interviews: Matt Aldridge - Labour Party

Along with the national Labour Party policies, if elected, he says that he will work hard to help return Salisbury to the city he knows of old.

When asked about what his three big priorities would be for the city, he said, "Salisbury is a place that I feel has been taken for granted for far too long. And what I would like to see, I've got three priorities really for Salisbury.

First of all, local economy. I really want to energize the local economy. We have great independent businesses, great cultural assets, great heritage assets here, and great environmental assets that we should be making much more of.

"All of the entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity is out there, but it's been held back slightly and it's been held back often by by policies coming from government, but also lack of coordination and a little bit of energy.

"That's where change comes in. I think that we can take it we can take this forward through working with local businesses, but also when it comes to the local economy, thats things like looking at the road situation, that's things like looking at a housing situation that we'll talk about later, we've just got so much that we can actually energize and put a bit of a shine back on Salisbury.

"You know, I remember growing up leaning out my window and watching the fireworks at the end of the festival.

"You know, it felt like Salisbury really was a cultural landmark, but like so many market towns across this country, things have just lost their shine a bit. So that's what I'd like to that's priority number one.

"Priority number two for me is supporting our hard working families and our farmers.

"The families in Salisbury with the cost of living crisis going forward, we really need to support them because people find it hard to find places to live.

"We need to look at the education in Salisbury going forward, but also our farmers who are so much a part of not just Salisbury but the South Wiltshire constituency. [They're] are so much a part of all of our food security, but also our cultural heritage as well. So I'd like to work with them.

"Then finally, third, it wouldn't be an interview about Salisbury without talking about our rivers and our local environments.

"So let's clean up the rivers. I think it's absolutely baseline. Any member of Parliament for Salisbury absolutely must clean up the rivers, these five wonderful rivers, unique ecosystems.

"You know, there are less chalk streams in the world than there are coral reefs. I was talking to Fergal Sharkey just last week. He came up to support my campaign because we're putting the rivers front and centre. This is a man who isn't from Salisbury, but as soon as he got out of the car, I was about to brief him on our Five Rivers and why they're really important.

"He said, 'You don't need to tell me about the five rivers' I've fished each one of them. You have the best rivers in the world, and I want to come and save them with you.

Listen to the full interview below, and you can find out more about the Labour Party manifesto here: https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/labour-manifesto-2024-sign-up/

Salisbury Radio will conduct and release interviews with the candidates standing in the Salisbury constituency. Hear what they had to say about important local and national issues in the lead-up to the General Election. All seven candidates have been invited to participate.

Tune into Salisbury Radio’s Election Night Special with all the news from 10 pm on Thursday 4th July.