Angeliki Stogia is the Chester South & Eddisbury Labour candidate at the general election

Tell us about yourself and why you are standing

I have lived and worked in the North West for over 30 years on successful regeneration projects across the North West region, including Cheshire. My work has fired my passion for fairness, equality and sustainability and drove me into politics.
My bid to become an MP for Chester South and Eddisbury stems from my passion and dedication to give something back and make a difference. This is what brought me into politics in the first place. Over the last 14 years I have seen the devastation and damage the Conservatives caused to our communities, cities, towns and the lives of ordinary people.
For the past 12 years I’ve been a Councillor delivering on what matters to local people. I was trusted with transforming the transport system in Manchester, including the city’s biggest ever highway maintenance programme – filling potholes and fixing pavements. I delivered sustainable developments and much needed new homes in ways that protect our natural environment and green spaces. All this in very challenging financial circumstances. I am proud of my track record of getting things done to improve people’s lives. We can achieve so much more under a Labour government. I want to be part of the journey of  ending the chaos and bringing back investment in our communities, creating an environment where people can thrive, achieve their ambitions and live happy, healthy lives.

What personal attributes can you bring to the role?

I think I would say that I am tenacious, I don’t take no for an answer. Also when people tell me you can’t do things, I will do them, I have a dogged determination. I have lived in the North West for 30 years, so I bring the grit and the tenacity of any Northern person. I also bring the experience and I stand on my track record of working and delivering for local residents across Manchester. I have a lot of experience of working with other councils and other councillors. I think that it puts me in good stead to represent the people of Chester South and Eddisbury. I know that not everybody is a natural Labour voter and I want them to give us an opportunity and a chance to move the county forward.

What are your 3 main priorities if elected?

I’ve got more than 3! I think that support with the cost of living crisis is the main priority. I am not only talking about people on low incomes or in deprived areas like Lache, I have spoken people to across the constituency who are suffering from the crisis, places you might traditionally think “these guys are fine” but actually there is a lot of concern regardless of income bracket. I think climate change and sustainability and the pollution in the river Dee, and transport challenges and connectivity are really important here. The other thing is investing in the NHS and affordable homes. If I had to choose 3 it would be connectivity, cost of living crisis and the NHS.

How would you assess the performance of the Government?

Well… I think from bad to worse, chaos. I think that when they came to power they said they were going to fix a broken Britain but they have smashed it into pieces. Its a shocking state of affairs, nothing works anymore, everything is broken, look at every sector, every policy area. People can’t sleep because they can’t pay bills, people can’t sleep because they have children and grandchildren and they are thinking about their future. Anyway you want to approach it, everything is worse. One of the worst things they have caused is that people have lost faith in politics. We want young people to gain trust in politics again.

What challenges do you face representing a diverse constituency – rural/urban- different sets of priorities and challenges etc ?

First of all in terms of the boundaries of the constituency, the Government have given the instruction to the Electoral Commission to do the changes based on numbers. Its a numbers game they could have done it on communities and then Chester wouldn’t have been split, or Nantwich wouldn’t have been split. We have people up and down this constituency who are very annoyed with the state of affairs and I want to say to people: Do you want to carry on being annoyed or shall we move forward? I think I am the best candidate because in inner city Manchester, our boundaries have changed a lot, When i first started in politics we were part of Central, then we were part of Stretford , then Rusholme then Gorton. These things happen, but the best thing we can do is work and try and find a solution. In response to the second part of your question, the person who people are going to select as an MP needs to be grounded on what’s important for people. The people that have submitted questions understand that the needs of Lache, the needs of Tarporley, the needs of Audlem and Kelsall are all different. I’ve got the experience representing the diverse needs of Manchester communities. I led the Manchester Transport Strategy, that involved Manchester Trafford and Salford. I had to work with different people with different needs. Over here I need to understand what matters to people, because what matters to the farming community is not going to be the same as businesses.

What would you say to disaffected former residents of City of Chester?

We’ve got to look forward and make the best of what we have. I will work with Sam, I will work with Mike Amesbury and I will work with Crewe and also the Welsh side.

What are the main challenges facing Chester South and how will you address them?

I think its the NHS services in the Countess Hospital have been through some very difficult times. The primary challenge is people getting in through A&E and then also having in place thr right adult health and social care to get back into the community. Dentists are a big issue in this area. Schools another big issue. I was talking to a resident today she is a teacher in Chester and she’s been told she’s not allowed to do any more copying or order any more books. So these are fundamental challenges. Better public transport. The River Dee might be splitting the city, but Sam and I are going to be resolved to solve the challenges.

What do you feel needs to happen for residents to adjust to climate change?

Climate change is a very big issue and it has come up on the doorstep quite a lot. Residents are very worried about flooding. we have specific issues in the South and also in the villages in Eddisbury. What we want to do is make sure we invest in local energy, we have Hynet on our doorstep, and also we have to insulate our leaky homes. There is a lot of work being done by the voluntary and community sectors, and businesses and I will be the champion of this work. I fundamentally think that in order to get the residents to work on climate change is to work with what they care about. There are people doing litter picking, planting trees, doing conservation work. It’s supporting them to do more and empowering them and you can do that on a very granular level. On the other side, being in Government as an MP I am very passionate about climate change and sustainability and I want to work with both councils to deliver their plans to decarbonise.

What is your stance on Palestine?

In Manchester we demanded a ceasefire on the 17th October. I think the loss of both sides is shocking. I am on the side of humanity and I condemn the strikes in what is supposed to be a safe zone in Rafah. The tragic loss of life on both sides… We need an immediate ceasefire, we need to get all the hostages out and then we need to get aid into Gaza. We see it played out on the news and my heart breaks a little every time I see it.

What are your thoughts on housing policy?

In terms of housing we want more affordable homes. What Labour has said is that we will give first dibs to people who live locally. The challenge I see in the area is that there are a lot of executive homes and not many homes that are affordable. The other challenge that we have is the type of housing is quite leaky, bills are going up, so retrofitting homes is something that I want to solve. In terms of renters there is a lot we can do in terms of tackling no fault evictions, there is a lot we can do.

What are your thoughts on our future relationship with the EU?

I think we are where we are with the EU. We have so much to do in terms of sorting out the country I don’t think its appropriate we play this question out again. We need to sort out schools and fix our NHS. We need proper policies for farmers to have the appropriate subsidies and support. Cheshire can feed not only Chester, but Manchester and beyond. I really want to work with the farming communities because they are putting blood sweat and tears into the work they do and I want to be their champion.

Is a trans woman a woman?

I think that trans rights are human rights but I do understand and appreciate that there are some safety and security issues. I want to find out what exactly the concerns the person who asked this question are.

What are your views on renationalising services and utilities ?

I don’t think that we should be renationalising, that’s my personal view. If we look at water, we have a number of companies that have been privatised by the Conservatives, they haven’t done much work, they haven’t solved the problems, they haven’t tackled storm sewage overflows, yet they are giving big fat bonuses to their executives and we need to tackle this. We will set up Great British Energy. This will be a new publicly owned, clean power company for Britain. It will invest in clean energy across the country, and make the UK a world leader in offshore wind, nuclear power, and hydrogen. Great British Energy will help lower bills and boost our energy independence.

What 3 key policies from the national manifesto will encourage people to vote for you

The most important policy is our commitment to economic stability. After years of turmoil and financial mismanagement, a period of stability is essential to allow local government, businesses and families to plan their finances. It is only when confidence in the economy has been restored that people will start spending again, businesses will invest and we can build sustainable growth, allowing us to keep taxes, inflation and mortgages as low as possible. That is why Labour has pledged to strong fiscal rules, robust economic institutions, and a new ‘fiscal lock’ to ensure we never repeat the mini budget that sent mortgage rates soaring.
The NHS is on its knees with record waiting lists, dangerous delays to the ambulance service and demoralised staff. Labour has a clear plan to provide 2
million extra appointments in the first year paying staff proper overtime rates to provide evening and weekend appointments to break the backlog. We will rebuild
NHS dental services with targeted recruitment to get dentists into the communities where they are needed and a reformed NHS dental contract. Our focus is on turning the NHS into a Neighbourhood Health Service bringing together doctors, nurses and other health professionals in local communities and using innovative technologies to prevent ill health.
We are not doing enough to prepare young people for work and for life. Childcare and early learning opportunities are unavailable or unaffordable for many families. Teacher shortages mean that young people are leaving school without key communication and maths skills while creative subjects are being squeezed out of the curriculum. Labour’s first step will be to recruit 6,500 new teachers in key subject areas. We will improve children’s wellbeing by employing mental health support staff in every school and introducing free breakfast clubs in primary schools in England. We also plan to change the rules to give children greater opportunity to study music, sport and the arts.

What is your stance on immigration ?

Immigration is important to Britain. Skills and labour shortages in areas such as health and social care and food production mean that we are dependent on migrant workers to fill the gaps. I believe we need a fair system of controlled migration backed by plans to reduce our reliance on overseas workers by addressing home-grown skills shortages, training British workers through improved apprenticeships and further education and ensuring that hard work is rewarded with proper wages and conditions. We also need to make sure that migrant workers who are here legitimately are protected from exploitation by agencies who charge excessive amounts to arrange visas and from rogue employers who flaunt employment and minimum wage laws.
Under the previous government the numbers of asylum seekers arriving in small boats has soared and the backlog of asylum seekers waiting in expensive and
unsuitable hotel accommodation has reached record levels. Expensive gimmicks like the Rwanda policy clearly are not working. Surely the answer is to tackle the problem at source. Labour’s plan for a new Secure Border Command will coordinate the currently splintered work of enforcement agencies, police and intelligence, strengthen our links with other European countries and disrupt the criminal gangs that prey on desperate people. Our policy is also committed to providing more resource to clear the backlog with a 1,000 Returns and Enforcement unit. This will speed up decision making to ensure that genuine asylum seekers are accepted and can get on with rebuilding their lives while those who are not entitled to stay are removed.

David Cameron said recently that every village and town had something to be proud of. What are you proud of in Chester South and Eddisbury?

I’m very proud of the community spirit. I have been to a few fetes this summer and I can see that people are really pulling out the stops to showcase and organise local community events that bring people together and raise community spirit. I believe Chester South and Eddisbury should be top of the list for tourism, we have our farms, farm shops, local businesses and I see this as a key asset.

According to recent polls, after 14 years of consecutive Conservative governments, our country is ready for change. Every week I speak to hundreds of residents in Chester South and Eddisbury who want things to change. The choice for the residents of Chester South and Eddisbury is between Conservative MP under a Labour government or a Labour MP, in a Labour government, who will fight their corner working together with Labour MPs representing neighbouring constituencies.

I have a sabbatical from work and I am staying in Chester South 24-7 and I want to win this. if given the privilege to serve, my intention is to live in the area I represent. When the ballot boxes get tipped I want to have no regrets and leave no stone unturned.