David Ayre for Blaydon and Consett in General Elections 2024

I am a plumber and heating engineer working in many areas of the north east of England.

Up until 2016 I was apolitical, with no strong political views and certainly none that I wanted to be vocal about.

Then came 2016.

Having carefully listened to both sides of the Brexit debate, I decided it would be a good idea for Britain to leave the EU. I therefore voted to leave. Having done so, when the results were announced, I was happy that the UK had signalled its intention to leave the European Union.

To let you into a secret, at that time I would have accepted the result even if we had lost.

However, we won.

I then watched 3 years of lies and deception as politicians and civil servants went out of their way to stall the process. I could see what was happening and felt powerless and increasingly annoyed. Then came Boris with his oven ready Brexit deal which again was a farce but got him into power. Again, I thought, well that’s the best we are going to get. Then came Covid. As a plumber, I worked all the way through and took only the first tranche of the relief payments.

The government asked whether my business had been adversely affected; as it was not, I pursued no further payments. I then watched the government give millions away to con men and Conservative Party members and then make up lies to keep us controlled. All this time I WAS getting increasingly frustrated with the self-serving political class.

Meanwhile general elections came and went, local elections came and went. There was never an option to vote for Reform UK. I thought, that if I didn’t feel I could ever vote Conservative or Labour and there wasn’t a candidate for Reform UK there must many more people that felt the same as me. I therefore put myself forward as a Reform Party candidate, not for myself but to give all those unhappy with the two major parties someone, and indeed something, to vote for.

Throughout this period there have been immigrants arriving every day and again the government has shown no political will to do anything about them.

I have never done anything like this before. I am looking for people who can help me in every way from advice to helping with leaflet drops and walkabouts. I believe if we can get the word out, send a message to the people, we stand a good chance of getting a result. I find from talking to people that some don’t even know about Reform UK, so leaflets and walkabouts initially will be most successful.

Thanks again for your interest and I look forward to your replies and comments