Nottinghamshire Live Hustings: Ashfield MP candidates clash over 'potholes' but agree on 'people'

A hustings was held online by Natalie Fahy, editor of Nottinghamshire Live, and Oliver Pridmore, agenda editor.

Out of the six candidates campaigning for the seat, only three attended.

Natalie and Oliver were joined by Debbie Solomon, the Conservative candidate, Labour’s Rhea Keehn, and Ashfield Independent candidate, Jason Zadrozny.

Natalie conducted the meeting and confirmed that candidates Lee Anderson (Reform), Alexander Coates (Green Party), and Daniel Holmes (Liberal Democrats) had not issued a statement to be read out in their absence despite being approached for comment.

The hustings, titled ‘Nottinghamshire Decides: The key battlegrounds of the General Election 2024 – Ashfield’ saw the three candidates clash over policing, potholes, health and High Streets, as questions from readers were posed to candidates.

One of the major topics that candidates clashed over was the issue of potholes on Ashfield's roads, as candidates argued over who was responsible for the roads.

Jason Zadrozny said that the problem was “systematic” and attributed it to government underfunding.

He stated that if elected, he would propose an early day motion to the government, requesting a minimum standard for roads and prioritising structural improvements.

Debbie Soloman, the Conservative candidate, expressed her concern about the poor condition of the roads, attributing the responsibility for their repair to the county council.

She criticised the former Labour-run county council for neglecting the roads and commended the Conservative-run county council for its efforts to improve the roads in recent years.

Rhea Keehn, Labour Party candidate, said there is a need for “long-term investment”.

She stated that Labour would address the state of the roads, making them safer and restoring pride, describing the current condition of Ashfield roads as “embarrassing”.

The issue of locality was also discussed, with candidates being asked whether they lived in the area and what their favourite part of Ashfield was.

Jason and Rhea both confirmed that they lived in Ashfield, while Debbie said that she had lived in Nottinghamshire for 30 years and resided “just a few minutes” outside of the district.

Jason said he was a lifelong resident who was “born in King's Mill,” and Rhea, declared that she had “decided to make Ashfield her home” in 2022.

Despite disagreeing on ways to improve policing, potholes, health care and High Streets, all candidates did agree that the “best thing about Ashfield” was the people.

Debbie said the people of Ashfield were “hard workers” and said she was the “best person for the job” to represent them in parliament.

Jason mentioned that he agreed with Debbie for the “first time” during the hustings.

Along with praising the area's green spaces, he added that the people were what made Ashfield “special”.

Rhea described the community as “welcoming”, with warm and friendly residents.

Nottinghamshire Live will host hustings for candidates in Mansfield, Sherwood Forest and Bassetlaw.

The events will be streamed on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nottinghamshirelive on the following days and times for each area.

Mansfield: Wednesday June 19 – 2pm

Sherwood Forest: Wednesday June 26 – 11am

Bassetlaw: Thursday June 27 – 11am

Readers can also catch up with the debates on the Facebook page if they miss the live hustings.