John Woodcock, Barrow in Furness

For Labour’s John Woodcock there is one word that has dominated his last few years as an MP – Trident.

The nuclear missiles, carried by submarines being built in Barrow, have proved a controversial subject on the national political agenda.

Mr Woodcock has clashed with his own party on the issue, as thousands of jobs in his constituency rested on a vote by MPs about whether or not to spend billions, at a time of austerity, on arms they hoped would never be needed.

To say he and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn have not always seen eye to eye is putting it mildly. However, in an increasingly volatile global climate, it would now appear they are roughly on the same page regarding Trident, with the party’s new manifesto including a firm commitment to retain the deterrent.

But is it enough? Winning with a majority of just 795 votes at the 2015 General Election, Mr Woodcock knows his seat is firmly on the Conservative hit list – and it remains to be seen what effect the Trident deal and his public battles with his own party will have on his campaign.


John Woodcock Despite putting himself forward to defend his seat, Mr Woodcock has predicted a national Tory landslide.

But he hopes that, rather than seeing it as a contest between Corbyn and Theresa May, local voters will decide that an opposition MP would be better placed to speak up for Barrow and Furness among a “sea of blue”.

He said: “I’m the underdog, no question about it.

“But my record is always standing up for the area, even if it gets me in hot water with my own party.”

Asked why he didn’t stand as an independent, he said: “I’ve always been Labour. Labour values are my values. I just don’t agree with the guy who’s in charge of the party at the moment.”

Ultimately Mr Woodcock believes he still connects with people on the doorstep, and therefore still stands a chance. “MPs need to get involved in the community, and I can put my record to the voters.”

He believes the Trident vote was a crucial moment for him as MP, securing local employment. “We are talking about thousands of high skilled jobs. It employs 9,000 now and will rise even further at its peak.”

Another key challenge has been to turn around the fortunes of the troubled Furness General Hospital following the high-profile deaths of babies and mothers, which have come to light in recent years. But he praised relatives of the deceased and the wider community for fighting for the hospital.

“We came within five days of having the maternity unit downgraded. Now we’ve got a brand new unit going up,” he said.

  • The other candidates standing in Barrow are: Loraine Birchall (Lib Dem), Simon Fell (Conservative), Rob O’Hara (Green), Alan Piper (Ukip)

Learning to shout out loud for west Cumbria

Sue Hayman, Workington


Sue Hayman Since being elected in 2015, Sue Hayman has risen quickly up the ranks of the Labour party onto the shadow front bench.

However the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs insists local issues have always been her top priority, only accepting positions that have strong links.

“I wouldn’t have taken jobs if I did not feel it was of benefit to the constituency. I learnt very quickly that if we were going to get anything done we would have to shout a lot,” she said.

Asked for her view on leader Jeremy Corbyn, she said: “He’s very polarising. I meet people who think he’s an absolute breath of fresh air. You get both sides.

“What I can say, for all of us, is that we are trying to bring in policies that are best for everyone.”

The 2015 floods were one of her biggest tests as an MP, with parts of her constituency badly hit.

She admitted some progress has been slow.

“Everything seems to take a very long time. I’ve argued long and hard for funding, and worked very hard with the Environment Agency and different flood action groups to try and move things along.”

For businesses, she claimed to have set up talks with the insurance industry.

And she revealed she’d had “very frustrating” conversations with ministers about the way funding is dished out.

“There’s still a lot to be done. We believe Cumbria is a special case. I think we’ve got a strong argument,” she said.

Mrs Hayman said one of the other big issues has been cuts to disability benefits, with people with severe health issues being told they are fit to work.

“Every single time I hold a surgery I get at least one person coming in who has been affected by reassessment. To have people on an almost weekly basis in my office in tears, a lot of these decisions are just cruel,” she said.

Having been vocal against planned NHS cuts – removing community hospital beds from Maryport and downgrading paediatrics and maternity in Whitehaven – Mrs Hayman was disappointed the proposals weren’t scrapped in their entirety.

But she said securing a 12-month stay of execution for maternity was key, and is hopeful bosses will also look favourably on the community’s alternative plan for Maryport.

“We really need to keep the pressure on. No decision is final. We can still change people’s minds,” she said.

  • The other candidates in Workington: Roy Ivinson (Ind), George Kemp (Ukip), Phill Roberts (Lib Dem), Clark Vasey (Con).

International perspective but local needs took priority

Rory Stewart, Penrith and The Border


Rory Stewart As a Government minister for international development, Conservative Rory Stewart is among those responsible for Britain’s global relations.

But he insists that the problems elsewhere in the world are not taking priority over his constituency work.

Before being handed his international development role, in Theresa May’s post-referendum cabinet reshuffle, he was working much closer to home as floods minister – a post that put him firmly in the spotlight when Storm Desmond left large parts of Cumbria under water.

The damage it left was extensive – bridges down, homes and businesses devastated, and roads washed away.

Mr Stewart was under pressure to sort it out.

But almost 18 months on, although much of it has been repaired, there are no new defences and many still fear the worst will happen again.

Mr Stewart was keen to focus on upstream protection, rather than simply building flood walls higher. But to date, that is still not in place.

He said his first priority was to secure funding to repair roads and bridges, then to prevent future flooding. Yet much of it is still unspent.

“I think we have got the right amount of money, but there is still more we can do on slowing the flow upstream,” he said.

“I think one of the challenges is getting the right engineering and modelling. We have learned that, with that amount of water in them, our rivers systems behave in a completely unprecedented way.”

But Mr Stewart – who set up a forum to bring together local communities, landowners, experts and government agencies – added: “I think I got frustrated with bureaucracy, but there’s also reasons why governments have to be quite slow and methodical.

“We don’t want to spend money quickly, but in the wrong places. Really making sure every penny is spent the right way is going to be crucial.”

Mr Stewart has also found his local community hospitals come under threat from NHS cuts, drawn up by the highly unpopular Success Regime - sent into Cumbria by his own Government.

He opposed the plans, but Wigton and Alston hospitals are still set to lose all their beds.

But Mr Stewart is pleased that NHS bosses have committed to work with the affected communities to find alternative ways of delivering care from the hospitals.

“People are still very upset. But what I’m looking at is other ways of funding beds - social care beds, elderly care beds.

“The main thing is to try to keep beds, whether NHS or social care,” he said.

Mr Stewart added when he was first elected seven years ago, his priorities were improving the broadband network, securing funding for road upgrades and installing a lift at Penrith station. He hailed progress in improving infrastructure.

  • The other candidates in Penrith and The Border: Jonathan Davies (Ind), Neil Hughes (Lib Dem), Lola McEvoy (Lab), Kerryanne Wilde (Ukip).