I live in the Helsby area with my wife and children, and have always loved the area as the perfect place to bring up a young family.

Full statement

I work as a financial manager with a Masters degree in Forensic Accounting, and when I'm not working you might see me out running, cycling, swimming, or, more likely, just trying to keep up with my children.

When I first moved here I walked to the top of Helsby Hill and I can honestly say I wasn't prepared for how the view would strike me. When we think about a great view in this country, we often think of the Lake District, or the Cornish Coast, or maybe the Scottish Highlands. All of these views of natural beauty fail to show the thing that makes this country what is: its people. From Helsby Hill you can see from the ancient right up to the minute; from an iron-age hillfort, through Roman roads and a Victorian railway, via 20th century industry and construction, to the wind turbines that symbolise our future. You can see town and country, farmland and river, the human and the natural. To me there is no more remarkable a view in England, and that makes me proud to call this area home.

It may sound naïve but I am one of those true believers in democracy. It is an imperfect system but it is something that should rightly be fought for, and this is why I am standing in this by-election. I fear that the increasingly aggressive and polarised political landscape risks corrupting what we take for granted. I feel the time is right to remind politicians that in your battle with each other you cannot forget the people that you are meant to represent. We have got used to a system in which we have precious little real choice in politics, and parties take our votes for granted. So when I say I plan to offer an alternative to party politics, I mean that there is another way.

Imagine the day after a by-election in which an independent candidate, one who promises nothing more than to work for their constituents and no-one else, has defeated the big-party candidates. If that were to happen then the impact on UK politics would be huge. Politicians would understand that you can't ignore the issues faced by local people in favour of party priorities. In future, candidates would know that time spent arguing with each other is time not spent focussing on what is important to real people, and that voters will punish you for it.

I am often asked "why are you running, you're just an ordinary person?" What does that say about our relationship with our elected representatives? We don't see them as being 'normal', and we don't feel that 'ordinary' people have a place in politics. Well I am an ordinary person, and that's exactly why I hope that the people of Runcorn & Helsby, and the wider constituency, choose me to represent them.

All I can promise, is that I will work for you and no-one else.

Be independent, vote independent.