Richmond General Election: Reform candidate Lee Taylor Q&A

We have been speaking to candidates from all the major parties who are campaigning to be the next Richmond and Northallerton MP.

Lee Taylor, 42, is standing for the Reform Party against the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

We sat down with Lee to find out why he went into politics and what he hopes to do if he is elected.

How did you get into politics Lee?

"I’m born and bred in West Yorkshire, in Huddersfield. I was there until I was 20 years old.

"I had a working class background, my dad was a mechanic and my mother worked at Woodcote Travel, she was one of the first people to get on a Concord which was one of the perks.

"She then worked in childcare.

"I joined the army at the age of 20, I was in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers. I have basically gone all around the UK living in different areas.

"I did a tour of Iraq in 2005, Afghanistan in 2008 and 2014. I have been to Kenya which was an interesting exercise, we helped build an orphanage. Military wise I have been around and done a lot.

"I enjoyed my military career. I had a geeky side to my personality, I followed politics and I watched successive governments fail us."

When did you decide that you wanted to become a Reform Party candidate?

"I got more and more into politics in 2015 and 2016. I have always noticed unfairness.

"I have always been watching it. These guys are meant to be the best of us and they are meant to be looking after the British people.

"They are meant to be defending our interests and serving the British people.

"Rishi Sunak has turned to the general public to say they have to vote for him out of fear of the other party, that is when I have decided that his position is untenable.

"He should have resigned. He probably will lose his seat now.

"I nearly decided to stand in the summer of 2023, but I was finishing my military career.

"It isn’t easy to get into politics. I did apply on Christmas Eve 2023 because I wasn’t happy with some of the things I saw on the telly.

"I sat down and I spent two or three hours and I put my application forward. I had successive interviews and then I was made an approved candidate."

What did it mean to you when Rishi Sunak left the D-Day event in France early?

"I was already of the opinion that a lot of what Rishi Sunak has done had been a national disgrace.

"In Parliament right now we have got a Parliament that doesn’t function.

"It’s just point scoring ahead of the election. He’s offering things out like Jeremy Corbyn.

"Him leaving that D-Day event early shows that he doesn’t quite understand the magnitude of it."

What are your top three priorities for Northallerton and Richmond?

1. Sending a message to the Conservative Party

"I think the people of Richmond and Northallerton need to send a message nationally and they need to be a cut above the rest of the constituencies.

"We need to send a message that we reject failure. We reject Rishi’s failure and his party.

"That will tell Keir Starmer that he has to up his game.

"If we let Rishi back into this seat we will be saying that when we tell them to go right they can go left and they will carry on with these shenanigans that we have seen."

2. Protecting the NHS

"We need to protect the Friarage in Northallerton at all costs.

"That’s one that ties in with one or two of the other candidates."

3. Protecting local farmers

"The main drive for them is cutting net zero. We also want to get them a better deal.

"It feels like the supermarkets control everything and make the price choices rather than the farmer getting a better deal.

"I don’t know how we do that yet but that is something that we will look at in future.

"We need to back our farmers. A lot of the local people care about the farmers. Although they are a small community having the farmers on side works well with the locals."

4. A vision for the youth

"There are so many issues around our youth at the moment. It is a big problem.

"Putting up the tax threshold for them coming into work will make things better for them but we need more places for them to go, activities for them to do.

"We need more options for our young people. They are being left behind. There feels like there is no money for them because of the national state at the moment.

"We seem to have loads of money for putting people in hotels and accommodation. Until we sort out the mess of national government there is no money for local issues."

Do you think you can win this election?

"I’ve looked at the numbers of voters and who has been voting for what.

"Looking at what happened in 2015. You have the insurgent party which is UKIP. It was not as well known as Reform or as credible. It beat Labour.

"Rishi got 27k. He came off the back of William Hague.

"I think people need to start looking at the individuals in front of them. I believe I am in second place, but now the polls are going haywire.

"I always thought the race was just between me and Rishi Sunak. Now it depends on what happens with the Conservative vote. A lot of their vote is going to be coming to me. I might be on 22,000.

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"That could be crazy but it is possible. I don’t believe Labour have got enough votes to be anywhere near what they are saying. Even if they drew votes from the Greens and the Lib Dems. It doesn’t add up.

"Unless Conservatives don’t vote or they don’t turn out that is the only way Labour can win the seat.

"I look at the calculus and I think I am sat where Labour think they are at."