Labour’s candidate in the General Election in a fortnight’s time in the marginal Hastings and Rye constituency is Peter Chowney, leader of Hastings Council, and a resident in the constituency for 20 years.
Pictured above in Rye’s Conduit Hill with a supporter while talking to voters last weekend, he is proud of what he has been able to do in Hastings, in spite of government cuts across all public services.
He has circulated a 16-page booklet to voters about his views and policies headed: “I want to make this the best place in England to live, work and enjoy life”.
Hastings is a lively town with lots going on, and a lot of effort put into making it look better and attractive to visitors. But, like the surrounding districts including Rye, there are areas of deprivation and he feels “the gap between the rich and poor has got bigger”.
He has worked and lived in various parts of the country before making Hastings home, and has worked for a variety of government departments and local councils, both rural and urban.
Speed bumps brought him back into active politics in Hastings because he was fed up with speeding cars where he lived, and he was first elected to Hastings Council in 1999.
He says he spends as much time as he can gardening and growing vegetables, and has one daughter and an electric bicycle – as well as chairing the Fisheries Local Action Group.
He has seen rural poverty in other parts of the UK and recognises that “it can be bad enough in towns, but it can be much worse in the country” because of the isolation and lack of access to public services such as buses, much affected by recent cuts.
He wants to see public services protected and improved and was particularly indignant about the Tories experimenting with Britain’s children. He points out in his leaflet, when Education Minister Michael Gove opened Rye’s Studio School he said it was an experiment – and has since admitted that studio schools had failed as an experiment.
Despite government cuts, Chowney feels he has been able to improve the image of Hastings and transform how it looks with simple regeneration measures – and he wants the whole of the constituency to be able to believe in a better future.
Photo: Gerard Reilly
Ask him about the cover up at Ecclesbourne Glen
Surprised he is the candidate for Hastings and Rye, and not Sarah Owen, looking at the state of Hastings and Stleonards at the present time,since his leadership, I and many others,are not impressed, with the amount of beggars,drug dealers,dogs mess,and litter, around his town,Hastings and Rye needs strong leadership,as it is slipping down the lists of places to visit, on the South Coast .