Meet the candidates standing in the Millfield ward of Sunderland City Council for election on May 6

Voters are due to head to polling stations on Thursday, May 6, to re-elect or replace the holders of 28 seats on Sunderland City Council.

Bidding for the prize in Millfield, are:

Syed Ajmol ALI (Conservative Party)

I am a semi-retired, self-employed businessman living in the heart of Millfield.

I can see for myself the many issues affecting the residents of the ward.

For years I was an advocate that we left the EU.

I am proud of my government and the people at the Millfield Medical Centre for their magnificent work in implementing the vaccine programme.

With your support I would like to become your councillor.

For long-term stability and change in Millfield, vote Conservative

Niall Dane HODSON (Liberal Democrat)

It has meant a lot to me to serve the community in Millfield, Pallion, Thornhill and Sunderland city centre as your local councillor over the past five years.

You should expect that your councillor will work hard for the area.

I hope that I’ve proved through my work and campaigns that I’ve done just that.

My campaigns have: reduced councillor allowances and stopped free meals and perks; helped get roads and footpaths across our area repaired; reversed cuts to street cleaning and fly tipping enforcement.

However the city is still dirty, and needs cleaning up.

Basic cleansing and refuse services aren’t working for residents.

It’s my priority to take the Council to task to fix these issues.

If I’m re-elected as your local councillor, I will keep on listening to residents, standing up for local people at the Council, and keeping in touch all year round with my FOCUS newsletters.

Iain William KAY (Labour and Co-operative Party)

This is a unique election.

We stand on the brink of the post-pandemic era and we all know there will be many changes to how we live.

We can vote for people locked into the old priorities of potholes, fly tipping and dog dirt or we can vote for people with an eye on the future and new priorities that will emerge.

The Council will need to help thousands of people who are suffering Covid linked mental health stresses, work out how to account for what the ‘new retail’ environment will look like, plan for all the families who have fallen behind on mortgage and rent payments through no fault of their own and support those local landlords who have had little or no rent for months on end.

I am a candidate looking to the future.

No one else in the Millfield campaign can say the same.

Vote Iain Kay on May 6.

Gary OGLE (Green Party)

As a resident of Millfield I would work to improve our environment.

Fly-tipping is still an issue and we need to take action against those who fail to clean up after their dogs.

Though there has been an effort to repair potholes, the material used to patch them is not good quality and the repairs don’t last.

Parking is still a problem in many parts of the ward and so are speeding cars.

I would support a 20mph speed limit in all residential areas.

A vote for me is a vote for a cleaner, safer Millfield.

Vote Green!

Julio ROMERO JOHNSON (Communist Party of Britain)

I was born in Spain but moved to Sunderland in 2013 where I have been living and working as a brewer ever since.

I believe that workers, wherever they come from, share a common interest.

Years of austerity, together with the current Covid crisis, have made the super-rich wealthier while the vast majority of the population have to endure higher fares and council taxes, cuts to council services, job insecurity or even working two or three jobs to make ends meet.

Workers create the wealth of this country, yet only get the left-over crumbs.

We must build a society that benefits the community, not private interest.

Communists stand for public ownership of all public services like the NHS or education; of key and strategic industries such as gas and electricity, banking or telecommunications.

Why should someone profit from the basic needs of society?

We have to build a socialist future.

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