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Martin Heath
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Northampton

Thanks for joining us for our coverage of the Wellingborough by-election debate, live on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Northampton and on this page.

Six of the candidates debated various issues including the health service and immigration at a cafe in Wellingborough.

You can listen back to the full hour-long discussion here on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sounds. And a full list of candidates can be found here.

Polling stations open on Thursday, 15 February at 07:00 GMT and close at 22:00 GMT, with the count taking place at Kettering Leisure Centre.

Full details on the

Before we sign off, we'll quickly head back to the first question on cost of living and the response from the Green Party's Will Morris.

He said Brexit and Liz Truss "torpedoing the economy" in her short-lived reign as PM contributed to the cost of living crisis.

He said people wanted fairness for themselves, their neighbours and everybody.

Laura Coffey
Political reporter, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Northampton

We covered plenty of ground in this lively debate.

At times the debate felt quite heated, at others there was some agreement.

The candidates clashed over Brexit and immigration. Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats all agreed that more police officers are needed on the streets.

For nearly 60 minutes, we got to hear what matters to them. All will go away feeling that it did not go too badly.

With two weeks to go, it may have swayed some voters to make up their minds.

And that's the final answer from the candidates. We'll bring you some analysis shortly.

Ana Savage Gunn for the Liberal Democrats says there must be a collaborative approach to solving the problems of town centres, and the new MP would be well-placed to lead the collaboration.

She also believes more should be done to help the "tiny shops you don't get at Rushden Lakes" to thrive, and town centres should be cleaned up to reduce crime.

Gen Kitchen (Labour) says the area has beautiful buildings and high streets and people need to work together to make them as attractive as possible to potential visitors.

She believes town centres cannot just rely on local shoppers.

Helen Harrison (Conservative) says all groups should be brought together to create a comprehensive plan for town centres.

Will Morris (Green) says the recent campaign about cutting down trees in Wellingborough shows that people do care about the environment.

He also believes there should be an "equality of taxation" for online and in-person businesses.

Marion Turner-Hawes says a greater police presence would help as police officers are telling her "we can't police the town centres at the moment".

Ben Habib (Reform UK) says planning regulations and net zero rules are making life difficult for town centre businesses.

The fifth question covers how town centres like Wellingborough, Rushden and Higham Ferrers can be brought back to life.

Helen Harrison (Conservative) would like to see more police officers on the street.

She says a "more visible" presence was needed in Wellingborough and that she would work with the county's Police and Crime Commissioner to make it happen.

Gen Kitchen (Labour) says: "We're actually seeing knife crime dip in Wellingborough."

She says Labour are hoping to recruit an extra 13,000 police officers.

Ana Savage Gunn (Liberal Democrats) says as a former senior police officer in Wellingborough, she believes the police are "under-funded".

She wants to see a "visible presence" of police officers in the town centre.

The candidates are asked about current rates of knife crime in Wellingborough.

Marion Turner-Hawes (Independent) says the NHS works well when there are more community-based health services.

She says Wellingborough has been promised an urgent care centre for years and does not have one.

Ben Habib (Reform Party) says the NHS is struggling because the economy is not functioning properly.

He also believes having "more people coming into the country" is having an effect on the service.

Will Morris (Green) says people in Northamptonshire are having to travel some distance to GP surgeries, as some local ones have gone.

He believes the NHS is one of the country's greatest achievements.

Helen Harrison (Conservative) says Covid continues to have an impact on waiting lists.

She says that, in real terms, we are "spending more on the NHS than we ever have before".

Gen Kitchen (Labour) says waits of eight hours or more are "outrageous".

Her party would remove "non-dom" tax status to pay for health service improvements.