Ahead of local elections on May 22nd, and our Vote Jesmond 2014 elections hustings event on May 19th, JesmondLocal is profiling each of the 10 candidates for councillor in North and South Jesmond. Ending our five days of profiles, the Conservative Party.

Duncan Crute

Conservative candidate for North Jesmond

Early career

Duncan Crute sold his marketing consultancy business 10 years ago and moved into tailoring, running the popular Crutes La Mar business in Newcastle. Now in his 40s, following a small amount of dabbling in politics as a student, he admits that “I am very much a late­comer to politics, as it were.” For the past 22 years, Crute has lived in Jesmond, something he believes separates him from others running for council seats: “I still eat and drink here, I still shop here,” he says. “I know the ward pretty well, probably better than most councillors.”

Why Conservatives?

Crute’s forthright about why he is running for the Conservatives in Jesmond: “I am a socialist at heart – my socialism is One Nation Toryism. I believe that everyone is equal. I fundamentally believe in that principle. But equally, I believe in free enterprise.

“I’ve seen Newcastle as a whole go backwards, in my opinion because of a succession of bad councils,” he adds. “There are millions upon millions raised in this ward, yet the budget allocation is less than £20,000 per year. They provide no local amenities whatsoever – they closed the swimming pool which was saved by the residents, they closed the library which was saved by the residents, the primary school had to be PFI financed.”

What North Jesmond needs?

“You only have to look at the state of the roads and pavements and the refuse that’s lying around,” says Crute. The candidate is running on an anti-council ticket, promising to bring action to the local authority. “I’ve just got severely hacked off with it and annoyed with the apathy of the council,” he says.

“There’s not a single local amenity provided by the council. The demand is there. The library, the swimming pool and the primary school show that,” says Crute. He also promises to tackle multiple occupancy residences, saying that it can cause “spin-off problems”: an abundance of cars and not enough parking spaces; fly tipping; and a lack of contribution to council tax. “It’s only fair,” says Crute, “that they should form some contribution, isn’t it?”

Crute also claims he will fight more strongly for Jesmond’s representation on the local council. “I want a fairer spend on this ward,” he declares. “I’m not one of those people who will say that all of the money raised in this ward should be spent in this ward. I think that is a load of nonsense, we obviously have to help the poorer wards. But I think that when we are raising millions, and given less than £20,000, it’s a disgrace.”

On a national level

Though many believe there is little space between the main parties in Westminster, Crute draws a clear line between the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, and Labour. “I don’t believe in the way that Labour tax and spend. The Liberal Democrats are very left wing. And I don’t even want to talk about UKIP, they are an absolute disgrace. The lies they come out with and their propaganda. I think they are out­-and­-out racists, nobody will convince me otherwise.”

Sam Lee

Conservative candidate for South Jesmond

Early career

Sam Lee moved to Sandyford when he came to Newcastle University, where he is currently studying politics. “I absolutely fell in love with Jesmond and Sandyford when I moved here from Hull,” he writes. “I’m one of those rare students who lives here all year round. The area’s really central with a great local economy, I’m running here to help it become as great as it can be.”

Why Conservatives?

Though Lee says he would not necessarily be beholden to the party whip if elected, he says that “the Conservatives are a big party and mean so many different things to so many different people. For me being a Conservative means fundamentally fighting for aspiration and for sensible government. It means striving for a value based society where people who want to get on have the means and support to get on.It means fighting for a council where overbearing bureaucracy doesn’t weigh down on people and prevent them from reaching their full potential.”

What South Jesmond needs?

Lee believes it’s reductive to try and distill his policies into bulletpoints: “South Jesmond has councillors aware of what worries people in the area, and reasonable efforts are made in keeping the area clean. What I want to fight for though is to make this area great.”

Active engagement with the community would be high on Lee’s list of priorities. “What I want to do,” he says, “is really listen to the residents, companies and students here to make real decisions that can propel the area forward.”

Letting agencies are a bugbear of Lee’s, and he would do more to protect students from predatory practices. Yet he also is acutely aware of the split in Jesmond’s resident population.

“The relationship between residents and students can be really tricky too,” he notes. “A number of students treat the area with no respect. I want to work to stop the area being a dumping ground and to make sure both communities get along.”