General Election 2024: Introducing your Penrith & Solway candidates

Meet the people vying to be your next MP in the new constituency of Penrith & Solway.

We asked the candidates declared so far a bit about themselves and what they are offering the electorate if they are successful in the 2024 General Election, which will be held on July 4.

Cumbria Crack has not edited their answers – they are talking directly to you.

People had until 5pm today, Friday June 7, to declare their intention to stand in the General Election – and more candidates have come forward. We would like to give them the opportunity to answer the questions and urge them to get in touch.

The new candidates are Roy Ivinson, of Seaville, near Silloth, who is an Independent and Chris Johnston, who lives in the constituency, who is also standing as an Independent.

There are six candidates who have declared so far – four have responded to our questions to help you, as voters, learn more about them.

Mark Jenkinson, the Conservative Party

	Mark Jenkinson, The Conservative Party
Who are you?	The 42-year-old is married with four children and lives in Seaton. He was elected as MP for Workington in 2019, a position he held until Parliament was dissolved prior to this election.
How did you get into politics?	Initially it was about 15 years ago, in response to local councillor’s failures on Workington Hall, allowing it to decay beyond repair. I saw it as an opportunity to better represent local people’s concerns. Since then I was twice elected as borough councillor for my home ward, I’ve been chairman of my parish council, deputy leader of Allerdale Borough Council with responsibility for economic growth, MP and a Government minister!
Why do you want to represent Penrith & Solway?	I’ve represented most of the constituency since 2019. I’ve got a proven track record of delivery, with over £1billion investment flowing into north and West Cumbria since 2019. I have work I want to continue, and I want to take the same drive to the new towns and villages in the constituency.
What promises do you make to the people of Penrith & Solway if you are elected?	To ensure that I’m one of the most visible and accessible MPs they’ve ever had, just as I have done since I was elected, and to deliver for them in the same way as I’ve delivered over the last four-and-a-half years, I won’t take my foot off the pedal.
Why should people elect you?	I say what I mean, I do what I say I will do, and I don’t make promises I can’t keep. I’ve got a proven track record of delivery over and above pledges I made at the last election. I’ve handled over 45,000 individual pieces of casework for constituents in that time. No-one is turned away, and no stone is left unturned for each individual case. I’ve had successes with cases decades old in some instances, where constituents were simply ignored previously.
What are the major issues for Penrith & Solway?	The constituency is so large, and different in each of its parts, that it’s difficult to condense to a couple of issues. But underlying much of it is our rurality and low population density meaning we often have unavoidably small hospitals and schools, and it can be a struggle to run viable public transport routes. That’s why I set out with a plan to ensure that our public services get the investment they need; that our schools and hospitals are being rebuilt, expanded and refurbished; and that we’re investing in local public transport so that no-one has to worry about getting to and from that new, better-paying job.

Julia Aglionby, Liberal Democrats

	Julia Aglionby, Liberal Democrats
Who are you?	The 54-year-old is married with two children and is a land agent, specialising in commons and uplands. She is also Professor of Practice at the University of Cumbria, bringing five years Whitehall experience at a national level. She lives in Armathwaite.
How did you get into politics?	Horrified by the impacts of Brexit on our economy and our children’s future I joined the Liberal Democrats and stood at the 2019 General Election.
Why do you want to represent Penrith & Solway?	So Penrith & Solway has a local champion who knows the constituency and places its interest above party politics. I wish to hold those in power to account and be the rural voice in Westminster. I have worked from Nenthead to Allonby over the last 25 years, from Buttermere to Burgh. North Cumbria is my home.
What promises do you make to the people of Penrith & Solway if you are elected?	I will be your champion in Westminster working for your interests. I will work with communities to create fairer economic, social and environmental policies and support for rural businesses, families and communities to flourish.
Why should people elect you?	Over 25 years I have delivered for communities across the constituency; for farmers, on conservation projects, in education and with young people. I am well established as an effective campaigner – recently I was the key driver behind the rally that led to the reopening of the Thirlmere road. I am currently cycling 350 miles around Penrith & Solway to learn more and celebrate successes. I have drive and commitment.
What are the major issues for Penrith & Solway?	• Inadequate mobile and broadband • Severe risks of flooding from climate change • The absence of NHS dentists • Mental health crises devastating families • Poor public transport and roads • Increasing fuel and food poverty • Education and skills to improve opportunities • Unfair trading arrangements holding back businesses

Markus Campbell-Savours, the Labour Party

Markus Campbell-Savours, of the Labour Party

	Markus Campbell-Savours, Labour
Who are you?	The 43-year-old lives in Keswick, where he grew up. His wife is an NHS worker and they have two children. The former electrician is an electrics contracts manager and has been a councillor in Keswick since 2019.
How did you get into politics?	I was exposed to politics from a young age by my father, who was the MP for the Workington, which covered Keswick at the time. I got to meet many people he helped and got to see the value of an MP’s work. It’s sad that many people don’t see this positive side of politics. I didn’t become politically active until my early 20s when I joined the Labour Party. I was politicised by the Iraq War, the climate crisis and housing crisis affecting many young people I’ve known.
Why do you want to represent Penrith & Solway?	This is my home and these are the communities I know best. I feel Cumbria is regularly short changed and believe our people deserve the same opportunities and quality public services as the rest of the country.
What promises do you make to the people of Penrith & Solway if you are elected?	Locally, I’ll push to see the improvements needed in our local NHS and fight for the resources we need to deliver. I’ll fight for higher standards in public life as we need to restore faith in politics. We need to look at second jobs for MPs and the financial donations being made to politicians. I’ll make sure I’m accessible to my constituents. The new constituency is huge but I’ll be visible and hold drop in surgeries across the area so no community feels overlooked.
Why should people elect you?	I’ve grown up in Cumbria and have committed to raising my children here too. I’ve seen the opportunities available to others across the country and feel our communities deserve better. I’ve seen how my father had to battle to ensure investment came to Cumbria and know the value my commitment to our area can deliver. The Labour Government can and will deliver change, I want to be Cumbria’s biggest advocate as we invest in the future.
What are the major issues for Penrith & Solway?	The National Health Service is in crisis across the country and Cumbria is no different. Nothing comes up more often on the doorstep. But locally we face particular challenges around recruitment and retention. I’ll work to support local health leaders but will also push them to deliver.

Matthew Moody, Reform UK

	Matthew Moody, Reform UK
Who are you?	Matthew Moody, 49, lives with his partner near Abbeytown. He has worked in business for 28 years.
How did you get into politics?	I have always been interested in politics and for much of my younger years was a fervent Conservative supporter. However I have become increasingly disenfranchised and disgusted by their attitudes towards their voters and the public that they are meant to serve. The final straw for me was the blatant profiteering and corruption that the Tories presided over during the pandemic and their complete lack of vision for the country going forward. I had voted for the Brexit Party in 2019 and echoed many of their views at the time and Reform UK seemed to be a natural fit for me. When I heard that they were looking for people to represent them, I put myself forward.
Why do you want to represent Penrith & Solway?	The uni-party of Labour and Conservatives are two sides of the same coin. They offer nothing new but themselves and their parties interests and financial backers. It is time for massive change and a reform of the entire electoral and institutional system. I wish to challenge the established voices which no longer represent Penrith and Solway in Parliament in order to have a true and vocal voice for Cumbria and the North. All too often promises and policies are made in London which bear no relation to the reality of life in a primarily rural area and representation must be made to remedy this within a party that promises to reform from the bottom up.
What promises do you make to the people of Penrith & Solway if you are elected?	I promise to serve the constituents and listen to their views and opinions on matters that are deeply personal and relevant to them and ensure these are highlighted in Parliament and at local government level. I promise to challenge the Government on their policies and bring a voice of reason and dissent to the ridiculous policies that both Labour and Conservatives are proposing.
Why should people elect you?	I want my country back. Change is upon us and this like the Brexit referendum is a chance to make history. We live in a country that has been overrun by multiple issues that nobody seems to want to get fixed or has any ideas of how to fix them. It is time for change. Reform UK promises that change through our common sense policies that put people back at the heart of this country and ensure that our country is safer, richer and is alight with possibilities for young and old alike.
What are the major issues for Penrith & Solway?	There are many many issues as everything is broken. We need to ensure that homes in the constituency are insulated to lower heat costs, we need additional investment in not only our towns but rural areas to attract employers and employees back into the area, we need alternative training packages and educational opportunities for young people so that they do not need to leave the area, we need to consider how we utilise the growing number of empty homes and bring these back into use and we need to put a firm focus on helping farmers to grow crops & livestock not force them to plant trees and meadows. That and the endless potholes, growing NHS waiting lists, crime on the up and tackling the cost of living crisis means a very full bag of issues that needs addressing.

Shaun Long, SDP

	Shaun Long, SDP
Who are you?	The 57-year-old is married to Wendy and lives in the Eden Valley. He is an online English tutor.
How did you get into politics?	I’ve always been interested in politics, but have never before been a member of a political party. I decided to stand for the SDP as it offers a genuine alternative to the old failed consensus embodied in the three big parties which have mismanaged our country for decades. We, unlike them, reject globalism in favour of the national interest; we reject their doom-laden narratives and their push for ever greater top-down control of everyday life. We intend to put the interests of ordinary people first, rather than those of unaccountable transnational corporations and the tech giants. Politicians these days act as if the people are accountable to them, rather than they to the people. This situation has to be reversed.
Why do you want to represent Penrith & Solway?	It is my home, and I love it. I want to preserve what is so wonderful about this area, and to provide local people with the prospect of better training, jobs, services and housing. The other parties dangle the prospect of a gloomy future before us. It doesn’t have to be like this. I want to provide voters with a positive choice.
What promises do you make to the people of Penrith & Solway if you are elected?	I will put the everyday concerns of the majority ahead of those of either elite interests or shrill pressure groups. I promise to be a visible presence in the constituency, with my focus very much on Penrith and Solway and its interests, rather than those of Westminster.
Why should people elect you?	If you have problems, or issues that you would like to raise, I will listen to you. I want to see our constituency thrive, and I think that the SDP has the right policies, and values, to support individuals, families and businesses look forward to a genuinely positive future.
What are the major issues for Penrith & Solway?	Many of them are the same as for people elsewhere – the cost of living, housing and immigration – but some are more specific to Penrith and Solway. Much of the constituency is rural, and thus many homes are off-grid. Both central government and the two local councils are determined to drive through net zero policies without taking into account the realities of heating older rural homes which are not suitable for heat pumps. Boilers fuelled by oil or LPG, or sometimes solid-fuel stoves, are essential for domestic heating. Even so, these authorities are determined to phase them out, whereas I am determined to fight for their continued and affordable usage. Excess cold, not heat, causes early deaths and illness in Cumbria. Similarly, I wish to champion Cumbrian farming, particularly livestock farming, which is also coming under attack from our political class at the national and local levels, obsessed as it is with its pursuit of net zero at all costs to the detriment of food production. It’s dangerous and wrongheaded, and undermines rural livelihoods and communities. Cumbrian beef and lamb are second to none. Our farmers need our active help and support.

Roy Ivinson, Independent

	Roy Ivinson, Independent
Who are you?	The 69-year-old is a retired farmer and lives in Seaville, near Silloth.
How did you get into politics?	I have always been interested since I was a child. I can analyse political questions very well.
Why do you want to represent Penrith & Solway?	I’ve lived in Silloth for 68 years. Where else would I want to represent?
What promises do you make to the people of Penrith & Solway if you are elected?	If elected, I would: Stop immigration Develop a zero carbon economy Build a new generation of nuclear power stations Tax wind energy to help finance local government Rebuild the rail network Introduce state-backed insurance system to finance healthcare Provide consumers with cheap wind powered electric throughout Cumbria
Why should people elect you?	We’re past deciding who is going to be the next Government – we’re electing a Parliament and you need a mix of opinions – whether you want a Labour government or not, you need a contrarian voice. And I certainly have one of those.
What are the major issues for Penrith & Solway?	Rising sea levels and climate change – the climate is changing and I accept what global scientists say. We can create a zero carbon economy.

Susan Denham-Smith, Green Party

	Susan Denham-Smith, Green Party
Who are you?	The 55-year-old has lived in Ennerdale since 2000. Her son attends Keswick School. She works in health and social care – most recently in Cockermouth and Keswick in elderly and mental health care. She also runs her own spinning and weaving business and once climbed all 214 Lake District fells with a spinning wheel to raise cash for the Calvert Trust.
How did you get into politics?	I never considered myself political until I read the Green Party manifesto 2019. Up until then I thought I was different but then I realised my “different-ness” was political thinking. I discovered that every act of standing up for what you believe to be wrong or right is a political act so most recently I have become involved in the No time for a coal mine group campaigning against the West Cumbrian Coal Mine. I am also involved in the Cumbrian Climate Choir. I was a parish clerk for 6 years and found the legal side of local government fascinating and enjoyed finding out how the slow wheel of democracy worked. I discovered my favourite phrase in the English Language to be: “I commend this to the house”. It is used to finish parliamentary speeches in the House of Commons and for me sums up democracy and the need to listen to everyone’s point of view, and then consider it.
Why do you want to represent Penrith & Solway?	The constituency covers a huge area which I consider my stomping ground, for work, mountaineering and the Lake District National Park, culture; including Theatre by the Lake in Keswick and fantastic events at, Silloth,Cockermouth, Wigton, Penrith and all the other towns in the constituency, farming and tourism. My life experience has brought me into contact with all aspects of the community and as the MP for Penrith & Solway I would be in a privileged position to represent all of these communities. I feel Cumbria is regularly shortchanged when laws are made in London with little to no insight into the demographic of our community and the challenges we face just travelling between places. I believe our communities deserve the same opportunities and equal quality public services as the rest of the country.
What promises do you make to the people of Penrith & Solway if you are elected?	I promise I will listen. The people in the communities know what is needed in their communities and I will ensure our Cumbrian voice is heard in Westminster. This means that where improvements need to be made in health and social care, a just transition to a zero-carbon economy for farmers, public transport that is equal in investment to other parts of the country, availability of local affordable housing I will be your champion.
Why should people elect you?	We are on the point of a fundamental change in the way we view the resources on our planet, at the brink of a green revolution. I am totally committed to a future economic system that ensures we protect our environment and the resources on the planet to create a fairer greener society to the benefit of all. By voting for me you will be voting for Real Hope and Real Change for the for the future.
What are the major issues for Penrith & Solway?

Where is the Penrith & Solway constituency?

Boundaries for each of the constituencies in Cumbria have changed since the last election.

Here’s a map for the new Penrith & Solway constituency to show you the difference (slide the red bar across to discover the difference between the old and the new):

The changes to the other constituencies in Cumbria can be found here: