We're allowing the election candidates to speak to you through a self profile - this is what Independent candidate Bruce Gauld has to say.

 

AS the so-far unknown candidate in the General Election I will begin with a few details about myself.

My family moved to Somerset in 1965 and West Somerset in 1972. I live in Dulverton and am single with no children.

I have had a number of jobs in the constituency, lastly working for 18 years for a garage in Norton Fitzwarren.

I have never run my own business, or worked for national or local government, or for a charity or quango.

All I have done, like the majority of people, is go to work, do the best I can and hope to receive, after income tax and National Insurance, enough to live on.

Why do I want to be an MP rather than a local councillor?

Local councillors are an indispensable part of the British democratic system, but the system is very centralised.

Central government, whoever is in power, decides how it will govern, and then, in its benevolence, it provides the finance for local government to exist . . . hopefully.

To have any hope of effecting change you have to be in Parliament.

Because of the party political system, do we ever hear what party candidates really think? To get elected they have to toe the party line.

What is needed is more Independent MPs who can shake up the system, so at least in this election you will have the chance to vote for an Independent.

Over at least the last three decades Government policy seems to have been based on the interests of minorities, pressure groups and vested interests.

My policies are, and always will be, based on what is in the best interests of the majority.

All people want is to be able to support their families, have jobs which pay enough to live on and know their children can receive a good education.

They want to know they can live in their communities without having to worry about crime or civil unrest, and, if they are ill, that the NHS is there to treat them, or if they fall on hard times the welfare state is there to help.

Finally, I would ask all the electors of Taunton Deane to find out as much as they can about all the candidates and their policies, and then vote for the one they think will best represent their interests.