Hampshire and Isle of Wight General Election debate 2024

Geoff Cooper, Liberal Democrat, Romsey & Southampton North

Geoff Cooper grew up in Romsey and went to school in Southampton.

He is married to a woman from Poland and has a daughter born shortly before the pandemic.

The oldest of five boys, he trained as an actor and a dancer, before going on to have a career in business and commerce.

He says the future that my daughter might inherit terrifies him and is the inspiration for getting into politics – climate change, Brexit and the rise of right-wing, nationalistic politics are all reasons for concern and things that he wants to combat.

Currently, he is a local councillor for North Baddesley.

Flick Drummond, Conservative, Winchester

Flick Drummond was first elected as an MP for Meon Valley in December 2019. From 2015 to 2017 she was the MP for Portsmouth South.

She first moved to Winchester in 1988 and started in politics as a city councillor for St Bartholomew Ward before moving to America between 1999 and 2004 where she witnessed the 9/11 World Trade Centre terrorist attack.

Flick has many years’ experience in public service and the voluntary sector. Recently, she was the chair of the SE region of the Veterans Advisory and Pension Committee, a board member of the National Citizens Service (NCS) and voluntary director of the Conservative Policy Forum.

In the last Parliament, Flick was a member of the Education Select Committee. She also chaired many All Party Parliamentary Groups covering her interests such as Yemen (the country of her birth), schools, women and work.

She married her husband Hereward in Bishops Waltham in 1987 and they have four grown-up children and three grandchildren.

Sarah Morris, Reform Party, Isle of Wight East

Sarah Morris says she believes there is need for something new, and there is a desire for change. Her frustation and disappointment with “what we currently have on offer” prompted her to try and get elected herself.

She believes that: “Most of those who currently run the country, and indeed those in opposition, have no idea what we are facing now and in the coming years” such as price hikes on food, energy and mortgage rates, alongside possible food shortages and power cuts.

According to Sarah, innovative ideas are needed to deal with the many costs of the pandemic, be they financial, the toll taken on health system or the impact on children’s education.

She believes the political class have been playing games with people’s lives lives and that they are never affected by bad decisions.

Darren Paffey, Labour, Southampton Itchen

Darren lives with his family in the Bitterne Park area of Southampton, works as a university lecturer in Spanish and Linguistics, and has been a city councillor sine 2011.

He has also previously served the Cabinet Member for Children and Learning, and was Deputy Leader of Southampton City Council.

Born in Tyneside, his parents moved from Northumberland to Hampshire in the 1980s and he moved to Southampton in 2000, to study.

He says he has a passion for public services such nursing, social work and teaching because he knows first hand the impact such things can have on families.

He has previously stood for election to parliament in 2015 and 2017.

Netty Shepherd, Green Party, Havant

Netty Shepherd was born in Havant and is proud of her local roots. After university she began a successful international IT career at IBM North Harbour in Portsmouth and moved to Hayling Island to bring up her family.

She has lived on Hayling Island for the past 30 years and runs a community-based content creation studio in Southsea. She has two children at schools on Hayling Island and is a committee member of Mengham Infant School PTA.

Netty is passionate about the environment and has been campaigning for the last five years to improve the biodiversity of the local area.

In May 2024 Netty was elected as member of Havant Borough Council and serves as councillor with responsibility for Climate, Coastal and Open Spaces in the new three-way coalition between the Greens, Liberal Democrats and Labour.