The General Election is fast approaching, and Sheffield’s candidates have been busy campaigning for your vote.
With political apathy increasing, understanding who you’re voting for and what they advocate, is hugely important.
Forge Press approached every candidate for the Sheffield Central and Sheffield Hallam constituencies and offered them a chance to speak through their manifestos and their plans for the local area.
The Rejoin EU Party candidate for the Sheffield Hallam constituency, Samuel Chapman, accepted the request for an interview.
The Interview: Samuel Chapman
He has worked for both the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam. He said:
“At the time, I was involved with the cadets and Royal Air Force, I prefer public industries, and research”.
On the consequences of Brexit, he said:
“It affected all areas that I was passionate about, so the move to politics had to happen”.
This led him to become the Rejoin EU party candidate for Sheffield Hallam.
If Chapman is successful, the main focus would be addressing things like having good trade deals, he says.
“The best people to trade with are our neighbours, as this will bring down prices and inflation”.
Chapman is aware the party must be “realistic” as they only have 26 standing candidates.
He says any successful Rejoin EU candidates would focus on standing for a “better relationship with Europe, whether it’s rejoining completely or getting back into the single market.”
Chapman’s commitment to students, especially with the cost of living crisis, will be looking at how we should fund universities. He explains:
“Like in Scotland and Germany, we can do without the student finance funding model, as it’s too expensive now”.
This would mean looking at the education system as a whole, providing lots of alternatives to university, such as having enough apprenticeships.
He continued: “Universities should be more prestigious, focusing on core subjects like science and English”.
He explains that this would lead to new industries, allowing for more specialised qualifications.
Rejoin EU would remove student placements for healthcare within a university setting, and have them as part of the NHS instead.
Chapman says he has a strong commitment to support Sheffield’s students, and said: “Without Uni, the economy in Sheffield is gone.”
“I would work with students to understand how we are spending our money, and can we skim down on spending.”
Although lots of money spent at university goes towards the overall experience, Chapman said:
“We’ve got to be careful we don’t degrade the point of university, which is to get a better job”.
Students who went to university are getting paid the same amount as those who didn’t, and Chapman says “that just shouldn’t be the case”.
The main thing to take away from Chapman’s campaign, he says, is cooperation, though he said: “I am not going to pretend I have all the answers”. But, he says, it is the future that’s important, not the past:
“We should imagine we’ve never been in the EU, and now we’re thinking it would be nice to have a trading deal with our neighbours”
Sam mentioned how the music industry had been affected by Brexit.
Most cities with universities are reliant on its student population because they bring music venues, bars and the service industry.
He said: “I think our biggest export is the universities, so we must make sure the funding model is secure.”
“If universities, as one of our biggest exports and industries, are fragile, then it needs looking at”.
For more information and contact details, visit: Samuel Chapman – Who Can I Vote For?.
Sheffield Hallam Candidates
This election is about making the best choice for our future.
Bring your ID on Thursday 4th July and make your vote count.
