Five candidates are contesting the Mid Dorset and North Poole parliamentary seat. They are: 

Patrick Canavan, Labour

A long-standing member of the Labour Party and a candidate in the 2010 general election, Patrick Canavan is a former regional officer with the Unite trade union and has been involved in developing Healthwatch, the consumer watchdog.

Twitter: @patsindorset

Email: pcanavan3@gmail.com

Facebook: facebook.com/LabourMDNP

Mark Chivers, Green

Green candidate Mark Chivers is a qualified engineer and has spent the majority of his career to date in financial services.

Twitter: @poolegreen

Email: mark.chivers@greenparty.org.uk

He answered the Echo's seven questions as follows: 

Why did you decide to stand in this election?

I’ve been involved in politics on and off since I was quite young and standing in an election, for me, is part of an on-going campaign for social justice and the environment. Green Party membership has quadrupled over the past year as our policies resonate with more and more people. Standing in this election is primarily about getting our message out to as wide an audience as possible and building foundations for the future.

What do you believe the key issues of this election to be?

For me they are around creating a fair economy, saving OUR NHS, improving education and making it free, providing better public transport (including taking the railways back into public ownership), providing affordable housing and taking action on climate change. The most apparent issues when talking to local people are the immense negative impact that Coalition Government policies have had on so many locally. Even in a relatively affluent area like this we have significant problems with homelessness, debt, loss of benefits, costs of housing, education and problems in the NHS.

Where do you stand on renewable energy, fracking and climate change?

Climate change is one of the most serious issues we face, all the main parties have recognised this in theory but are weak on solutions. The science is unequivocal and it shows just how much greenhouse gas we can afford to emit before we reach dangerous levels of concentration that would make a solution beyond our reach.

It is this fact that means we have to move towards renewables much more rapidly than at present and that there is no need for fracking as we already have more than enough fossil fuels to burn. In fact much of the known reserves we have will need to be kept in the ground if we are to keep global temperatures below 2 degrees.

Fortunately there are many studies (including one by the Centre for Alternative Technology ‘Zero Carbon Britain’) that show we can move to power ourselves entirely with renewables, based on known technology, tested against actual wind and solar data. The decisions to implement the changes required are political not technical.

What do you believe could be done to improve the housing situation in Dorset?

We have to have a massive programme building 500,000 social houses across the country with the appropriate proportion in each of our local areas. This should be actual funded building not just incentives that rely on the market responding to them. We need to regulate the private rental market and bring empty homes back into use. New build should be focused on brown field sites. Only a combination of all of the above will start to tackle the problem and take the heat out of the market.

What three things do you think should be done to improve education provision in Dorset?

We need to fund early years education for all, stop the replacement of qualified teachers with non-qualified staff and focus less on teaching to the test and focus more on rediscovering the excitement of education as a basis for life-long learning.

How would you tackle the issue of mental health provision in Dorset?

Among a range of commitments in our manifesto I personally would highlight; ensuring that spending on mental health care rises within our overall commitment to increase real spending on health, provide access to quality care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, investing in dementia services and implementing a campaign to end the discrimination and stigma associated with mental health along the lines of the ‘Time for Change’ programme

What’s your “red line” policy?

Anything based on the myth that we can only improve things by cutting services and not taking effective action on climate change

Vikki Slade, Liberal Democrat

Vicki Slade is a councillor, mum and businesswoman. She is the owner of a cafè and before entering business, was a financial advisor for a building society as well as a training and recruitment manager for a national company.

Website: vikkislade.org.uk

Twitter: @vikki4mdnp

Email: v.slade@poole.gov.uk

Michael Tomlinson, Conservative

Conservative candidate Michael Tomlinson is a lifelong volunteer who has helped raise money for Julia’s House and the Royal British Legion. He is also involved in his local church and helps to run a Christian youth holiday camp each summer.

Website: michaeltomlinson.org.uk

Twitter: @michael4mdnp

Email: michael@middorsetconservatives.org.uk

Richard Turner, Ukip 

UKip candidate Richard is married with one son and lives in Christchurch. He spent 10 years working in electrical wholesale and moved to Dorset in 2004 to develop his family’s marine business.

Twitter: @RichTurner8

Email: richard.turner@ukiplocal.org