Prime Minister visits town in historic day for Melksham and sits down with Melksham News.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a surprise visit to the town earlier this month in the run-up to next month’s General Election.

It is believed that the stop-off on his campaign trail marked the first time a prime minister has visited Melksham in nearly 200 years, as the last prime minister to visit the town was the Duke of Wellington in 1829.  Melksham News was granted special access to ask the Prime Minister questions in an exclusive interview.

Rishi Sunak’s visit, alongside Conservative parliamentary candidate, Michelle Donelan, was held at Oakfield Stadium, the home ground of Melksham Town Football Club, on Friday 7th June. Prior to his arrival in Melksham to speak to Conservative Party members, the prime minister spoke to Joe McCann from Melksham News, who was able to question him on a number of issues that our survey suggested were the most important topics for local people. These included Melksham Hospital, local infrastructure, housing and green spaces.

Speaking about the interview, Joe said “Interviewing a prime minister is one of those ‘pinch yourself moments.’ In my career, I have dealt with a number of politicians locally and managed to get to some really amazing places, however, for a journalist, this really is top of the tree.

“I don’t believe the PM has carried out any other local media interviews, so it really was a coup for the Melksham News! I do have to thank Michelle Donelan, who supported us in arranging the interview and facilitating a lot of the back and forth you have to do prior to these things happening.”

The full interview transcript between the Melksham News and the Prime Minister is here:

JM: Hello Prime Minister, thank you for making time to speak with Melksham News. We recently conducted a survey to find out what our readers were most concerned about in the run-up to the General Election. 

Melksham, like many rural towns, faces pockets of deprivation and a growing dependence on food banks. What is your plan to support those who are currently struggling with the cost of living?

PM: I know people have been through a tough time and that’s why my priority when I became Prime Minister was getting inflation back to normal, and I’m pleased that we’ve now been able to achieve that. During the last year or so, we also supported people by paying around half of their typical energy bills. And now, because the economy is performing better and we have stuck to our plan, we’re able to cut taxes for everyone by an average £900. For someone in work this year, and for those that are earning the National Living Wage, we have boosted that to record levels – £1800 pay rise this year. I know there is more to do but what would make all of this worse is going back to square one with Labour, who just want to raise everyone’s taxes and that’s not going to deliver anyone’s financial security.

JM: There has been lots of development of new houses in open countryside around Melksham. How will a future Conservative government balance the need to preserve green space whilst maintaining the character of market towns? 

How will you ensure that infrastructure development grows with the expanding population and increased housebuilding in towns like Melksham?

PM: Michelle has been very focused in making the point to the housing Secretary of State Michael Gove about the need to change our national planning framework and we have now done this. That means that local plans will take precedence, stopping speculative development and that is a big win for Melksham. We have been clear, more generally, that of course we’ll build the homes that we need for young people, but we’re not going to do that by concreting over our countryside. The views of local residents should always have a strong influence in that process.

JM: Michelle Donelan, our local MP, has been actively campaigning to upgrade our local hospital in Melksham, which previously offered more comprehensive services than it does now. Will a future Conservative government prioritise upgrading smaller, NHS cottage-type hospitals, like Melksham’s to alleviate pressure on the NHS and better serve rural communities?

PM: Cottage hospitals are brilliant, and I know Michelle has been campaigning on this. She recently met the Health Secretary and also discussed with the Integrated Care Board to push forward her plan to upgrade the hospital. The reason I can tell you the Conservative government will always prioritise this is because I represent a very rural area in North Yorkshire. I have one of the smallest district general hospitals in the country and I understand all the challenges that come along with that. I also understand how smaller hospitals serving rural communities should be prioritised and invested in so that they can innovate and provide good, high-quality services to local people. So this is something that I personally have a lot of familiarity with, and I know Michelle has been brilliantly campaigning on it as well.

JM: Recently we saw the loss of Cooper Tires in Melksham, after over 100 years of manufacturing. What will your plan be to support industry and job creation in rural towns like Melksham?

PM: I understand that this was a big tyre company that left for overseas, but there’s also lots of booming industry in Melksham. Avon Protection got a Ministry of Defence contract worth just under £40million. Knorr-Bremse is doing well and so is Gompels. The high street benefits because there’s such a strong community spirit in Melksham. That’s why it’s important that we stick to our economic plan. Wages are now rising and the economy is growing faster than all our major competitors earlier this year, which shows that our plan is working. We’ve cut taxes for businesses to attract investment into our country. And for all our high street shops, restaurants, pubs, and cafes, we have managed to cut business rates and maintain those cuts. That’s not something the Labour Party are doing, in Wales or indeed the SNP in Scotland. It shows the difference; we want to support small businesses, particularly in market towns and particularly in hospitality.

JM: How valuable is it for MPs to get to know the communities and the constituencies that they serve?

PM: Michelle is one of those great politicians who manages to juggle being both very active locally and being an excellent minister. I think about some of her achievements as a minister, leading the world on AI and making the world safer for young people online. These are some of the critical issues of our age, and Michelle has led on those. In the UK, she is a world leader in those areas, but she also combines that with being very active locally. She’s very visible, she does supermarket surgeries, she’s at fetes, at every fayre, ensuring that anyone who needs her help, whether it’s with the cost of living or anything else, can find her. I think she’s done 10,000 cases in the past year and it just gives you a sense that she is a different type of politician. She does a brilliant job as a minister for our country, but she’s extremely accessible and active locally, delivering for her constituents.

JM: In our survey, one topic which our readers said they were concerned about was immigration. Why is the Rwanda plan a better alternative to what other parties are offering?

PM: In order to fully solve this problem, you have to have a deterrent. You have to make it clear to people who come here illegally that they simply can’t stay. They won’t be able to stay and they will be removed. That’s why having a safe country to send them to is so important. It’s not just us saying that now, all the 20 other European countries have also agreed that this has to be part of the solution. Without that you won’t have a deterrent and people will keep coming. Labour wants to scrap that. They want to let everyone out who we detain and cancel the flights; they love the soft touch of Europe. That will just make everything far worse. It’s important to do this. What we have done, I am highly confident, we have worked hard and passed new laws and they are compatible with all our international obligations.

JM: Thank you for your time in today.