I’m James Bannister and I’m your Labour candidate for the May elections in Gwinear, Gwithian and Hayle East.

Full statement

I live in an Angarrack and work for the railways out of Penzance. I started on the railway at Truro in the early 1990’s then worked at Westbury and Bristol before returning in 2006.

I have been a trade union member since I started. I have been elected into various roles including Regional President, local Staff Rep and Branch Chair, working with all grades from contractors to directors over many years.

Lack of affordable housing both to buy and rent is a major issue all over Cornwall. The Government have set targets for housebuilding and if elected, I will work with colleagues and our Labour MP to make sure as many of these as possible are social or truly affordable homes.

A more local problem I would tackle is the strain placed on the local infrastructure during the tourist season. For example, last summer we saw total gridlock in and around Loggan’s Moor which caused a traffic build-up extending into the surrounding villages and impacting heavily on residents trying to go about their daily lives.