With the upcoming general election, Wimbledon Guardian asked the candidates from the Wimbledon and Mitcham and Morden constituencies which three issues within the borough are most important to them. 

Mitcham and Morden

Laura Collins is the Green Party candidate for Mitcham and Morden and says her three priorities are air pollution, income disparity and litter. She is a member of Clean Air Merton and litter picks regularly with volunteer groups. 

UKIP candidate Richard Hilton says his local priorities are controlling immigration, increasing affordable housing and reinstating full Stop and Search powers to the police to tackle knife crime.

Mr Hilton says UKIP will place a moratorium on unskilled and low-skilled immigration for five years after we leave the EU.

To increase affordable housing he will introduce a zero net migration policy and roll out high quality, low cost factory built modular homes.

Conservative candidate Alicia Kearns said she is committed to strengthening the constituency’s town centres with better housing, offices and shops determined by a Business and Resident’s Forum. 

She said her second priority is investing in health and she wants to build a better St Helier hospital, while improving local health care access such as the Wilson hospital redevelopment.

Ms Kearns will campaign for an extension of the Northern line to St Helier to offer better access to central London. She also wants to see greater investment in cycling lanes.

Liberal Democrat candidate Claire Mathys says she is prioritising affordable housing, investment in the NHS and protecting the local economy from the effects of a bad Brexit deal.

She will push for better rights for renters and tackle rogue landlords with compulsory licensing, as well as increase house building. 

Ms Mathys supports the extra 1p on income tax to enable proper funding of local services and supports the re-opening of a GP “walk-in” service in the borough. She will ensure mental health services are properly supported. 

She supports membership of the Single Market and a final say by the public on a final Brexit deal, with an option to remain.

Incumbent Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh says St Helier hospital is also one of her priorities, and she will fight to keep it open.

Ms McDonagh opposes primary school cuts and says education is another priority. She also says managing Brexit for local businesses is another priority, as she wants to protect work security.

The Christian Peoples Alliance candidate, Des Coke, was not available for comment. 

Wimbledon

Green Party candidate Charles Barraball is prioritising road danger, which he will address by introducing 20mph limits borough-wide. He also wants to adopt a traffic incident liability code. 

Mr Barraball says air pollution is another local issue, and he wants to increase car-free days in town centres, and ensure vehicle operators bear the full cost of parking facilities all year round. He will ensure local electric vehicle charging points can charge electric bikes and mobility scooters. 

Conservative candidate Stephen Hammond said his three local priorities are Crossrail 2, local businesses and town centre regeneration.

He said that he will continue to fight for Crossrail 2 to bring local transport links, without damaging Wimbledon, Raynes Park and Motspur Park. This ties into his commitment to ensure a "masterplan" for Wimbledon town centre regeneration works in tandem with Crossrail 2, and is sympathetic to residents.

He also wants to improve Morden town centre.  He will campaign for the Labour council to better support local and small businesses.  Labour candidate Imran Uddin says he wants to preserve health services in Wimbledon, in particular the A&E and maternity wards of St Helier hospital.

He says Labour will suspend the Sustainable and Transformation Plans that are planning cuts to healthcare.  He also says that Crossrail 2 is a local priority, and will work to make sure it provides business and leisure opportunities. 

Carl Quilliam is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Wimbledon. He is committed to defending investment in health and care services, and will continue his campaign to bring back Merton’s 7-day a week GP “walk-in” centre.

He also supports the dedicated 1p health tax which the party say will deliver £6 billion a year to the NHS. 

Mr Quilliam will fight for more investment in schools and protect and expand free school meals as per the national manifesto. He says housing is his third priority and more affordable and social housing must be built locally.

Mr Uddin's third priority is air quality, and he will ensure the environment and future health, education and welfare of families in Wimbledon are protected and enhanced.

He says he wishes to restore legal aid to ensure proper investigation of road incidents and abolish the difference between dangerous and careless driving. 

UKIP candidate David McDonald was not available for comment.