Christian Vassie, 66, hopes to take the seat from 26-year-old Keir Mather, but current polling suggests Labour’s ‘Baby of the House,’ who was elected last July in a sensational by-election, will safely retain the re-drawn seat, with the Tories second and Reform third.
Christian has represented Wheldrake, where he lives with his family, for 13 of the past 21 years. He grew up in Deighton and attended Minster Song School and Archbishop’s Holgate’s in York.
A noted environmentalist, Christian has run his own creative business for 30 years, composing the music for more t
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He has also worked as a photographer and public speaker.
Christian has also worked as a production and design manager with a Fair Trade company helping artisans in developing countries produce environmentally sustainable products to sell in the UK.
He is also a fiction author, having written the successful Scravir novels, contemporary gothic horror stories set in Whitby.
Christian says he in politics he focuses on innovation and change.
As a City Councillor in York, he brought the first environmentally-sustainable building to the city, the ecoDepot in 2006.
Politicians must lead by example, he says, so councils must cut carbon emissions before expecting it of others. He has backed plans for renewable energy to be made on the old Selby coalfield, instead of part of it becoming a holiday park.
Over the past four years, Christian has used his place on the Health Committee to better co-ordinate primary care to rural communities.
He said: “Villagers without cars struggle to access primary care or mental health services. Combined with a lack of pharmacies and the NHS dentists, we have a real health crisis. We need rural primary care centres that combine doctors, dentists and pharmacies, and real investment in rural public transport.”
A regular critic of Brexit on the Press letters pages, Christian believes Brexit has failed and shrunk our economy.
“We urgently need a government willing to improve our relationship with the rest of our continent, for trade, for travel, for young people’s education, and research.”
Christian says the Government walked away from pan-European water discharge standards, regretting that both Labour and Conservative MPs recently refused to back a Liberal Democrat call to make it a criminal act if Water Companies failed to tackle the pollution they cause.
Mr Vassie is concerned at the government’s failure to insist on a bilateral ceasefire in Gaza, saying the ‘innocent of all sides’ must be protected.
He added: “There are plenty of people quick to tell you what is wrong with things; what the country needs are politicians who can advance ideas and solutions. It would be an honour to work with the people of Selby to do just that.”
The other candidates are David Kent (Reform UK), Keir Mather (Labour) Angela Oldershaw (Green), Charles Richardson (Conservative) and John Waterston (SDP).
