General Election 2024: Meet the candidates standing in Slough

With the General Election rolling ever closer, the Express spoke to confirmed candidates for the Slough constituency for a brief overview of their background and key policies. 

Independent - Azhar Chohan

Azhar Chohan is a lawyer and his family have called Slough their home for over 60 years.

He has 23 years’ of experience as a senior constituency caseworker, having previously worked for Slough’s former Labour MP Fiona Mactaggart and under MP Tan Dhesi, before handing in his notice earlier this year.

He is also a founder and trustee at the Slough Immigration Aid Unit and is involved in supporting the Women’s Refuge in Slough, including those affected by domestic violence.

Azhar is a ‘community advocate’ and understands the various issues impacting Slough locals from housing to welfare benefits, policing and health.

One of his core campaign issues includes supporting local businesses by incentivising entrepreneurship, improving access to funding, and to ‘breathe new life’ into the town centre.

He also aims to tackle the root causes of knife crime through community engagement and youth outreach programs to create a safer environment.

Azhar has received the backing of The Muslim Vote, a grassroots campaign group encouraging voters to back candidates who called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

He said: "As a member of Slough’s community, I have witnessed firsthand the frustrations and concerns of my fellow residents. It's time for a change, a voice that truly speaks for Slough.

"I am committed to working tirelessly to address the challenges facing Slough and to holding our local and national leaders accountable for their actions both abroad and at home.”

Independent - Diana Coad

Independent candidate Diana Coad said she is standing to be Slough’s voice in Westminster.

Ms Coad is no stranger to General Election campaigns having stood to be Slough’s MP in 2001 and 2010 representing the Conservative Party.

She then switched to represent UKIP in 2015, a party which matched her belief in Brexit.

The Slough resident, who served as a borough councillor for 12 years, said she decided to stand as an independent due to all other political parties paying ‘lip service’ to the town.

She criticised the state of Slough High Street and hit out at the Conservative administration for failing to revitalise the town’s fortunes since coming to power last year.

Ms Coad also hit out at the divisive approach of rival candidates which she feels is dividing the borough’s residents on sectarian lines.

She condemned the war in Gaza, an issue which has drawn ongoing protests in Slough, and said her job, if elected, will be to bring the town together.

Labour Party - Tan Dhesi

Labour’s candidate for Slough MP is Tan Dhesi.

Mr Dhesi has been Slough MP for the last seven years after winning in the 2017 and 2019 General Elections.

He said it had been ‘the honour of my life’ to represent Slough as its MP during this time and was standing for re-election so as to make ‘real change’ under a Labour Government.

During his time in the Labour Party he has been shadow minister for exports, shadow chancellor exchequer secretary and shadow minister for railways.

Mr Dhesi was the first MP to wear a turban in the UK when he was elected and has campaigned for a national Sikh war memorial.

He said during 14 years of Tory rule people in Slough had lived through a cost-of-living crisis, inadequate housing and an underfunded NHS.

He said he could provide the ‘strong voice’ Slough needed to demand more resources to address these issues in a future government.

On his priorities, Mr Dhesi would ‘always do what is best for Slough residents’.

He said, in Parliament he had ‘stood up and fought for change’ on education provision, increased numbers of police and human rights issues.

He added: “I will continue this record, if I have the honour of being re-elected."

The Green Party - Julian Edmonds

The Green Party has selected Julian Edmonds as its prospective parliamentary candidate for Slough.

Julian has lived in Slough since 1989 and stood as the Green Party candidate in the 2015 and 2019 general elections.

He works in water conservation, having previously been an energy consultant for more than 20 years. He also lived and worked in Hungary for eight years.

He said immigration will be the central topic in the upcoming election, adding: “Slough is unique in that a majority of its voters are immigrants and ethnic minorities.

“The Green Party believes that the key to keeping immigration down to manageable levels is to solve the climate crisis; if global warming is not dealt with then places where billions of people live will become unfit for human habitation, and all those people will be on the move.

“The Green Party welcomes that the need to stop climate change is now widely accepted by other parties, however, we will offer many other alternatives to the one size fits all solutions of heat pumps and electric cars.”

Reform UK - Robin Jackson

Robin Jackson is running as the Reform UK candidate for Slough.

Mr Jackson, 54, has lived in Chalvey for a year and works in recruitment as a client director.

He grew up in Scunthorpe and has worked in the hospitality industry, including managing a hotel in his hometown at the age of 21.

Discussing his decision to align with Reform UK, Mr Jackson said people were tired of the politics of the Tories and Labour.

He said Reform’s policies by contrast, were ‘new and different’.

In the party’s draft manifesto, these policies include adopting a European-style model of healthcare and a freeze on ‘non-essential’ immigration.

Mr Jackson said residents had expressed concerns about ‘uncontrolled immigration’ while on his campaign trail in Slough, which Reform was looking address.

On further international issues, he also hit out at Labour candidate Tan Dhesi and Independent Azhar Chohan whom he described as using the crisis in Gaza to ‘win votes’.

If he were elected MP, Mr Jackson said his priorities locally would be to ‘bring businesses together’ and improve the town centre, as well as increasing leisure opportunities for people.

He added he would also campaign to curb increases in rough sleeping, anti-social behaviour and littering in Slough.

Conservatives - Moni Kaur Nanda

Moni Kaur Nanda is the Conservative Party candidate for Slough MP.

Ms Nanda said she was ‘honoured’ to have been selected to stand for election in for Slough – a place which held ‘very special’ significance to her.

The mother of three, who is in her early 40s, was born in nearby Taplow, met her husband – from Langley – in Slough, and gave birth to their first child at Wexham Park Hospital.

This year represents Ms Nanda’s first election campaign, having previously worked in businesses including her own clothing firm and in property lettings.

She said ‘like any political party’ the Conservatives were ‘not perfect’ but that, in her experience, there were ‘lot’s of good people’ in the party.

One of her key pledges to voters was to address decline in Slough High Street.

Ms Nanda said, growing up, she had fond memories of visiting Queensmere shopping centre and wanted to see the area revitalised.

Ms Nanda, who lives near Hedgerley in South Buckinghamshire, has also lived abroad in Paris and the Middle East.

She said she would use her international connections to get business in Slough ‘back on its feet’.

Her other priorities included creating job opportunities for young people in Slough through apprenticeships.

She said had also been working with recently elected Conservative Police Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber, on addressing knife and drug crime.

Independent - Chandra Muvvala

Chandra Muvvala moved to Slough with his family in 2006 and has been a councillor at Slough Borough Council (SBC) since 2021, representing Langley Marish.

Mr Muvvala studied a postgraduate master of technology in India and has been working as an IT consultant for more than 25 years.

As part of his manifesto, Mr Muvvala has outlined a host of key commitments, one of which includes improving safety and looking to establish a police desk in each ward to crack down on crimes such as burglaries and drug usage.

He said that, following the closure of Langley police station, he has been trying to get a police desk in Langley and now wants to look to have one in each ward.

“There’s a continuous demand. There's a need for more and more police,” he said.

Mr Muvvala added that as MP he would be able to work with the Home Office, the Government and Thames Valley Police to get a police desk or find a suitable alternative solution.

Some of Mr Muvvala’s other policies include reviving education through supporting the council in bringing a university back to Slough, re-generating Slough High Street, and serving as both a Slough councillor and MP to focus on both local and national issues.

He is also looking to use digital channels to boost community cohesion and communication among the residents of Slough.

Another commitment involves collaborating with the Windsor MP and others to benefit shared communities such as Langley.

Workers Party of Britain - Adnan Shabbir

Adnan Shabbir has lived in the town for the past 25 years.

He is a sales and marketing director, a father of three, and is the Burnham Cricket Club captain.

Adnan is a novice in the world of politics and believes his ‘baggage-free political profile’ will aid him to advocate for the residents of Slough with ‘fresh enthusiasm and a genuine desire to solve Slough’s most pressing problems as someone who experiences them first-hand’.

He is a former Labour Party supporter, and joined the Workers Party as he sees its principles as being ‘better aligned’ with the issues facing the Slough community.

Adnan said: “My key priorities will be to campaign for urgent investment in Slough to help empower local businesses and to boost the local economy, as well as to reverse the cuts that have decimated youth services and education provision in the town, so that young people do not turn to crime and so that there are more secondary school places for local children.”

Discussing the Israel-Gaza conflict, he added: “I believe that we need to stand for more principled foreign policy that puts an end to investing in the manufacturing and selling of arms to Israel, and take responsibility for putting an end to this relentless bloodshed.”

Heritage Party - Nick Smith

Nick Smith, standing for the Heritage Party, is a regular on various radio stations giving his views and opinions on current affairs.

The Heritage Party became registered by the electoral commission in 2022. It exists to challenge ‘politically correct ideologies and to return to our true traditions and heritage.’

Mr Smith said: “I’m incredibly passionate about politics and here to give the good people of Slough an alternative to the two-party system, so they can have real positive change.

“Slough Council are hundreds and hundreds of millions in debt, which has resulted in cuts, including bin collections now fortnightly, as well as a massive 10 per cent rise in council tax, whilst residents and families are already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

“Slough residents deserve better, and I would like to remind [people] that if I’m elected, you are my boss.”

Liberal Democrats - Chelsea Whyte

Chelsea Whyte grew up near Slough and joined the Liberal Democrats whilst studying law at the University of Reading, being ‘tired of the broken two-party politics’.

She previously worked for Lib Dem MEP Catherine Bearder in the European Parliament, and as a senior public affairs and strategic communications consultant advising international businesses across sectors including energy, manufacturing, legal and finance.

More recently, Chelsea worked with the Liberal Democrat elected mayor of Watford, and understands ‘how a well-run Liberal Democrat council can have a positive impact’.

Her priorities include campaigning for action to tackle the NHS crisis, the cost-of-living crisis, sewage, and for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

She said: “I would also help to restore the finances of Slough council after Labour bankrupted it. The Lib Dems have already been campaigning for a fairer deal in Slough… by fighting for more funding from developments to be ring-fenced to support community infrastructure.

“We are campaigning to fix our broken NHS and social care system, including by giving people the right to see a GP within a week - something which residents in Cippenham and Langley have raised as an issue.

“We are committed to tackling the cost of living crisis, including by extending free school meals which support families most in need, and working to rejoin the European Single Market which would support many businesses in Slough.”

Independent - Jaswinder Singh

Jaswinder Singh has also been announced as an independent candidate for Slough, but could not be reached for comment.

Please email news@baylismedia.co.uk to get in touch.