Ed Davey is the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Kingston and Surbiton seat at the upcoming General Election 2019 on December 12.

Mr Davey is currently serving as the Lib Dem's deputy leader and has been MP for Kingston and Surbiton since 2017 (and was previously MP there between 1997-2015).

As with other candidates for the seat, the Comet spoke with Mr Davey about his views and policies on a range of topics about Kingston and Surbiton and beyond.

Quotes from his responses are reproduced below.

Why are you standing to be an MP for Kingston and Surbiton?

I’ve lived in the Royal Borough for 24 years and working for local people and your own community - both locally and in Parliament - is a huge privilege. As a Liberal Democrat, our focus on stopping Brexit, on reversing cuts to schools and police and tackling the climate change fit well with the priorities of local people.

What is your favourite thing about the constituency?

The commitment of so many local people to improve the lives of others in our community and beyond.

What is the single most serious issue the constituency faces?

National Government cuts to vital local services - from the cuts to Kingston Council to cuts to our police - are having a damaging impact on so many people’s lives, from elderly people needing care to victims of crime, from disabled children needing extra support to young people who would benefit hugely from better local youth services.

How would you help balance the need for more houses with the desires of many residents to avoid excessive development?

House building targets for Kingston from the Government and the Mayor are unnecessarily high and we need to get them reviewed, but we also do need to build many more homes due to the lack of affordable, sustainable housing across the Borough. We need to build more council homes and work across the public sector - especially the university and NHS - to identify sites that would be acceptable for development.

What would you do to combat hunger and the rising use of foodbanks?

Reform of universal credit is key - especially ensuring that people do not have to wait so long for their first payment. Currently too many people are forced to wait a long time before they get any money, forcing them to use food banks. We will expand free school meals for children and young peoples in primary and secondary schools.

How can we best tackle the climate emergency at the constituency level?

We need to help people insulate their homes better to reduce waste energy and help cut them cut their heating bills. We need to promote and encourage walking, cycling and public transport. New build housing like the regeneration of the Cambridge Road Estate must be zero carbon.

What one thing would you most like to see change in your own party? (Independents: Where is your campaign’s biggest area for improvement?)

We need to make it easier for our growing party membership to get more involved, more easily

How would you work to improve education in Kingston and Surbiton?

The key issues include reversing the Conservatives’ cuts to our schools, improving the local provision of education and care for disabled children and children with special education needs and investing in new school places at primary and secondary level. I would continue to work with Kingston’s headteachers to pressurise Government Ministers.

How would Brexit impact residents the constituency?

Very negatively - hitting jobs, incomes and opportunities for almost everyone. As it will hit our economy, it will also reduce the tax revenues for the Treasury, and so hit funding for our NHS, police, council and schools.

If returned as an MP, what will your first question be at PMQs?

Will the Prime Minister properly fund schools in Boroughs like Kingston, where headteachers are desperate to see an end to Government cuts?

What is your favourite (Desert Island scenario):

Book?

Ian McEwan is my favourite author and his books like - Solar, A Child in Time and Atonement - are amongst my favourites.

Film?

The Shawshank Redemption

Music?

Officium - album by Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble