Dickie Fletcher is the SDP prospective candidate for Macclesfield. We spoke with Dickie about his decision to stand.
“The experience of trying to build and sustain businesses over the last 30 years, through the 2008 financial crisis, the covid lockdowns and myriad ups and downs in between, has sharpened my thoughts on how badly we have been led by politicians”
Can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?
I am the owner of a small business which is based in Manchester and serves the music industry with equipment hire and technical services. I have run my own businesses since graduating from Manchester University with a Psychology degree in 1994. I now live with my wife, cat & dog, in Bollington, having recently moved out of the city.
What made you decide to stand for the SDP?
I have been politically engaged all my life, from a childhood growing up in Sheffield during the hothouse of the Miners’ strike and the upheaval that Thatcherite policies brought to the North. I was also very influenced by my Great Uncle, Eric Fletcher, who was a Labour MP for 25 years following the war. With parents who were a teacher and an academic, there was always stimulating debate in the house growing up.
Following the sheltered atmosphere of university, it was somewhat a baptism of fire to go straight into setting up a business in Ancoats, Manchester, which in the 1990s was still a tough place to be. The experience of trying to build and sustain businesses over the last 30 years, through the 2008 financial crisis, the covid lockdowns and myriad ups and downs in between, has sharpened my thoughts on how badly we have been led by politicians for so many years.
“I then felt I should do whatever I could to aid the effort to change things. We will not get change from the “uniparty” of Lab/Con/Lib”
I picked up the SDP’s New Declaration last year and immediately found a political home where I could see there were like-minded people. Having seen William Clouston, the party leader, speak at the party conference last October, I was very impressed with his depth of thought and commitment to building a real party of change for the UK. I then felt I should do whatever I could to aid the effort to change things. We will not get change from the “uniparty” of Lab/Con/Lib.
You’re the Spokesman for Macclesfield. What’s made you decide to represent this area?
I am a keen cyclist, and the Cheshire edge of the Peak District has always been a favourite place for rides out from the urban jungle. As I have cycled through it, it became a place I have wanted to live. I am fortunate that it is now my home, hopefully for many years. I am representing the SDP in this, my home constituency.
“we need to preserve our national democratic accountability to our citizens and reject the failed neo-liberal globalist project”
What do you see as the big concerns for the constituency and what issues do you hope to champion?
I have only been here a short while, so I am very much looking forward to learning about the concerns of Macclesfield’s residents and the people living in the surrounding towns and villages. I suspect that the cost of living pressures, housing for young people and the over stretched health & social care services will be at the forefront of people’s minds.
I think the concerns nationally will be reflected locally also and I am keen to focus on the failures of the economic model over the past 30 plus years, that all the main parties have followed. This is the root cause of all the problems from immigration, to lack of affordable housing and the decline of our industries.
Importantly, we need to preserve our national democratic accountability to our citizens and reject the failed neo-liberal globalist project that has based growth on debt and cheap immigration, at the expense of our manufacturing and industrial base.
For those eager to help, how can the get involved in the campaign?
You can find out more about the SDP at https://sdp.org.uk/
People can find me at:
Or on X – @sdpdickie
