We contacted all of the candidates vying for your vote to be the next MP for the Glastonbury and Somerton constituency, asking each of them the same questions. We've taken their responses exactly as they were sent to us - so you know where each of the candidates stands to help you decide who to vote for.

Here are their responses to the question:

What measures will you put in place to support the elderly and vulnerable populations in our community? How do you plan to address the challenges faced by social care provision in our constituency?

Jon Cousins (Green Party):

Healthcare services and wellbeing are very important to me. As Mayor of Glastonbury between 2020 and 2023, I witnessed the devastating impact of Covid, not only on the physical health of our community, but also the impact on mental health. As a result, I pushed for the new Glastonbury Health and Wellbeing Centre to be developed as part of the Town Deal, and I became a Trustee of the new Glastonbury Mental Health Network. As your Green MP, I will work with the integrated care partnership, health professionals, and local GPs to enhance community-centred approaches; to ensure that tailored and specific provision is readily available for the particular needs of our diverse communities – pushing for more accessible and prompt mental health needs assessments for children and adolescents, and for a trained and paid counsellor to be in every primary and secondary school, and sixth-form college in the constituency.

As a Green MP, I will push for the Government to restore public health budgets to 2015/16 levels – with an immediate increase of £1.5billion – as I am committed to ensure that smoking cessation, drug and alcohol treatment, and sexual health services are all properly funded. On a wider scale, the Green Party would reverse the creeping privatisation of the health service – with extra spending on health and social care rising to over £50billion per year by 2030 – and has pledged to make sure everyone can see an NHS dentist, with additional investment in NHS dentistry, reaching £3billion a year.

Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrats):

I want everyone in Glastonbury and Street to be able to live independently and with dignity, and receive any care they need in their own home wherever possible. That's why the Liberal Democrats would introduce free personal care based on need, not ability to pay. Somerset is a rural county with an aging population. In a parliamentary question on social care, I called for a fair funding review, to address the unequal way rural councils are funded. We'll create a social care workforce plan, establish a Royal College of Care Workers to improve recognition and career progression, and introduce a higher Carer's Minimum Wage. We'll establish a cross-party commission to forge a long-term agreement on sustainable funding for social care. We'll also give unpaid carers a fair deal so they get the support they so desperately need, including paid carer's leave and a statutory guarantee of regular respite breaks.

Hal Hooberman (Labour):



The elderly and vulnerable members of our community have borne the brunt of the worst of the past 14 years. If elected, I will hold monthly coffee mornings and meetings with different communities and vulnerable groups in our constituency. Social care is in crisis. It needs deep reform: there are inconsistent standards, chronic staff shortages, and people are not always treated with the care, dignity and respect they deserve. Over the longer term, Labour will undertake a programme of reform to create a National Care Service, underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country. Services will be locally delivered, with a principle of 'home first' that supports people to live independently for as long as possible. In the immediate term, we will establish a Fair Pay Agreement in adult social care. This will set fair pay, terms and conditions, along with training standards. Social care will finally, and rightly, become a profession that is respected and is one to be proud of.

Tom Carter (Reform UK):

No response received

Faye Purbrick (Conservative)

No response received