It may be the first time he has fought any election, but Cameron Matthews is not daunted by the unenviable task of trying to unseat a Government minister.
Mr Matthews, 35, who was born and bred in Felixstowe, has been announced as the Labour candidate for Suffolk Coastal, held by Conservative Therese Coffey, minister for the environment.
Dr Coffey has confirmed that she will be standing again for the seat she first won in 2010.
Mr Matthews, a firefighter in Cambridge, said his interest in politics had grown out of a desire to help people.
“Part of my passion to help people was what drove me into the fire service as a career. Having seen the real impact of political decisions on the fire service and the cuts which have impacted on people’s lives, I wanted to get involved further.
“My aim is to get the Labour party message out to people, to be a voice for working people in Parliament and to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Mr Matthews will be promoting national Labour policies such as free school meals, free hospital parking and outlawing zero hours contracts, but also tackling local issues such as the feared impact of the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station, improving rail services and coastal flooding concerns.
James Sandbach, a social justice campaigner and a Saxmundham town councillor, who stood in the 2015 general election is standing again for the Lib Dems in Suffolk Coastal.
He said: “Many voters I meet in Suffolk are deeply concerned about the direction the Conservatives are taking our country but can’t support Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party - we offer an agenda for an open tolerant and united Britain, and an alternative to the hard Brexit course of Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May.”
Philip Young, 64, a retired Church of England priest from Felixstowe, will be standing as an Independent candidate on June 8 calling for a new era of politics where love, peace and justice for all take centre stage, focussing on issues such as equality, taxation, health and the environment.
Green Party candidate will be retired technologist Eamonn O’Nolan, 63, who spends most of his week as a volunteer First Responder at the East of England Ambulance Service, and is a Woodbridge town councillor.
His campaign priorities are protecting local A&E services, improving the availability of quality schools in Suffolk, and securing a second referendum on membership of the EU.
He said: “Every day and night, I see NHS workers battling with incredible determination and skill to save people’s lives, when the resources they should have at their disposal have been cut below survival level.”
Full nominations will be announced on Thursday, May 11
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here