Meet the candidates: Who is bidding to represent Falmouth and Penryn in parliament?

Simon Rix - Liberal Democrat.

Simon is 43 and lives on the Truro side of St Austell with his wife and their two children. He enjoys cycling and kayaking. 
His first job was in a fish and chip shop. Later he was a photographer, including for the BBC. Simon now works in Truro for an e-commerce company. 
Simon’s mother married in Truro in the 1950s, his eldest brother was born in St Agnes and he was born in Exeter. 
Simon is passionate about the NHS - he ran community engagement for the Royal Cornwall Hospital, and he now chairs Cornwall’s health and adult care advisory committee. 
He cares about education - he was a governor of a local primary school and believes a good teacher changes lives for the better. 
Simon is also a keen environmentalist - he has a degree in physics and studied energy policy at Tremough. 
Simon said: “If elected I will be a hard-working, accessible MP, always putting the people of Cornwall before party politics.”

Loic Rich - Independent

Born at Treliske, Loic was brought up in St Agnes, went to Richard Lander School and Falmouth University and now lives and works in Truro.
With previous employment in catering, medical administration, and retail, he works as a singer songwriter performing around Cornwall at various music venues, and as a copywriter, screenwriter and journalist.
Loic’s main hobby is kitesurfing, and he also likes playing football, hiking, and short mat bowls. He says he has “tried out” a range of different political parties, which was, in his words, “educational.”
Elected as an Independent councillor to Truro City Council and Cornwall Council, he serves on economy, culture, transport, and religious education. He also chairs the Cornwall Council Harbours Board and is the mayor of Truro.

Hanna Toms - Labour

Born in 1976 and brought up in Cornwall, Hanna’s family has a long history of political activism.
She claims her education at Roseland School and St Austell College enabled her to forge a career in promotions. She spent a year travelling before returning home and training as a professional youth worker completing a postgraduate qualification in youth and community work. She ran and worked on youth projects across the county and after qualifying left to further her career, running a London youth centre. 
She returned to Cornwall ahead of the birth of her daughter and they now live in Cowlands.
She said: “My involvement in the Labour Party has had a big impact on my life as I try to get Labour values of fairness and equality recognised and adopted in Cornwall.”
Hanna is Leader of the Labour group on Cornwall Council where she represents the Penwerris division of Falmouth. She is also National Women's Officer for LGBT Labour.

Sarah Newton - Conservative

Sarah, 53, has been married to Alan for 26 years - they have three children and live in Mylor Bridge. She grew up in a small family business and was educated at Marlborough, Clare Terrace and Falmouth schools before reading history at King's College London and representing Cornwall as a Rotary International Scholar in the USA.
Sarah's family have roots in her constituency going back generations. Her ancestors were tin miners near Chacewater, her great-grandparents were shopkeepers on High Street in Falmouth and one grandfather worked in the docks, while the other, a local strawberry grower, played a significant role in developing Falmouth Football Club.
Sarah’s first job was while she was at school, helping in the family business, cleaning caravans and serving customers in the campsite shop. Following university, and a successful career with Citibank and American Express she decided to dedicate her time to finding solutions to issues facing older people and their families. In the 1990s she served as Director of Age Concern England and the International Longevity Centre - UK.
In 2010 she was won a seat in Parliament. Since then, she has represented her constituents on a wide range of local issues.

Rik Evans - National Health Action

Rik is 69 years old, has been married to Rosalind for 48 years, has three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He lives in Truro.
He was brought up in Canada but finished his education in the UK. At the age of 21 he started his first business in Cornwall and has been a Cornish entrepreneur for 40 years.
Rik has been on health boards in Cornwall for about 30 years and in May resigned on principle as vice chairman of RCHT over the board’s decision to privatise cleaning and catering services.
He said: “I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the board of RCHT being fully engaged in patient and staff welfare.”
He was chairman of charitable funds and chairman of the successful Phoenix Stroke Appeal which raised over half a million pounds for Cornish stroke patients. He continues to campaign for health care in Cornwall.

Sharron Kelsey - Green Party

Originally from rural Lincolnshire, Sharron was brought up with a strong “make do and mend” ethic, and the belief that resources are finite so we must live within our means.
She went to university in Coventry to study materials technology and then lived in London for nearly 30 years. Now 54, she moved to Cornwall last year to be with her long-term partner after taking voluntary redundancy from the Department for International Development. 
Prior to the Civil Service she worked in financial administration and office management in charities and small companies, and had had her own business screen-printing T-shirts.
Sharron lives in St Dennis in a house she is renovating so she can live a low key lifestyle with solar power and home-grown food. She volunteers with Natural England, the National Trust and Newquay in Bloom, and is a trustee of St Dennis Community Fund. Currently she is studying environmental management at the Open University.

Stephen Richardson - Mebyon Kernow

Stephen lives in Illogan, where he owns and runs a fish and chip shop. He is married to Mandy and has three children - Rebecca, Sam and Jack.
He has a degree in law and has worked as a legal consultant and licensed conveyancer. He also had a 20 year career with a prominent restaurant chain, before starting his own business.
Stephen joined Mebyon Kernow in 2010 and he was soon after elected to Illogan Parish Council in a by-election and was re-elected in 2013. He serves on MK’s National Executive, is one of the party’s main spokespeople and is presently working with a team that is preparing a consultation document on MK’s proposal for a Law-Making Assembly for Cornwall.
Stephen is also a trustee of the St Piran Trust, which is developing plans to excavate the historic chapel from the sand dunes near Perranporth.

Dr John Hyslop - UKIP

John Hyslop is a consultant radiologist who has lived in Truro, and now Falmouth, for 30 years. He began working at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in 1985, charged with building the hospital’s ultrasound service, and is now a consultant radiologist.
He is also a qualified teacher, helping deliver the Peninsular Medical School’s training of the next generation of doctors. 
A founding trustee of Heart Race Cornwall, he is chairman of the Duchy Health Charity and a former governor of Cornwall College. 
Mr Hyslop said: “As a health care professional with almost 40 years’ experience I have seen significant changes in the NHS. Our health service must be protected from external pressures, EU regulations and top­down interference. I am against further use of PFI and I will always stand up for first class treatment which is free at the point of delivery.”