Interview with Conservative candidate Yousef Dahmash of Rugby

Building on from my previous article, a third candidate I was lucky enough to get a response from was the conservative candidate Yousef Dahmash. As with my previous article on the Reform and Liberal Democrat candidates, I asked him 6 questions regarding a mix of both local and national issues and I aim to remain impartial when laying out his responses here.

Tell me a bit about your personal background?

A local in Hillmorton, with a long family history within the Rugby area, Yousef talked of his family's roots within the NHS, with both his parents working at the hospital of St Cross, before moving onto other ventures within healthcare. He also highlighted that much of his want to give back and serve his local community came from messages ingrained in him by his father - “conveyed to me the importance of giving back to, and serving, the community”. He studied locally, before moving onto university where he studied English literature and then later completed a masters in international relations. After studies, Yousef worked in both Australia and London, however moved back to Rugby in order to be closer to his family, made more important by his fathers parkinson's diagnosis.

Yousef worked for the previous MP Mark Pawsey for this constituency from 2010 onwards, during which time he also became a local councillor (2013). He talked largely about his achievements during his time in this role, namely highlighting the stopping of bad housing developments, his work in the kids and cars don’t mix initiative, as well as planting trees and working to provide support to the disadvantaged within the local area during covid.

Outside of politics, Yousef has raised money for several local charities and youth groups (the key one of which being Rugby Borough Women & Girls Football Club where his daughter plays). He himself also played football locally and is a self proclaimed “long-suffering Arsenal fan”.

What do you see as the biggest issue facing rugby?

Issues pertaining to local health are of great importance to Yousef, in 2023 he launched a petition calling for upgrades to local care provisions as well as a return to “doctor lead services”. He aims to ensure that change occurs, with his current aim being to “ensure local health decision makers deliver on their recent commitment to bring the urgent care treatment available at St Cross into line with Coventry's Urgent Treatment Centre”.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the country as a whole?

Geopolitical international relations are Yousef’s biggest issue, highlighting Russian aggression from 2008 onwards as a major issue. Another side of this mentioned was the issues surrounding the movement of people and the barriers to the UK in order to effectively police our borders. He believes that world leaders should be lobbied to change an outdated ECHR and if this is not done and continues to cause issues we must seriously consider leaving entirely.

Are you confident about the upcoming election?

Yousef is “cautiously optimistic” going forward. He sees the last few years as being tough but believes Labour have little clear ideas to offer locally and nationally. “It’s the Conservatives who get things done, and Labour simply don’t have a plan. Or at least, not one they’re willing to share with the public.”

What are your plans if you are successful on July 4th?

Aiming to make speedy changes to upgrade the urgent care at St cross is top of his list. In parliament, Yousef hopes to campaign for changes to the NHS that allow decisions on the building of things such as new GP services to be done more efficiently. “We can get roads and schools into new developments early- but current regulations seem to allow NHS decision makers to delay. If this is affecting us here, it's also affecting communities up and down the country.”

Has the current state of conservative polling as well as the standing down of your predecessor Pawsey had any affect on your outlook of this election?

He is grateful that Mark standing down has given the opportunity to put himself forward within this election, in terms of polling he only cares about the outcome on July 4th rather than the speculation, closing with the following statement - “This is my hometown. It's where I grew up, went to school, work and am raising my family. Speaking to people they appreciate that I am a truly local candidate with their interests, and Rugby's interests, solely at heart.”