Liberal Democrat candidate Daisy Cooper believes Brexit “mustn’t be a stitch up” and people should have their say on the final deal.

Daisy Cooper moved to St Albans last year to join the “thriving community” and commute to her role as joint executive director of press regulation campaign Hacked Off.

But now Ms Cooper is focusing on the issues she believes are central to those in St Albans: having a say on Brexit, and adequate funding for education and the NHS.

For her, the two issues are bound up as the UK’s exit from the EU, which could leave “an enormous black hole in our public finances”.

She said: “The NHS is chronically underfunded and with the shortages and policies cracking down on immigration and not guaranteeing rights for EU nationals we could see that getting a lot worse.”

Ms Cooper believes the Liberal Democrats are “the only party” to give a clear plan on how to fund the NHS with a rise of a penny in every pound of National Insurance tax.

She also said she wants St Albans City railway station to be “fit for purpose” with a new forecourt and local transport links, business rates “completely scrapped”, and new cycling schemes and travel discounts for young people.

In contrast to her Labour rival Kerry Pollard, Ms Cooper does not want to see new housing on the proposed rail freight site, saying she is “committed to protecting the green belt,” and she hopes she can “fight every approach” to protect that site.

She said: “We shouldn’t be looking to open up the floodgates to building housing on our green belt – it’s very dangerous.”

Ms Cooper believes St Albans residents are “frustrated” by their most recent MP, Anne Main, calling her “out of touch” on Brexit.

She said: “This election is about national issues but also about having an MP who reflects their values.”