A WELL-known anti-poverty campaigner will bid to “give the voiceless a voice” by standing at next year’s General Election.

Chris Davis, who has founded a number of projects to help povertystricken city residents including city charity SCRATCH, has revealed he will be one of the candidates for the Southampton Test constituency next May.

The 58-year-old has been active in churches across Southampton over the past four decades, including Millbrook Christian Centre, St James and Testwood Baptist Church.

He was made an MBE in 2009 for his anti-poverty work in the city, having started a number of projects alongside his wife Annette.

They include Dorcas, the Basics Bank and Christmas Complete, which supply furniture, food, clothing and toys to people in poverty.

He also began the Mega Bites voucher scheme for homeless people, and was one of the founders of SCRATCH (Southampton City and Region Action to Combat Hardship) charity in 1999, serving as chief executive until 2008.

He said: “I’m concerned that no party is speaking out for the voiceless in society, and I am particularly concerned about poverty.

“At the last election almost 40 per cent of the voting population in the constituency didn’t bother to vote, and for a lot of them that was because there was a real sense that nobody was listening.

“I look at the changes that have been made to the benefits system by the Government in the last five years and the damage that has been done as a result. I’m not doing this to fight anyone, I’m doing this to support people.

“A lot of politicians go into the elections looking for a fight, and mudslinging, but you won’t see me doing that.”

Other declared candidates in the Southampton Test constituency are Alan Whitehead for Labour, Jeremy Moulton for the Conservatives and Angela Mawle for the Green Party.