Member News
By Gurpreet Singh Brar - 25th July 2010
I spent most of my money in the last three years fighting for the seat of Bristol North West and I have been delving into my long term savings as the system still isn’t working as it should be
Charlotte Leslie (Con, Bristol North West)
Conservative MP for Bristol North West Charlotte Leslie speaks to ePolitix.com about life as a new MP and what she expects from the new Parliament.
How does it feel to finally be in Parliament and represent Bristol North West?
It feels very strange, it feels slightly surreal, but its feels far more of a relief and privilege then I had anticipated.
After three and half years of just hard campaigning, and not really knowing what the future was going to hold, unable to do anything because you’re still a candidate and not an MP, it’s an enormous relief to have climbed through this fog of hardship and to finally stand on this plateau and get things done.
There have been so many things in my constituency that I have wanted to get done, but as a candidate I simply couldn’t do them. Now as an MP though I can start to tackle these issues, which is a huge relief.
There is always the impression that the first few weeks are like being at fresher’s week at University. How difficult did you find it to make friends with other MPs? And who would you classify, from fellow MPs, as being your friends?
There is a certain element of a fresher’s week because you have all come and been through a very similar experience. All MPs whether in safe seats or marginal seats have been through similar experiences and are then pushed together in an extremely tense environment, in what is quiet a small place, and we all have to learn things very quickly, which is undoubtedly a bonding experience.
This new intake in particular has come through politics and campaigned at a very interesting time. We have seen the expenses scandal happen and have had to understand the public's desire to see a cleaner, fresher and somewhat newer politics. And I really feel that this Parliament has risen to that challenge and has resulted in a lot of new faces who are here to serve the public and make a real difference for their constituencies.
On the question of my friends, there are too many to mention and I don’t want to upset anyone by forgetting to mention them….
What has been the single most challenging thing for you since you were elected as an MP?
There are a few things but I suppose the biggest challenge has been dealing with Ipsa. Creating a huge bureaucracy to address a problem that obviously needed to be addressed is not the answer which I had hoped for.
I spent most of my money in the last three years fighting for the seat of Bristol North West and I have been delving into my long term savings as the system still isn’t working as it should be.
Do you really think that despite all the huge cuts that this government is making we can really have a successful Parliament? Or do you think it will be remembered as a Parliament that cut everything but did nothing?
You know what, if you inherit a lot of money and a boom time it is incredibly easy to be seen to have a successful Parliament at the time. I don’t think there is any doubt that this will be a very difficult Parliament. What I hope will happen in 5 or 6 years time is that people will look back and see this as a Parliament that rescued a country that was about to lose its AAA rating. I hope that people will see how the government fought to regain the reputation of this country in the international community.
Life isn’t always how you want it to be. Life is tough and you have to make sacrifices for long term gain. This is maybe one thing we have lost in the last decade and we have to understand that we can’t just wave a magic wand and makes things better, but it will have to be tough action that leads to long term gain for our country.
You can’t just stick your head in the sand and hopes it going to be fine. It’s not fine and we have to work to make things better. If we succeed then this Parliament will be remembered for a long time.
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