Sunday 2 May 2010

Chris White, Conservative

In the last of the candidate profiles for Warwick and Leamington, we look at the Conservative candidate, Chris White, who fought the seat unsuccessfully in 2005.

If one wanted a carcicature of a totally unsuitable Conservative candidate for Warwick and Leamington it would be someone in a union jack waistcoat who was obsessed with the Common Fisheries Policy (Leamington is about as far as you can get from the sea in England).

I have had the opportunity to have a number of long conversations with Chris White over the past year and he is the opposite of such a person. He is a cerebal, thoughtful person who is prepared to listen to alternative views, although, of course, he is a genuine Conservative in his values and principles. He is also a very dynamic and energetic individual with an interesting background.

He was educated at a comprehensive school and took a MBA after his first degree in engineering. He then went to work in the motor industry with MG Rover so he is one of those relatively rare candidates who has a manufacturing industry background.

Chris White has embedded itself him in the local community. Living in Warwick, he has served as a local councillor and school governor and involved himself in local charitable and voluntary activities. In the months leading up to the campaign, he has been talking to groups such as teachers and health care professionals. He has also campaigned against local fire station closures, although ironically this plan was put forward by the Conservative controlled county council.

While highighting the 'jobs tax' and safeguarding the NHS, his campaign literature contains quite a lot of emphasis on local issues such as protecting allotments and preventing over development.

The person he most admires is President Obama and the person he would like least to be stuck in a lift with is Nick Griffin. What makes him most angry is discrimination of any kind.

Dave Cameron said the other day that he is a 'one nation' Conservative and Chris White comes across as such a person. He would be an effective constituency MP with the potential for ministerial office and would not be a supporter of extremist policies or reducing front line public service.

This is a general election and voters are choosing a government as well as a MP. But the Conservatives have chosen an effective candidate who is well in tune with the constituency he seeks to represent.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Which of the MPs in your constituency have you been most impressed by?

Has you been swayed by anything you have heard or read from the MPs?

Wyn Grant said...

I assume you mean candidates. I haven't been swayed by anything I have read, except that I thought the Green candidate was rather selective in his treatment of the party's policies. Chris White is the only candidate I have met so it is difficult to make a comparison with the others.

Jack said...

who do you think is at no 10, today ?

Anonymous said...

excellent points and the details are more specific than somewhere else, thanks.

- Murk