Conservative parliamentary candidate for Stratford Chris Clarkson gives his first interview to the Herald

Mr Clarkson studied law at Dundee University and worked as a corporate development manager and a consultant before entering Parliament. He was born in Germany, where his army father, Terence, served with the Logistics Corps. His mother, Alison, was a teacher.

Tell us about your motivation for getting into politics.

I’m really lucky to come from a family where politics is discussed at the dinner table and everybody has different opinions. As recently as Saturday, at my dad’s 80th birthday, I was sat next to my uncle who’s slightly to the left of Stalin, and my auntie who would make Nigel Farage look wet. You’ve got to be able to hold your own.

My maternal granddad was a big believer in everybody having their say because he came from a working class family, and was just about old enough to remember his parents not having a vote. We were all encouraged to develop our own views.

At what point did you embark upon your political career?

At uni, I did a bit of student politics, but bizarrely it was the congestion charge in Greater Manchester that sort of got me back into activism. After that I got the bug and was lucky enough to get onto the council [he served on Salford City Council between 2011 and 2019]. That was eight fantastic and rewarding years.

To me it was mind-blowing that people come to you with problems and you fix them. I wanted to see what else I could do with those tools. If somebody gave me bigger, more powerful tools, what else could I achieve? And I have to say I’m absolutely in love with it. Being an MP is the best thing I’ve ever done and I hope I get to do it for the rest of my life.

What about criticisms that you’re abandoning your Lancashire constituents for a safer seat?

I think that’s an unfair criticism. I absolutely loved my constituency, and worked very hard to turn what was a very safe Labour seat into a marginal by connecting with people and listening to what they had to say.

But following boundary changes, my seat was split into two. Rather than pick one over the other and have an almighty fight and introduce myself to 20,000 new electors in either one, I thought I’d take some time to reflect, to think about what was important to me, and whether there might have been another way that I could serve the community.

And so you’ve come here. Why Stratford? Do you have any local links?

I have spent some time around the county and it’s a part of the world I particularly like.

When everybody was thinking there was going to be an election in November, I was already planning how I was going to spend a bit of time here. I wanted to get a feel for the local association and community, to see if we would be a good fit for each other.

Then, when the election was called, I was still given the opportunity to come here and ask for the support of the local association. It’s a bit like speed dating when you get to that stage, but it turns out there actually was a match.

What did you say on Monday to win the association over?

Well, I hope that what they saw was that I was sincere about wanting to be a good community MP.

Being a Member of Parliament the past four years is the best thing I’ve done. You have the tools to effect more change than at any other time. I spoke about things that I think are fundamentally Conservative values: opportunity, education, and empowering people.

And then I just answered the very sincere questions that people had about what my views were on the issues that mattered to them. And thankfully, they liked what I had to say.

I’m absolutely thrilled to bits.

There’s been a lot of discussion in Stratford about not wanting a new Conservative candidate who has been ‘parachuted’ in, a phrase that’s been applied to you. What do you say to that and how aware are you of the local mood?

Unlike the Labour Party, we don’t impose candidates at this stage. I was up against a local candidate. We always make sure that associations have a choice. I went in, I made my pitch, I answered the questions I was asked and at the end of the day, the association decided I was the candidate they wanted to go forward. And I’m delighted.

Your predecessor Nadhim Zahawi has been a divisive factor, with Tory voters going to the Lib Dems. How do you fancy your chances in the general election? Can you win those lost voters back?

Fundamentally, you can’t take anything for granted, and I never do. I took a very safe Labour seat and turned it into a marginal, and the only way you do that is by talking to people, understanding what their concerns are, and then trying to address those issues and do something about them. That’s what I’ll be doing over the next four weeks.

Everybody has a choice of where to put the cross on the ballot paper. I will be making the best positive case for putting it next to my name.

How do you feel about moving here?

The nice thing growing up an army brat is that anywhere can be home, I’m very good at putting down roots. I’m a single person and I don’t have children, so I’m fairly agile.

During the campaign I’m staying in Shottery, then will look to sell up and move here.

You won your Greater Manchester seat in 2019 as part of Boris’s Red Wall, and very much rode on Brexit issues. Do you still stand by Brexit being a good move?

I think it’s a work in progress. A major constitutional change like this doesn’t just happen overnight, we’re all sort of feeling our way through and deciding what the best version of that looks like. I’m open to the conversation. I was never one of those people who was an absolutist.

How will you fight for Stratford? What will be your immediate focus in the build up to the general election?

The north and south [of the county] are very different. In the south, I’ll be talking in particular to the rural community about the issues affecting agriculture. I want to make sure that the new freedoms that we have post-Brexit are actually working for them.

In the north, we’re going to be looking at things like housing.

This is a wonderful part of the world, but it’s about ensuring we leverage the amazing assets we already have – are we getting the most out of them?

Some of the criticisms about Nadhim Zahawi was that he didn’t focus on Stratford issues. How will you endeavour to really be a very present MP for us?

I get the most satisfaction out of the constituency side of the job. I like being on the doorstep talking to people, I like knowing what’s going on.

It’s not really an option for me not to pay attention to the people I am representing – that’s my mindset as an MP. So you will probably notice a slightly different style if I’m fortunate enough to get it.

I’m not suggesting that Nadhim wasn’t that. I’ve heard very positive things said about him and he’s been incredibly supportive to me.

The party has trust issues locally. What are you going to be saying on the doorstep to people, to really win them over?

I’m going to be listening on the doorstep, and that’s one thing I’ve learned over the past four years. Every politician thinks the best thing to do is go into broadcast mode, but you’re supposed to listen, to be a receiver, and that’s what I’m going to be.

Outside of politics, how do you spend your time?

The job is pretty all consuming. I love cooking and reading. Italian is my favourite cuisine, I do a good risotto.

I prefer biographies, and I am a massive Agatha Christie fan – my favourite books of hers are Death in the Clouds and The ABC Murders.

I am a fan of Shakespeare too – Macbeth is my favourite. I had a nice line ready for the selection in case it was called upon: If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well/It were done quickly.