In a wide-ranging interview the Prospective Conservative MP Steve Brine talks frankly to award-winning novelist Michael Dobbs about Winchester (and Westminster!), what he really thinks of David Cameron and how family life has changed him.
Dobbs: What do you think are the biggest challenges facing this area at the moment?
Brine: The economy is without doubt right at the top of the list. People are worried about their jobs and although there is great affluence here lots of people are struggling. Our family is like thousands of others locally; we are definitely feeling the pinch. I think we need a new Government to restore confidence and begin the massive task of returning our economy to a position of balance.
That is big picture stuff but if we don’t do that, and we carry on as a nation paying more in debt interest than we do in educating our children, the effect will continue to be felt here in Winchester.
Locally, I am proud to be working with exciting new initiatives such as the Hampshire Careers Network which is working directly with local job-seekers to help them get back into work. I also think the long-term future of our hospital remains a top priority as does the huge challenge of new development and the need to return key decision such as Barton Farm to local people and move away from centrally imposed housing targets.
Dobbs: What did you make of the Telegraph revelations about MPs expenses?
Brine: I remain every bit as furious as the people I seek to represent. I grew up in a modest family and was taught the true value of money. I don’t care if the system allowed MPs to claim for trousers presses and taxpayer funded housing for their families, they should have known better and had the good grace to say no. I have run businesses and we would have fired straight away anyone abusing our system.
MPs, from all political parties, have done things that are unethical and wrong. David Cameron has apologised for the behaviour of some Conservative MPs and I think there is general agreement he has acted decisively and in a way befitting a Prime Minister in-waiting. And he has announced reforms to start to rebuild trust in politics and to take action on expenses. But in my view we won’t end the current paralysis in government and in politics just by electing a new Speaker and setting new rules. We’ve got to give the public their voice and the country the chance of a fresh start. The only way that can happen is through a general election.
Dobbs: What can people expect if they do elect you as their next MP
Brine: For a start they can expect a Conservative Government to replace this failing Labour administration. It may seem as if the next election is all over for Gordon Brown but he still has the huge advantage of incumbency, it will take every possible Conservative vote to turn him out of Number 10 and I hope Winchester will step up to the plate and play its part in doing that. Of course I want to sit in the House of Commons and help a new Conservative Government deliver on its manifesto pledges - but I am standing to be WINCHESTER’S MP and I see that as an end in itself NOT just a way to become an MP in Westminster. We have some good councillors in this area, of all parties, they don’t need their MP to second-guess them all the time but they do need an MP to support them and trust them.
Above all I believe in the Winchester constituency area and I want to work as part of a team to make it an even better place to live. I utterly reject the negative attitude of my main political opponents here which tries to run down this area for narrow party political gain. Winchester and the surrounding area is an ancient place with a great history but I believe our best days are still to come and that’s why you will only ever hear positive messages from me. I don’t believe in wasting time or space in my leaflets telling tales on the Liberal Democrats. People can make their own minds up about whom they want to represent them.
Dobbs: You know David Cameron well, what is he really like?
Brine: I wouldn’t say I know him well but we’ve met many times now and we’ve had a chance to chat privately. We first met in 2005 when he came to Eastleigh to launch our General Election manifesto and I thought then, he was pretty special. He just seemed to instil a great deal of confidence in people and he was ice-cool under pressure. I think David is a very consistent person and you need that if you want to be Prime Minister. He is serious, as he should be given the huge responsibility he will shoulder if he wins the election, but he is remarkably normal and makes people feel completely at ease.
Family means the world to him which is something we definitely share; he has met my wife Susie on a number of occasions and our daughter Emily when he visited Winchester last year.
Dobbs: You mention the family; Susie and yourself have had a baby since you began doing this job, how has that changed things?
Brine: Emily was born in November 2006 at the Royal County Hospital in Winchester and, like most new parents, after nine months of preparation we thought we were completely ready for parenthood. Clearly we were wrong; Emily has changed our lives forever and it is absolutely brilliant!
At every stage you think it cannot be better than this and then they crawl, walk, talk and it is. I am not at home as much as I would like but I think we’ve given Emily a safe and stable home and she is a very happy little girl. She is hugely determined and strong willed and we are both utterly lost as to where she gets it from!
Of course becoming a Dad has changed me but for the better I hope. I know more than ever what’s important in life and whatever happens to me at the election, Emily and Susie will be there when I get home and that feels pretty good to be honest.
Dobbs: So, do you think you will win?
Brine: Whilst I take nothing for granted I am quietly confident that we have the right team locally and nationally. I always remember Mark Oaten saying at the 2005 General Election that in his view nobody owns Winchester, not the Conservatives and not the Liberal Democrats. People tell me they like the fact I am a local family man, living here and working extremely hard to become the local MP.
This is a great place to live and I remain determined to give this area the MP it deserves and one people can be truly proud of.
Steve Brine spoke to Michael Dobbs in late May 2009; an abridged version of this article is published in full with a number of pictures in the Summer edition of The Winchester Post and The Chandler's Ford Post.
Pictured above; Steve with wife, Susie and daughter Emily on St Giles Hill in Winchester.