Andrew Bridgen MP answers ConHome's Twenty Questions for the Class of 2010

Here is the latest in our series of Twenty Questions with members of the Class of 2010...

Andrew Bridgen was elected MP for North West Leicestershire with a majority of 7,511.

1. What is your earliest political memory? I was about seven years old during the fuel crisis of the early 1970s and I can vividly remember my mother getting upset about the price of petrol at the pumps and hearing her say that “if it gets to over £1 a gallon I will stop buying it!”

2. Complete the sentence: “I’m a Conservative because… history will judge that Conservative policies are the ones that work.”

3. Who is your political hero and why? Winston Churchill - great statesman, great orator, great writer.

4. When did you decide you wanted to become an MP? I had always been interested, but the Conservative defeat in 2005 galvanised my resolve to make a real difference.

5. What is your reading material of choice? It depends on how much time I have got: in the week it tends to be online information (ConservativeHome, broadsheet newspaper websites, various blog sites) and at weekends I enjoy reading newspapers (the Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday). On holiday and when I have more time I love to read books.

6. Who is your favourite political interviewer/presenter on TV or radio? Andrew Neil is a most jovial assassin.

7. If you could run any government department, which would it be and why? Business, Innovation and Skills - I find this attractive as a former entrepreneur and going for growth is far more satisfying than cutting budgets, but both are unfortunately essential.

8. Which non-Conservative politician do you most admire? Frank Field MP.

9. Who would you least want to get stuck with in a House of Commons lift? John Prescott (now known as the Red Baron) - his visage looks very similar to that of a bulldog chewing a wasp.

10. If you were in the US, would you be a Republican or a Democrat? Republican on most issues.

11. What do you enjoy doing to unwind and relax? Spending time with the children, I enjoy the company you meet in the great British pub, dinner with friends. I also enjoy driving my sports car.

12. What is your favourite book? Whatever I am reading at the moment.

13. What is your favourite film? The Italian Job (the original version).

14. What is your favourite music? All sorts depending on my mood, however with regards to lots of the contemporary pop I believe my tastes have become those I remember my father espousing in the early 1980s (he was wrong then and I am probably wrong now).

15. What would be your ideal meal and where would you eat it? Sunday lunch with friends and family in our dining room at home in the constituency.

16. What is your favourite holiday destination? The Island of Menorca where my mother and father have lived for the past two decades.

17. What do you most want to achieve during your first term in Parliament? A reputation as a hardworking and diligent constituency MP.

18. Tell us one interesting, unusual or surprising fact about yourself. I won my first election when I was 15 when I was elected head boy of Pingle Comprehensive School in Swadlincote by my peers.

19. Tell us one interesting, unusual or surprising fact about your constituency. North West Leicestershire had the highest turnout in the country at the 1992 General Election when 85.2% of the electorate turned out to vote and the seat remained Conservative, despite the Labour candidate polling over 27,000 votes. Also, Appleby Parva in my constituency was calculated to be the centre of population of Great Britain in 2000.

20. Share with us your most amusing story or favourite anecdote from the campaign trail. I spoke at an event in a “safe” Conservative seat before the General Election. I gave an account of the campaigning methods, techniques and tools we were using to win the next election for the Conservatives in North West Leicestershire. At the end of the talk a member of their association came up to me, thanked me for the talk and told me that it was reassuring to discover that the Conservatives did this as well, as it was exactly what the Liberals had been doing in their constituency for years!

> Previously: Brandon Lewis MP

Here is the latest in our series of Twenty Questions with members of the Class of 2010...

Andrew Bridgen was elected MP for North West Leicestershire with a majority of 7,511.

1. What is your earliest political memory? I was about seven years old during the fuel crisis of the early 1970s and I can vividly remember my mother getting upset about the price of petrol at the pumps and hearing her say that “if it gets to over £1 a gallon I will stop buying it!”

2. Complete the sentence: “I’m a Conservative because… history will judge that Conservative policies are the ones that work.”

3. Who is your political hero and why? Winston Churchill - great statesman, great orator, great writer.

4. When did you decide you wanted to become an MP? I had always been interested, but the Conservative defeat in 2005 galvanised my resolve to make a real difference.

5. What is your reading material of choice? It depends on how much time I have got: in the week it tends to be online information (ConservativeHome, broadsheet newspaper websites, various blog sites) and at weekends I enjoy reading newspapers (the Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday). On holiday and when I have more time I love to read books.

6. Who is your favourite political interviewer/presenter on TV or radio? Andrew Neil is a most jovial assassin.

7. If you could run any government department, which would it be and why? Business, Innovation and Skills - I find this attractive as a former entrepreneur and going for growth is far more satisfying than cutting budgets, but both are unfortunately essential.

8. Which non-Conservative politician do you most admire? Frank Field MP.

9. Who would you least want to get stuck with in a House of Commons lift? John Prescott (now known as the Red Baron) - his visage looks very similar to that of a bulldog chewing a wasp.

10. If you were in the US, would you be a Republican or a Democrat? Republican on most issues.

11. What do you enjoy doing to unwind and relax? Spending time with the children, I enjoy the company you meet in the great British pub, dinner with friends. I also enjoy driving my sports car.

12. What is your favourite book? Whatever I am reading at the moment.

13. What is your favourite film? The Italian Job (the original version).

14. What is your favourite music? All sorts depending on my mood, however with regards to lots of the contemporary pop I believe my tastes have become those I remember my father espousing in the early 1980s (he was wrong then and I am probably wrong now).

15. What would be your ideal meal and where would you eat it? Sunday lunch with friends and family in our dining room at home in the constituency.

16. What is your favourite holiday destination? The Island of Menorca where my mother and father have lived for the past two decades.

17. What do you most want to achieve during your first term in Parliament? A reputation as a hardworking and diligent constituency MP.

18. Tell us one interesting, unusual or surprising fact about yourself. I won my first election when I was 15 when I was elected head boy of Pingle Comprehensive School in Swadlincote by my peers.

19. Tell us one interesting, unusual or surprising fact about your constituency. North West Leicestershire had the highest turnout in the country at the 1992 General Election when 85.2% of the electorate turned out to vote and the seat remained Conservative, despite the Labour candidate polling over 27,000 votes. Also, Appleby Parva in my constituency was calculated to be the centre of population of Great Britain in 2000.

20. Share with us your most amusing story or favourite anecdote from the campaign trail. I spoke at an event in a “safe” Conservative seat before the General Election. I gave an account of the campaigning methods, techniques and tools we were using to win the next election for the Conservatives in North West Leicestershire. At the end of the talk a member of their association came up to me, thanked me for the talk and told me that it was reassuring to discover that the Conservatives did this as well, as it was exactly what the Liberals had been doing in their constituency for years!

> Previously: Brandon Lewis MP