Thérèse Coffey 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...
Thérèse Coffey was elected MP for Suffolk Coastal with a majority of 9,128.
1. What is your earliest political memory? My parents, along with 30,000 other Liverpool City Council employees, being made redundant by Derek Hatton and his crew.
2. Complete the sentence: “I’m a Conservative because… I believe in families, aspiration, responsibility, enterprise and defence of our country."
3. Who is your political hero and why? Margaret Thatcher; she stood up for Britain, for enterprise and for freedom; plus is the only science graduate ever to have been PM.
4. When did you decide you wanted to become an MP? About 2000.
5. What is your reading material of choice? On the internet I read the Tory Trinity of ConHome, Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes plus Coffee House, PoliticsHome, John Redwood and the Telegraph Blogs. I also go to many links off Twitter so follow Paul Waugh as a journalist and a variety of other MPs, esp. Labour links. I also read my local papers, but much prefer to listen than to read.
6. Who is your favourite political interviewer/presenter on TV or radio? Anita Anand, although she is still on maternity leave so Nick Robinson.
7. If you could run any government department, which would it be and why?
I'm not aware you got a choice; given my constituency, DEFRA to restore the countryside and the coast at the heart of Whitehall.
8. Which non-Conservative politician do you most admire?
I always find this difficult but in this Parliament, I have been impressed by Caroline Flint on her challenge on the anonymity of rape defendants.
9. Who would you least want to get stuck with in a House of Commons lift? One of the many mice/rats prevalent across the Houses of Parliament (The Commoners make do with mice; I understand the Other Place has the rats.)
10. If you were in the US, would you be a Republican or a Democrat? Republican.
11. What do you enjoy doing to unwind and relax? Sleep!
12. What is your favourite book? To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
13. What is your favourite film? My Best Friend's Wedding.
14. What is your favourite music? Muse / Fauré.
15. What would be your ideal meal and where would you eat it? The answer to my favourite meal changes but I will usually go for Roast Beef and all the trimmings; anywhere that is with good friends, pooch, family and a fine glass of wine or beer - preferably a pub with a crackling fire.
16. What is your favourite holiday destination? Apart from Suffolk and the UK (we have such a varied island with so many fine places to visit), the USA.
17. What do you most want to achieve during your first term in Parliament?
Be a good constituency MP, broadband across Suffolk, securing A12 bypass and changing government policy on coastal/estuary protection.
18. Tell us one interesting, unusual or surprising fact about yourself. I can play the trombone.
19. Tell us one interesting, unusual or surprising fact about your constituency. Average rainfall in Suffolk Coastal is similar to Jerusalem.
20. Share with us your most amusing story or favourite anecdote from the campaign trail. It was such a short campaign and plenty of good humour but perhaps it was being challenged by a constituent (who had told me she was not going to vote for me anyway) about whether or not I had been to her village; when I checked the map and told her the specific roads that I had been to, I was duly chastised and told that I had gone to the "wrong side of the village". It made me chuckle that in such a small village that the perceived divides can be so big.
> Previously: Mike Weatherley MP
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