By the time of the next election, I would have worked in politics for twenty-five years, including fifteen years as the Member of Parliament for Camborne, Redruth, and Hayle and nine years as a Government Minister. Earlier this year I confirmed that I would not be standing at the next election.
It was a difficult decision for me because I have a deep bond with the area where my family have lived and worked for over four hundred years, but I will be 53 at the next election and I want the chance to do something different in life. In my time as an MP, most of the 35 or so schools in this constituency have had at least two head teachers, I am on to my third Chief Constable, there have been six Council Leaders and more NHS leaders than I can count. In every field in life, people take on difficult leadership roles for a period before moving on, and politics is no different. Of course, there are still almost eighteen months left of this current parliament and I will remain the MP until the final moment and fight for local constituents all the way to the line.
Last Tuesday evening, the Camborne and Redruth Conservatives Association met to select their new Parliamentary Candidate for the next General Election. Following a strong contest, the association chose Connor Donnithorne to be the next Conservative candidate. Connor would make a fantastic MP for our area. He was born and brought up in Cornwall and he lives in Blackwater with his wife and family. He has built a successful small business from scratch, setting up Seasmith Fish + Chips, an award-winning family business based in Porthtowan but now with a second shop in Wadebridge too.
Connor Donnithorne also has a head start over any potential rivals because he already understands the issues facing Cornwall and the local area through his work representing St Day and Carharrack at Cornwall Council. Meanwhile, his role as a Cabinet member at the Council means he has grown very quickly into the role as an elected politician and he is trusted by the leadership to take difficult decisions relating to transport policy for Cornwall. He will make an exceptional candidate for the next election, and I will be giving him my full support.
A lot of progress has been achieved in the area in regenerating our towns, from the opening of Redruth’s Buttermarket, which has created office, retail, and living space, to South Crofty reopening and new jobs in industries such as computer software. Redruth has seen the creation of the Kresen Kernow archive centre celebrating our Cornish history and also the new link road and developments around Heartlands and Tuckingmill. It was great to see the progress on some of these projects at last week's Murdoch Day,
Camborne is receiving £23.7 million packages through the ‘Town-Deal’ package supporting projects such as the creation of a ‘Fibre Park’ tech hub and the renovation of the Camborne Rugby Club’s facilities, and other regenerating projects for the area. For Hayle, key developments at the Harbour have attracted new jobs and inward development, with the Levelling-Up paper also confirming funding in Hayle for projects to increase the sale and consumption of locally caught seafood.
While a lot has been done, there are always new problems and challenges in politics that need to be addressed, and I hope that people will give Connor Donnithorne a chance to get to grips with them.
