Q & A With Ryan Robson Who Has Been Selected for The Bracknell Open Primary

I asked Ryan Robson a few questions about his politics and what he can offer Bracknell in his selection of one of the 7 candidates who are standing in the open primary for the new Tory PPC to replace Andrew Mackay MP.

Details of the other candidates on the short list can be found here.

Ryan Robson is in the Centre of the above picture.

1. What can you offer Bracknell constituency?

I am a successful and experienced businessman and am a Director of Bagshot based DC Leisure which employs thousands of local people and helps keep the community healthy and active by running over 100 local authority leisure centres.

I have built up a group of healthcare and education businesses, which employs over 16000, and know about job creation, attracting investment and building winning teams.

This means I am well placed to fight for local jobs and services in the recession and will be able to work with the council and developers to regenerate the town centre.

Too many politicians talk too much and do too little. I am a practical problem solver and will use these skills to help residents.


2. Will you be willing to move to the constituency?

Yes. Absolutely. MPs and their families should be local.


3. Will you question the party policies if you see the need?

Yes and as a Director of Iain Duncan Smith's Centre for Social Justice, I have led the debate in changing and shaping our policies in crucial areas like schools and welfare reform.


4. What do you think of the outgoing MP Andrew Mackay?

Everyone I meet on the doorstep says Andrew is a hardworking constituency MP. If elected I want to build upon this reputation by responding quickly and effectively to resident's needs.


5. Do you think that pre-registered open primaries are a good idea?

Yes because this can be a genuinely local choice. Come and vote and you can choose your next Conservative candidate. That's democracy in action!

6. What is the one thing you would change about Bracknell?

The town centre. We must stop it becoming a ghost town. I want to work with the local council and developers to create a special and thriving centre where the Marks and Spencer’s of this world can attract local custom and create jobs for local people.


7. Do you have any previous political experience?

Yes. I was Chairman of the Wandsworth Conservative Councillors and championed low taxes and quality public services. I represented a traditionally deprived and Labour ward, which is being regenerated, fought for more police on the beat and cleaner streets.

Since then I was asked, because of my business experience in healthcare and education to lead policy reviews for David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith.


8. Why do you want to stand for the Conservatives as opposed to any other political party?

Because as a positive, optimistic person I would rather trust people than the state. As a family man I believe in supporting and encouraging hardworking families. As a businessman, I believe that the only way the economy will grow its way out of recession and provide the revenue needed to properly fund schools and hospitals is by reducing red tape and taxes.


9. Does having experience as an investment banker hold you back as a
future PPC in light of the current banker popularity?*

I am not an investment banker and can't think where you got that idea? I don't work in a bank and don't lend any money. I run and invest in a group of healthcare and education businesses which cares for adults with learning difficulties and runs local authority gyms.*


10. Will you continue with your work as Chairman of the Centre for Social Justice?

As a Chairman of two of the CSJ's working groups I have helped shape policy
to get kids from poor backgrounds a decent education and stop the neglect of children in care. As a family man I care passionately about these issues and will continue to speak out on them. It's unpaid voluntary work and believe it is making a difference.


11.Do you have any prior connection with the constituency? If not, isn't it fair for voters here to conclude that you are just looking for a safe Tory seat in order to further your ambitions?

As a director of Bagshot based DC leisure which employs lots of local people I have come to know and love the area. I have much to learn but everybody I've met from Great Holland’s to Finchampstead has been very welcoming and keen to tell me how I can help.

I am activity seeking the opportunity to ask similar questions of all the candidates in the open primary and hope to post them on this blog soon, Q&A was with Iain Dale can be found here and Phillip Lee’s here.

If you would like to reply to any questions asked or answered then please do so in the comments below this blog.

Ryan Robson work at Centre for Social Justice can be found here


Disclaimer: Bracknell Blog does not supporting any particular conservative's candidacy in the Bracknell Primary Selection.

*My apologies to Mr Robson for my question 9 ‘Does having experience as an investment banker hold you back as a future PPC in light of the current banker popularity?’. I got the investment banker question wrong.

However I ask this question because of information read on Richard Willis Blog (a Conservative Councillor in Reading) therefore I believed this to be the truth as he is a fellow conservative like Mr Robson. But I can now put the record straight that Ryan Robson is not an investment banker. Richard Willis post can be read here . Next time I will be more careful in my research. I have blogged about what I have learned being a blogger in the past which you can read here.