By Community Correspondent Charles Hudson

It’s fair to say that MPs do not have a great reputation nowadays. Far from being servants of the people, fighting the cause for the most vulnerable people in the constituency; they are all too often portrayed as slimy money-grabbing power fanatics, objects for ridicule and scorn. One man trying to change that perception is Zac Goldsmith, who came to talk to Tiffin’s Year 11 last Wednesday.

Zac Goldsmith is not your typical politician (he isn’t actually a politician at all yet, but will be contesting the Richmond Park constituency at the election for the Conservatives). As he entered the lecture theatre, there was a hushed silence, and a feeling of surprise. Here was a man in his thirties, dressed smart-casual with a jacket but no tie, and a relaxed, informal manner. Granted, he was incredibly well spoken, having been educated at Eton for part of his teenage life, but he didn’t fit the stereotype of the pinstriped gentleman smoking a cigar in the Carlton Club- he spoke passionately about the importance of local government and the environment in the face of pressure from big business and centralised government.

After a short speech explaining what he thought were the problems with modern politics- namely the political apathy of the majority of the public, and people voting for a party rather than a particular MP for their own constituency, he took questions from a selection of 15 and 16 year old students.

His answers helped us to gauge a picture of how he felt regarding particular issues. He is against the expansion of Heathrow and would rather put greater investment into Britain’s rail networks, and is also against the building of more grammar schools, something which was met with quiet disapproval from the audience, and would improve local schools by reducing ‘interference’ from centralised education bodies. One thing I was particularly impressed with was his adamant pledge to go against his party if he felt it was in the best interests of his constituents. I was then fortunate enough to be able ask him whether he felt last year’s allegations in the press of his non-domicile tax avoiding would undermine the public’s trust in him. He denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations were ‘categorically wrong’, but failed to mention what he thought the accusations, however false, would do to affect his campaign.

Overall, Goldsmith seems like a dynamic figure who is at the forefront of the Conservatives next-generation of candidates. It was good of him to come considering that we are not of voting age and few of us live in the Richmond Park constituency- he seems genuinely concerned about young people’s isolation from the political process. He makes some impressive and audacious promises, but it is hard to see what difference he could make without the support of the rest of his party. Nevertheless, he will be an important player in the upcoming general election as the Richmond Park constituency was only won by the Liberal Democrats’ Susan Kramer with a 7.1% margin- by no means a safe seat.