“I'm only involved in politics because I care about my area”
What Steven asked Kelly Tolhurst, Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood since 2015.
Kelly Tolhurst has been the Conservative MP for the Rochester and Strood constituency since 2015 and is again standing in the upcoming General Election. Steven met with Kelly in her campaign office in Rochester to discuss how she got into politics, the General Election, why she suggested knocking down the Pentagon shopping centre, the state of the River Medway, and lots more.
Where were you born?
I was born at Canada House in Gillingham. I've lived in the Medway Towns, Rochester, and Strood all my life. My mum lived in Chatham and Strood, and my dad lived in Strood, so they were local people.
What jobs did they have when you were growing up?
My father was a boat builder. He used to have a DIY shop when I was very, very small, in Chatham. Then he was a boat builder by trade, and my mum was a housekeeper because, at those times, dad was working really long hours.
How did you find school?
I was really lucky. I went to Wainscott Primary School. At the time it was a small school, one form entry. I remember being happy there, a nice community. Then I went to Chapter, the old site, which was on Cliffe Road in Strood when there was Chapter and Temple. And then, I think it was my last couple of years, the Rede Court site where Strood Academy is now became Chapter and merged. The boys from Rede went to Temple, and the girls from Rede went to Chapter, and then, obviously, we had the new Chapter school there. You know, school was fine. I couldn't wait to get out of school, and I would say that, whilst I had lots of friends and I enjoyed it, I started to fly when I left school.
Was that the last formal studying you did?
I later retrained and did the Chartered Institute of International Marine Surveying. I am a marine surveyor. Basically, boats and structures in the water.
What was your first full-time job?
I used to work for a company called New Zealand Farmers. I worked in London. Basically, New Zealand Farmers were the UK subsidiary of the two largest meat producers in New Zealand. I used to sell to supermarkets.
What event or issue first got you involved in politics?
Back in, oh god, I can't even remember the year, the Borstal Recreation Grounds, there was a proposal by the council at the time, the Conservative Council at the time, to shut down the old Borstal Manor School site, build on the school site and put a new school on our playing field. Now we've got something like seven football pitches on the Borstal Recreation Ground. The community and I, we thought no, if you want to build a new school, build it on the school site. The community fought against that, and we successfully got the council to change their mind. Ted Baker, who was one of the local councillors in Rochester West at the time, said, ‘Kelly, would you like to join us? We'd rather have you with us than against us.’ I had never thought about being part of a political party, I cared about my area. I was involved doing lots of stuff outside of politics prior to that, anyway, locally. So I joined. Then he said, ‘Would you like to stand as a councillor?’
How old were you when you joined?
I was probably about 30, maybe 29, 30. I'd always been into politics, because as a family, I grew up in an environment where everyone was encouraged to have their own views. We openly spoke about politics. No view was, or no position was, off the table. I was very lucky. We were encouraged to develop our own thoughts, and as a family, we used to have quite good discussions. My mum and dad were always involved in current affairs. I became a conservative, I suppose, when I was running my business under a Labour government, and my values were conservative values. I was approached. I had never thought about it before, even though I was doing lots locally. I was just really pleased and joined the Conservative Party and got involved from there.
Do you remember when you first heard that Mark Reckless had defected?
Yes. I was actually with my dad in the boatyard. One of my father's customers had built a replica mini-Mississippi stern-wheeler boat, and we had the hydraulics people in. We were just getting ready for it to have its maiden voyage. There was a news flash to say that Reckless had defected.
Were you surprised?
I didn't really have a view. I just thought, ‘Oh well.’
You had been the councillor for Rochester West after him. You didn't know him?
Well, I knew him, but I didn't… I knew he particularly had views. I didn't have a close relationship with him.
Why did you decide to stand in the by-election?
Well, actually, I didn't. It never occurred to me initially. Never occurred to me. I had no inclination or desire to be a Member of Parliament. I was happy being a councillor. It was just people who said you should put your name forward as a local candidate, and I was just encouraged by people. I think probably I was of the right age. I was 36. I'd worked, I'd been at a real job, had a proper job, obviously was involved with lots of things. It was probably the right time. But as I say, it was something that I'd never ever set out to do.
It's been a tumultuous time whilst you've been an MP. You've served multiple roles in government. Can you name them all?
Yeah, I can, absolutely. I was small business minister under Teresa May and at the beginning of Boris. During covid, I moved to aviation and maritime. Then, I moved to the rough sleeping and homelessness brief. Then I resigned because my father got terminal cancer, and I decided that if I was only gonna have six months with my dad, I wanted to just focus on being a backbencher and being with my father. I resigned from that, had a break, obviously with my father, then at the very end of Boris' tenure, I was appointed as his deputy chief whip in his final week.
That must have been an experience.
Yeah, it was an eye-opener. I learned a lot and I saw a lot. The book will come later. After that, I was then given… Well, I asked. I wanted to have the children's social care brief. I wanted to be able to do the children's social care reforms, so under Liz Truss, I got put in as a Minister of State for schools and childhood. Sadly, when Rishi came in he wanted to move me to another department and I just thought I really wanted to stay where I was and I just thought, you know what, I'm just focusing on my patch.
Have you missed it?
Not really, because I'm lucky. I represent the place I'm born and bred. I'm only involved in politics because I care about my area, and I've never forgotten the reason I'm there. I do the main job, I'm busy, I do loads of case work, do loads of things locally, focus on my local issues. Really, it was probably a relief not to have to manage the two because, being an MP, you're working 24 hours, or you're on call, in effect. As a minister it just becomes even worse, because not only do you do an eight-hour day, but you also have a red box every night and every weekend. I miss being able to get involved in the detail with some of the policies, but actually I’m quite happy. I had a very long run at it. It was good to have a break away.
When you are a Minister of State, like having the school’s brief for 50 days, do you have time to actually achieve anything?
One of the reasons why I wanted to do the children's social care and the SEND reforms was because I had, prior to being elected, done a lot of work that looked after children. My sister's a social worker. It's something that I cared quite a lot about. I sort of hit the ground running. I was going into the role with some ideas. I'd been the chair of the social work APPG. I knew I had some ideas, and I wanted to get stuck in with it, but yeah, it wasn't long enough. I would have loved to have continued and actually brought forward the reforms because I just felt that I was lucky enough to have had some insight, even though I was a layperson in the area, not a professional. I felt that I could bring something, an understanding, to the table, which maybe some other MPs may not have had those experiences to help them.
Did you get any reason for why you couldn't stay in position?
Basically, what happens generally, and I don't think is exclusive to us… As a minister, you're meant to be a strategic lead, not operational delivery. Therefore it's quite normal that ministers may not necessarily have expertise or experience in the areas, but that's why you have a team of civil servants. That's the way it's always been.
Do you own your own home?
I do.
Any thoughts on the difficulties people are facing at the moment with regards house ownership in Medway?
Yeah, look, it's been really difficult. It's been really difficult for people to, first of all, save for a deposit, then get a mortgage. Also, with salary levels, particularly working out how much you can borrow if you can buy a flat, it's very difficult for people, and particularly with the increasing of interest rates that has had a massive impact. I think one of the pressures that we're seeing particularly is where Medway has always been one of the cheapest places in the South East to buy homes. But what that's meant is that we've had a number of people moving into the Medway towns, which has put demand for homes here, which has made it slightly trickier for local people to access those homes. One of the things I'm really pleased with, actually the Prime Minister announced yesterday in the manifesto, is the help to buy and, scrapping stamp duty for first time buyers. I think the first time buyers, that's the biggest step for anyone, and anything that we can do to help young people get into that first home ownership is really important.
Can you identify any benefits that have occurred to Rochester and Strood constituency from Brexit?
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