Every generation of my family has served in the . . . → Read More: Q&A with Zehra Zaidi – candidate for Salisbury Conservative nomination]]> I’m pleased that all of the candidates for the Conservative nomination to be Salisbury’s next Member of Parliament have agreed to do answer a set of questions for this website.


The fourth candidate to do so is Zehra Zaidi. Zehra’s introduction on the party website says:

Every generation of my family has served in the armed forces and I would fight for local jobs and businesses, good public services and striking the right balance with redevelopment projects. I have worked as a corporate lawyer and in the charitable and voluntary sector from engaging young people to setting up an education charity.

Why do you want to represent Salisbury?

I believe that any candidate wishing to represent a constituency has to have a genuine affinity with it. I know this area personally but got to know the issues faced by the people of Salisbury and South Wiltshire when I was a European Parliamentary Candidate in June of last year. I hope that shows a commitment to stand up for the people of this area.

Much of my own background and experience also strikes a personal chord with Salisbury and I hope that as a result, I understand the needs of this constituency and would be able to best represent this great cathedral city and rural environs:

• I come from a military family and have an understanding of local defence issues, as well as security matters on the international stage;
• I’ve lived in rural heartlands all my life and stood up for the farming and countryside community during the Euro campaign;
• I’ve worked in the voluntary and charitable sector for 21 years and would like to support the great work that goes on locally; and
• I have a true passion for the Arts (working at the Warwick Arts Centre throughout my time at university) and have long admired the cultural and artistic fabric of Salisbury.

What would you most like to change in Salisbury?

To be honest, I see my job more as fighting to retain what is good about Salisbury than to specifically to change things. We need to retain the jobs we have, particularly in the public sector and bring more jobs in. We need to maintain the rich cultural, historical and Christian heritage of this area. We need to maintain the excellent schools in Salisbury and help others to improve. We need to ensure that Salisbury District Hospital continues to provide excellent services.

However, one aspect that I am concerned about is improving the transport bottlenecks and that any new housing and commercial developments are supported by adequate infrastructure.

How would you encourage more business and jobs into the area?

Salisbury Vision – particularly the plans for the Maltings and Central Car Park and Churchfields Industrial Estate – should help encourage business and jobs into the area. Having worked as a lawyer with businesses of every size, I understand the needs of the business community and would make protecting the local economy one of my political priorities.

There are also specialist industries in the area: defence, tourism and insurance. These need to be supported and with the forward thinking of many people in these sectors that I have met, these can continue to develop and flourish.

Business is also stifled business by over-regulation and taxation. We need to encourage enterprise by reducing these two significant burdens.

What do you think of the plans for the Market Place?

I do support some improvements as long as the tradition of the market place – which I have long attended myself – can be ensured. It is a focal point, the heart of the city centre and natural place for locals to congregate so we must ensure that any enhancements are properly managed with wide public consultation.

And the plans for Stonehenge?

I support the plans for the new visitor centre for the World Heritage Site. Finally, we seem to have come up with a viable solution that should work. I would like to see Amesbury and Salisbury also benefit from the development at Stonehenge.

How could the transport links in and out of the city be improved? What should take priority – road or rail?

The priority has to be improving the transport bottlenecks on the roads in and around Salisbury. If funding could be found, the ideal solution would be a by-pass to remove the through traffic of cars and lorries that come through the city. Sadly Labour cancelled the by-pass plans in ’97 – it should have happened then. Worse still, the Government has left the country in such a dire economic situation and with such a huge public deficit, that I fear that there will not be surplus sums to spend on large transport projects. As a former European Parliamentary candidate, I would however like to explore the funding available at the European level for transport schemes.

I support localised transport improvements – we can certainly improve some of the main roads and have better joined up thinking on our public transport network as a whole.

Which previous Conservative leader do you most admire? Why?

Margaret Thatcher. She was a great Prime Minister. As a comprehensive school kid who progressed under the Thatcher years, I certainly look up to the great lady.

My first political memory is of a summit between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Their partnership was central in fighting the Cold War. Today, we face constant threats – none more so than the danger of extremism both at home and abroad and it is essential that we have an equally resolute approach in protecting our country against such threats.

What’s been the worst failure of the Labour government?

Without doubt, Labour’s handling of the economy. We have had the worst recession of any industrialised country and the state of public finances is deplorable. I am saddened not only by the levels of public debt but the wastage of public money on schemes like the £12 billion white elephant NHS IT scheme – wastage that is paid for by you and I. Moreover, taxpayers’ money has been spent on creating tick-box targets and layers and layers of bureaucracy.

Our children and grandchildren will be saddled with unprecedented levels of debt. In order to get the £178 billion annual deficit under control, some tough choices will have to be made.

What has been the most significant achievement by the Labour government?

Sure Start centres.

The Conservative Party is committed to keeping Sure Start, but we will seek to improve it by taking it back to its original purpose – namely early intervention, increasing its focus on those who need its help most and better involving organisations with a proven track record in parenting interventions.

Should we have a referendum ‘about Europe’? When? What question should be asked?

We should have had a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty but Labour and the Liberal Democrats combined to thwart that, even though both parties promised a referendum at the last election. Sadly, a referendum is no longer possible as the Lisbon Treaty has now been enacted and become law. If we did, it would have no effect and would be futile gesture politics – that is not how one restores trust in politics.

To prevent the fiasco over Lisbon to ever happen again, a Conservative Government will amend the 1972 European Communities Act so that any future EU Treaty that transfers powers from the United Kingdom to the European Union would be subject to a referendum of the British people.

Given that the general election is round the corner, each party should set out their policy on Europe in their manifestos – the points can then be debated and ultimately, the voters will have their say.

Would you maintain the minimum wage?

Yes.

What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of ‘Open Primaries’?

An open primary is a fantastic way to engage the public and let them (and not a small group of party members) determine who could be Salisbury’s next Conservative Parliamentary Candidate and if elected, its’ next MP. The process of each candidate campaigning allows people to get to know the candidates better, as well as their political priorities and what they feel about a wide range of issues.

I think one obvious downside is the length of time that the open primary meeting will take. 4-5 hours is a big slice of people’s Sunday afternoon and it might make it difficult for people with young families to attend. However, I do believe that it is this worthwhile process ensures that a sizeable proportion of Salisbury residents can and will attend and vote – this can only be a good thing.

Would you support Proportional Representation?

No. It results in weak government and poor decision making as the process of compromises and negotiation leads to a situation where nobody is fully happy with the final outcome.

The first past the post system is not perfect but it is the best system we have – it allows people to vote on parties’ election manifestos and then judge the Government on its record of delivery at the next general election.

Under PR however, instead of voters choosing their government on the basis of the manifestos put before them in an election, party managers would choose a government on the basis of secret backroom deals. We need to make Parliament more transparent, not less!

Is ‘big business’ spoiling football? Should the government be more involved?

I do not believe that Government should start meddling in football. I think the nanny state extends far enough.

Of course, some of the transfer fees and salaries paid to footballers are ridiculously high but that is something that football as an industry needs to decide upon vis-a-vis long-term viability and the important grassroots aspect of the game.

What is your favourite:

- piece of music – Royksopp’s What else is there (the video is also one of my favourites)

- film – too many to list but the last to leave a lasting impression was Crash. I love one quote from the film: “We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.”

- book – Siri Hustvedt’s “What I Loved” set in the arts world

- view of the Cathedral – the East End view where you can see the cathedral in all its mathematical glory with each of its main sections (aisle, chapter house, cloister garth, spire) set in full perspective against each other – I almost studied architecture and the cathedral is truly one of the finest buildings in England.

I’m afraid I won’t accept comments on any of these political postings. The main reason for this is that there isn’t now time for the candidates to reply. If you do want to take something up with any of them, I’d suggest either the candidate’s own website or the meeting on Sunday 31st. Sorry.