Huw Merriman
Prospective Conservative Party Parliamentary Candidate
Bexhill and Battle Constituency Conservative Association
Dear Members
I am writing to thank you for the support, kindness and welcome which I have received from the Association following my adoption as your Prospective Parliamentary Candidate and also to introduce myself to those I have not yet met or could not be at the selection meeting on Friday 29 November 2014 (a day I will forever hold dear in my heart).
The selection process was a very hard-fought affair. I was up against some excellent candidates, both at the Executive and the Hustings stage. The evening was designed to ensure that the candidates had the opportunity to set out our ambitions for the constituency and for the members to ask us some tough and direct questions. I was, and remain, incredibly proud and honoured to have been selected and the welcome which my wife, Victoria, and I received when we came back in to the hall at the end of the night will stay with me as one of my happiest memories.
You will be pleased to read that there has been no time to bask in the happiness! After sending my thanks to well-wishers, I attended my first Association event (a superb wine-tasting event) in Burwash on Saturday evening and then spent a couple of hours with Greg on Sunday to discuss the campaign. On Monday, I spent all day in the office in Bexhill with Gillian, Jacqui, Frances and Chantal. I know how hard they all work for the constituency and I am looking forward to working with them all. On Monday, I prepared ten press releases and other communications for website and community and met with some of the officers to plan the 2015 campaign. Today, I am meeting our Treasurer to ensure that I am raising more money than I am spending!
By way of a better introduction to those who were not at the selection, I have lived locally for the last 8 years with Victoria and our three young daughters, and have served as the District Councillor for Rotherfield for almost all of that time. I commute daily to London where I work as a lawyer and Managing Director, leading a team of lawyers unwinding the Lehman Brothers estate. Away from work, I partner in a farming venture with my neighbour, a local butcher. I have no intentions to move nearer to London if elected – I am used to a long commute and I want to be living with those I represent. In my early years, I was brought up in Buckingham and, after failing my 12+ exams, I went to the local secondary school where little was expected academically. I left school to go to a 6th form college at 16 years and this was something of a transformation for me. Having grasped the educational nettle, I attended Durham University where I read law, qualified and practised as a barrister, and have spent the last 17 years as an in-house lawyer in banking and finance, culminating in my latest assignment. I know what it is like to experience both sides of the educational divide and I am proud to represent the political party which taught me, in the 1980’s, that hard-work, determination and aspiration would make the difference. I still live by this mantra and will do so for the constituents if elected
My family and I love living in East Sussex. This is the reason why I held out to apply for this seat (and watched many other seats come and go during the time between Greg’s announcement and 29 November). In this respect, I will be motivated to help build on Greg’s superb work for his constituents because I want East Sussex to get the best deal for both constituency and for my family. I want our towns to be the hive of activity and employment and for our rural villages and countryside to be enhanced and preserved.
I have four branch events in the diary for the next 10 days and these are building rapidly. If I do not get to meet you during these events, I would be delighted to fit more in before, or after, Christmas if branches would like to see me. Pam Doodes, our Deputy Chairman, is coordinating an events diary to organise this. My contact details are below and I would be delighted to hear from you, particularly if you find it difficult to attend Association events.
My thanks to the Association, and membership, for the support, welcome and encouragement given to date. I will do my utmost to repay you in May 2015 and beyond.
Yours faithfully
Huw Merriman
Prospective Parliamentary Candidate
Bexhill and Battle Constituency Conservative Association
Promoted and published by Gillian Wheeler on behalf of Huw Merriman all of 6a Amherst Road, Bexhill TN40 1QJ
