Nick De Bois the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Enfield North is relishing the campaign to oust incumbent Labour MP Joan Ryan who is defending a majority of 1,920 votes, focusing on the future of Chase Farm Hospital, inward investment in the area, leading De Bois to commit himself to become the "number one salesman for Enfield North" if elected.
With the constituency offices recently burgled, De Bois’s campaign team are in upbeat mood, and dismissive of any conspiracy theories, "I don't run with any conspiracy theories, domestic burglaries happen all the time, there are much worse things, its a nuisance to us".
Getting down to the issues that will play a major role in the general election De Bois has invested significant time and energy in protecting local NHS hospital Chase Farm from closure, with his party's leader David Cameron visiting the hospital to give his support, De Bois said:
"The Labour government has signed an agreement, it is a done deal that, Chase Farm Hospital will be downgraded, I think the election gives us an opportunity. My party have agreed a moratorium on the plans to close down A&E, maternity wards. That is not a guarantee that we will keep A&E and maternity. It is the best opportunity we have to stop these cuts and have a review on clinical grounds and not on bureaucratic and financial criteria".
De Bois concedes that it may "conceivably be too late" to stop the closures at Chase Farm, and insists that he wants a general election sooner rather than later, to stop these cuts taking place.
"I will champion the cause to keep 24 hour A&E and Chase Farm, and it is crazy that we have 3,000 births at Chase Farm each year, and yet it has been labeled, as not being viable in its own right. I have been campaigning for seven years, and I ask the electorate to allow me to do this within Parliament to protect these essential services".
Enfield North borders onto the M25 motorway and was in the past the location to many of the nations largest companies with factories and major businesses. De Bois is committed to be the “number one salesman” for the area, and will use his experience in running a marketing firm to promote Enfield North as a "commercial hub" for London, "I can’t think of many better places strategically to bring new businesses, I am talking about both industrial and retail business".
With airports, and major trunk roads on the doorstep of Enfield North, De Bois wants to rejuvenate manufacturing in the area, "the number one duty I think of an MP is to be the number one salesman of the area." One of De Bois ideas, bring employment and improve local life, is to see a northern gateway access road to take traffic from the M25 to the business area. De Bois has lobbied for this scheme to be put in place by the Conservatives, but has already conceded that "it’s not an issue at the top of the list of priorities, but I will push for this".
The ethnic diversity of the constituency has seen a thriving Turkish speaking community grow with De Bois giving his support to the businesses setup by the community.
Moreover, De Bois who was unsuccessful in the last general election is not taking anything for granted despite the small majority of 1,920 held by Joan Ryan, "we continue with our active doorstep campaigning, we knocked on 7,000 doors, there are roughly 40,000 people in the constituency and we are hoping to tell everyone what we stand for and what we will do if elected."
The Conservatives must win Enfield North if they are to stand a chance to form a government without the help of the Liberals; the next months will see the "heavyweights" of Tory party help De Bois defeat Joan Ryan. Ryan who was sacked by Gordon Brown the Prime Minister, as envoy for Cyprus, and vice-chair of the party, for saying "I just don't think we're connecting on the doorstep" and called for a leadership challenge to Brown in 2008, is a figure that has lost great credibility amongst her own party, will this be reflected in defeat at the general election? Time will tell.
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