General Election: Conservative candidate wants to be "the MP Mid Bedfordshire has always deserved"

Blake Stephenson said that Mid Beds didn’t have one for a long time, adding: “I want to be the MP that Mid Bedfordshire has always deserved.

“I want to turn a page and I want to make sure that we have a good strong local Conservative constituent MP

“I’ve lived here for a decade, I’m also a Central Bedfordshire councillor, and since being elected [in 2023] I’ve proved that I’m able to work with anyone and everyone to focus on our communities and get things done.

“That’s exactly what I want to do as our MP,” he said.

Since the by-election in October, Mid Beds has had a very visible and local Labour MP, how can Stephenson convince voters that they will get the same service if he was elected next month?

“I think people need to know that if elected I will have a constituency office staffed locally, and I will be local,” he said.

“I’ll be attending town councils, parish councils, holding surgeries, all the usual things that MPs should be doing on a Friday and over the course of a weekend.

“Critically working with colleagues in Bedford Borough Council and Central Beds Council to focus on the things that matter in our communities and to work with them to drive forward solutions and improvements in our villages and towns,” he said.

“I’m committed to our community and have a vested interest in making sure our communities get what they deserve.

Although Stephenson has only been a councillor for just over a year, he is a former chair of the local Conservative Party and he said he has transferable skills from his 15 years in financial services.

“I’ve worked in regulation and compliance during that time,” he said.

“Essentially correcting poor conduct that arose during the financial crisis.

“One of the reasons that I want to enter politics is to make sure we have politicians who put conduct and ethics at the heart of everything that they do.

“I’ve been knocking on doors for months now, and people tell me how disappointed they are with politics and politicians.

“I think that I’ve got a lot to bring in terms of conduct, standards, and ethics that will be very valuable in Westminster,” he said.

“I think there’s a body of work to do to improve our politics and I think that message will resonate with lots of people who, like me, have been screaming at the TV for a number of years at scandal after scandal.

“With me they’ll have someone with intent and with an ambition and a motivation to behave the right way and to be professional.

“And with that real world experience not only to deliver things for our communities but improve our politics

“Mid Bedfordshire deserves a Conservative MP who is going to look to the future, a lot of people have spoken to me about the past.

“’14 years of failure’ comes up a lot on the doorsteps.

“I think we need a new, fresh, Conservative politician who’s thinking about our communities but also our country, for the decades ahead,” he said.

The other candidates standing to be Mid Beds next MP are:

Richard Brunning – SDPDave Holland – Reform UKGareth Mackey – IndependentMaahwish Mirza – LabourStuart Roberts – Lib DemCade Sibley – Green Party

The election will be held on July 4.