Determined to help his party win back Brentford & Isleworth from Labour

Olympian James Cracknell has been elected as Deputy Chairman Political on the Brentford & Isleworth Conservative Association's Officer's Committee.

The Chiswick resident, who has been trying to forge a career in politics for the past three years, said; “We are determined to win this parliamentary seat back for the Conservatives and to take Hounslow Council back under Conservative leadership.

James Cracknell and Beverley Turner

"And in the meantime, we will hold the new Labour MP to account; Labour’s Ruth Cadbury has already reduced the number of surgeries by half, unlike the previous Conservative MP who held weekly surgeries.”

The new committee is headed by local entrepreneur Julian Tanner as Chairman, accountant Ranjit Gill as Treasurer, sports star, TV personality and double Olympian gold medallist James Cracknell as Deputy Chairman Political, and Westminster parliamentary professional Lakshmi Kaul as Deputy Chairman Fundraising and Membership.

The Association Leadership team will be supported by seven additional officers; Maneesh Singh, Fardi Farhat, Jeremy Day, Patrick Barr, Mohamed Jarche, Clare Delmar and Tim Mack. The team brings together expertise that covers all aspects of London life from NHS nursing to technology industry and from finance knowledge to property markets.

“As a constituency in West London, Brentford and Isleworth faces some of the most severe tests in the provision of medical and education services, improvement of transport services and the sheer affordability of housing” said Julian Tanner, new Chairman of Brentford & Isleworth Conservative Association. “Through the expertise of our Conservative councillors and our previous MP Mary Macleod we have already proven our ability to address these issues and improve people’s lives, and the new officer committee will build on these strengths.”

Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell, who lives in Chiswick, with wife Beverley Turner and their three children, has been interested in a career in politics for some time, but lost out to London Mayor Boris Johnson for nomination to Uxbridge and South Ruislip last year. He also lost out on the nomination for a safe Conservative seat in Kensington in the last election when Sir Malcolm Rifkind decided not to run as MP. He also failed to win a nomination to run for the European Parliament for the South West constituency.

April 26, 2016