Tory toffs? We had an outdoor toilet, says MP

THOSE sections of the press that portray the Conservative Party as a bunch of toffs are wrong, according to Henley MP John Howell.

There are plenty of MPs in the party who, like him, come from working class backgrounds.

John is one of 15 Tory MPs who are featured in latest edition of The Party of Opportunity, a booklet compiled by Sir David Amess, the MP for Southend West.

The booklet includes short summaries from the MPs about their working class backgrounds in a bid to persuade people that the Conservatives represent people from all aspects of society rather than just the stereotypical elite.

John writes: “My interest in politics began at about the age of 15, when I perceived the Conservatives as the party that provided individuals and society with the opportunities to advance.My late father was, for much of his time, a cable jointer with the London Electricity Board before going to work at Heathrow Airport looking after disabled arrivals. My mother held down a variety of jobs in local organisations.



“For much of my life, we lived in a small house in the private rented sector in South London. There was no inside lavatory. There was no inside bathroom. The zinc bath had to be dragged inside and dusted down every time we wanted to use it.

“It was not a very political family and I am convinced my father voted different ways at different elections. We knew the hard choices that have to be made.

“I find now that in mid-career, all I have is the result of my own efforts; I inherited nothing. I got on in life as a result of Conservative educational policies and hard work. The party I joined was one of aspiration and opportunity and I want to see those spread widely.”

John went to primary school in Tooting and then Battersea Grammar School before studying archaeology at Edinburgh University when the very last student rector was in place…. none other than Gordon Brown!

He continued in the academic world to gain a doctorate in archaeology at Oxford and then as a research fellow at Liverpool. He then had a successful career in broadcasting and business.

John says: “There is no shame in being a working class Conservative — quite the opposite.

“It is a party which crosses all such boundaries and believes passionately in spreading the aspiration and opportunity which first drew me to it.”