Richard Holden struck a positive tone as he visited Finchley for Mike Freer’s office reopening reports David Floyd

Conservative MP Mike Freer and Richard Holden outside Freer's office in Finchley — Mike Freer (left) and Richard Holden (right) outside Freer’s office.

Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden was upbeat about the election prospects for his party’s Barnet candidates as he visited the borough yesterday.

Holden, who came to Finchley for the reopening of MP Mike Freer’s constituency office that was damaged by an arson attack in December, told Barnet Post: “we actually had some quite good results up here in Barnet” in the London mayoral election earlier this month.

He added: “It’s places like Barnet and some of the outer London boroughs that really came out for Susan.” The Conservative mayoral candidate lost the election to Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan by the biggest ever margin in terms of raw votes, however the victory was not as big as polls had predicted.

Freer, who is stepping down at the next election, expressed his relief at finally being able to return to the office following the fire damage. He said: “having to leave [the office] for so many months was traumatic” adding: “we’re now back, it’s looking great and we’re up and fighting – and looking forward to making sure that this seat stays blue at the general election.”

Reflecting on the impact of the fire, Holden said: “I was in this room a few months ago when we saw it had been totally gutted by an arson attack and it is horrendous that any political organisation should be faced with that.”

However, despite the relatively sombre tone of the event, he was keen to find the positives in the recent election results saying: “you’ve got some really good local MPs up the road like Theresa [Villiers] in Chipping Barnet, it’s a result that she can build on.”

He also praised Alex Deane, the new Conservative candidate to take on Labour’s Sarah Sackman in Finchley and Golders Green at the upcoming election adding: “Obviously, I’m sad that Mike’s standing down – he’s a very good colleague in Westminster. But with Alex Deane you’ve got a first rate candidate, somebody with real potential for the future as well. And I’m looking forward to getting stuck into campaigning with him.”

However, Holden also hit out at the tactics of London Mayor Sadiq Khan and other leading Labour politicians during the mayoral contest. He told Barnet Post that the mayor had: “used some pretty aggressive scare tactics, calling the chief rabbi a racist which he obviously had to then apologise for” and criticised shadow health secretary Wes Streeting for: “going out saying that the white supremacists would be delighted with a Susan victory” adding: “it was pretty clear that they were throwing the kitchen sink at this campaign.”

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else. £84 annual supporters get a print copy by post and a digital copy of each month's before anyone else.