David Floyd talks to newly-elected Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson

After the Labour Party’s 1997 general election landslide, new Prime Minister Tony Blair famously remarked that a new dawn had broken. It was a couple of hours after dawn on July 5th when Barnet Post talked to the new MP for Chipping Barnet, at the RAF Museum in Colindale, after his historic victory.

Dan Tomlinson’s 2,914 vote win over incumbent Theresa Villiers saw him become the first ever Labour MP for the constituency since its creation in 1974. Despite the exhaustion of all present, the new MP was keen to talk to us saying: “First off, let me say, it’s good to be talking to Barnet Post. It’s important to me to support local media and you do great work.”

Asked how it felt to be the first Labour MP for the seat, he said: “It feels fantastic: to have the support of the community that I live in, that I call home and that has been let down by 14 years of Conservative government. And, to be frank, not just by 19 years of one MP but by 50 years of Conservative MPs representing Chipping Barnet.

He added: “We’ve been saying it’s time for change and the people of my community have put their trust in me to deliver that change, and I feel honoured, I feel humbled and I feel excited actually about the change that we can deliver.”

In the run up to the election Labour had simultaneously been promising change and also claiming that the country was in such a bad economic state that it would be hard to spend money.

Barnet Post asked Tomlinson how the party would meet people’s expectations in such a difficult situation. He said: “In a constituency like Chipping Barnet, one of the best versions of change that people want to see is a change to some stability. We’ve had so much chaos in our economy, in our politics, the lies, the endless votes, the divisions, the chaos and confusion. And, as well as investing in our public services, which we will do, we’re also going to bring some economic stability.”

He added: “This is an odd thing for a politician to say – but I want to push politics into the background. I don’t want it to be up in everyone’s face all the time, people having to stress about what’s going down in Westminster. It’s my job to get on with my job, so that people can see the change happen in their communities and don’t have to worry this time ‘is the government going to collapse?’ It’s time for some stability: both political and economic.”

In the run up to the election, Chipping Barnet saw rising political tensions over issues including disputes between supporters and opponents of new developments, and objections to the expansion of TfL’s ULEZ scheme.

Barnet Post asked Tomlinson how he would manage those tensions. He said: “There are challenges and there are tensions. And, in me as the Labour MP in this community, you’re going to get a politician who’s going to be upfront about those: I’m not going to bury my head in the sand.

He added: “Our outgoing MP, here for Chipping Barnet, she worked hard for our community, she was diligent with her casework and, I know, deeply cared about the part of Barnet that we both call home – but she was interviewed by The Times and said she knew no one affected by the housing crisis.

“Now I’m very clear that there is a housing crisis in our city. Young people in London are spending something like half of their income on their rent. Mortgages have surged, it’s not just people who are young, it’s people who are middle-aged who are struggling with really high housing costs, too.”

“Of course we’ve got to protect the beautiful green belt that we’ve got in our constituency but we can get more homes built in our city and in our country and we’ve got good plans to do that.”

With Tomlinson preparing to head off for some well-earned rest, while the media was destined to wait several more hours, for the delayed Hendon result, Barnet Post asked the new MP what big change he’d like to see for the constituency over the parliament. He said: “I want to see families in Chipping Barnet be better off. I want to knock on doors in 2028 and hear fewer people tell me that they’re struggling to make ends meet. That they are struggling to pay the energy bills because they’ve gone through the roof. That the mortgage has become more difficult to afford. That the kids aren’t getting the treats that they used to get.”

He added: “Chipping Barnet is relatively high income but, even in a constituency like this one, there are so many people who’ve been struggling financially because of the economic ruin that the Conservatives have inflicted on our country and our community.

“There’s loads I want to see change in terms of public services: more police, an NHS that’s properly funded, access to childcare for young families, the roads and potholes filled in and the pavements sorted.”

And with that, Tomlinson was off to begin his new job, focused on the big picture but not forgetting the potholes.

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