Christopher Hawtree hopes to cause a political upset in Hove
Christopher Hawtree hopes to cause a political upset in Hove by toppling the sitting Tory MP at the next general election. Frank le Duc reports
In two years’ time Christopher Hawtree hopes to move from his seat on Britain’s first Green council to a seat on the green benches of the House of Commons. Although his selection as the party’s candidate for Hove appeared to have taken some by surprise, his political opponents should know better than to underestimate a rather singular campaigner.
He said that his interest in politics was galvanised during a long campaign to keep Hove Library open. It prompted 5,000 people to put posters in their windows – and children to go around and count them. His library campaign helped familiarise him with aspects of the council. At town hall meetings he questioned members and needled Councillor David Smith enough for the Conservative to say that in a different era he would have challenged him to a duel.
Mr Hawtree helped canvass for Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion as victory led her to become the country’s first Green MP. He said that he was encouraged by doorstep conversations to see whether he could win a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council.
So instead of pistols at dawn he put himself forward for one of the two Tory-held seats in Central Hove. He topped the poll in May 2011 to unseat Councillor Jan Young, architect of the Conservatives’ final budget in Brighton and Hove. Among the defeated candidates was Celia Barlow who, until the previous May, had been the Labour MP for Hove.
The current incumbent, Mike Weatherley, would be wise to take note. His colleagues had dismissed Mr Hawtree as an eccentric and even questioned his mental health. Yet, despite an occasional prickliness, Mr Hawtree is mostly courteous, polite and even charming.
His old-fashioned manners, readiness to laugh and dress sense seem to chime with voters, many of whom are conservative with a small “c”. Perhaps they see him as a slightly blue Green. Perhaps this is what riles so many Tories.
“He dismissed initial plans for the old London Road Co-op as boil in the bag architecture”
His whimsical contributions in the council chamber often prompt groans from the Conservatives with a big “C”. Some of them roll their eyes at his literary digressions or witty asides as he cites the likes of Graham Greene – he edited the author’s letters – Oscar Wilde or Virginia Woolf. But his bon mots include dismissing initial plans for the old London Road Co-op building in Brighton as “boil in the bag architecture”. Since winning his seat he has become chairman of the council’s Planning Committee.
He believes that his experience as a freelance writer – his work has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines – stood him in good stead for talking with many people on many subjects. But he also brings a touch of colour to the sometimes grey world of politics.
In the final weeks of the local elections he could be spotted wheeling around leaflets in the “Green machine” – an old trolley decorated with campaign colours and material. It was, he said, bought at a bargain price form one many shopkeepers he talks with on his regular walks around the area.
As well as walking the streets of Brighton and Hove, he also gets around by bike. But with the possibility of the former Labour council leader, Simon Burgess, said also to be keen on standing in Hove, neither Mr Hawtree nor Mr Weatherley will expect an easy ride.
