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Interview - Stratford’s Manuela Perteghella promises to be different type of MP after historic general election win




MANUELA Perteghella started her life as a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament with a promise to the people of Stratford-on-Avon: “I will put you first.”

The 50-year-old Italian, who lives with her family in Welford, made history last week when she became the constituency’s first female MP and the first non-Conservative candidate to win the seat since its inception in 1950.

With the initials MP, Manuela may have been destined for a career in Westminster.

But no political party relies on fate – it’s hard work, circumstances, public opinion and timing that make the difference between victory and defeat. And there was an alignment last Thursday when the electorate gave Manuela 23,450 votes – enough to defeat her nearest rival Chris Clarkson’s 16,328 and win the seat from his party, the Conservatives.

The Liberal Democrats had overturned a 19,972 Conservative majority and replaced it with a healthy majority of their own – 7,122.

Manuela Perteghella, Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon. Photo: Mark Williamson
Manuela Perteghella, Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon. Photo: Mark Williamson

The wide smile which stretched across Manuela’s face when she was declared victorious at Stratford Leisure Centre in the early hours of Friday morning, was still in evidence on Friday afternoon when she spoke exclusively to the Herald.

“I’m incredibly proud, honoured and humbled at the same time to have been elected to represent this beautiful constituency which I call home,” said Manuela, who moved from Italy to London 30-odd years ago to study for a degree (she also has a master’s and a doctorate in literary translation).

That temporary move became permanent when in 1996 she met her husband-to-be, Bruce Horton, in London. They were married and when it came time to move out of the capital they chose south Warwickshire – Bruce was originally from Solihull and had relatives in Henley. Welford became home to the family – they have three children aged 20, 15 and 10 – and Manuela threw herself into the community as a school governor, a trustee of 1st Welford Scout Group, and as a parish and district councillor.

Much of that work will be put to one side as Manuela, who had yet to get any sleep, explained she was already working out how to get two offices – one in London and the other in the constituency – up and running so she could start helping her constituents.

Was the victory a surprise? The polls before the general election on 4th July were like a pendulum, swinging between the Lib Dems and the Tories trying to predict who would win in Stratford-on-Avon.

“We were very optimistic because we obviously have been campaigning for a long time,” Manuela said. “We have been knocking on tens of thousands of doors. I personally spoke to thousands of residents, so we knew the response on the doorsteps, but you never know how the response translates once you are in the ballot box.

“I think it has gone over our expectations and we are incredibly, incredibly thankful for the trust put in us by residents.”

Election night ... Liberal Democrat candidate Manuela Perteghella at the Stratford-on-Avon count. Photo: Mark Williamson
Election night ... Liberal Democrat candidate Manuela Perteghella at the Stratford-on-Avon count. Photo: Mark Williamson

She added: “We now have the first female MP in the history of the constituency and I hope that this will inspire girls and other women to get into politics, whether at local level or at national level, and get selected and elected.”

That bit of history was made with the help of a number of factors. The Lib Dems and Manuela have been working on the campaign for more than two years – the calling of a snap election was not the starting point of their work – then there was the Nadhim Zahawi impact as the area’s former MP; the emergence of Reform UK; an appetite for a local candidate to represent people in Parliament; and a country wanting change after 14 years.

“I think they liked the local connection,” said Manuela. “I love this area, this is my home, I’m raising my family here and that connection, I think, was very valued by residents on the doorstep.”

The decision of Nadhim not to stand looked to have taken a powerful weapon away from the Lib Dems – the former chancellor’s brand was seen as toxic in some quarters after he was found to have breached the ministerial code when dealing with tax affairs involving millions of pounds.

Just to be on the safe side, the Herald asked if Manuela has millions of pounds in an offshore bank account she would like to tell us about? She doesn’t.

However, she explained that the Lib Dem’s campaign was not built around Nadhim – there were plenty of other issues to focus on when it came to how the Conservatives were running the country.

“It was not just the issues that we had with the Conservative MP, there were issues of integrity in public office and scandals at national level, lots of residents also suffered because of the Truss mini-budget when they crashed the economy leaving people having to pay higher mortgages and higher rents because of landlords having to pay higher mortgages.

“That had a real impact on the living standards of many of our residents and I think [the Conservatives] were not forgiven for that. Those were issues that were still coming up on the doorstep constantly.”

She added: “I think people wanted actually a fresh start.”

At the weekend Manuela was heading to London for the start of her induction as an MP – a chance to learn the ropes and get into a position to be able to start work.

But what will that work be? What will be the priorities for her constituency?

“We’ve got a mandate now from the residents to go and champion our environment, so obviously tackling the sewage scandal in our rivers, particularly in our local area, is key.

“We know that lots of hours of sewage has been dumped in our rivers, in the River Avon and the tributaries, but also we have a mandate to protect and safeguard our public services, in particular our local health services.

“We also have the mandate to campaign to tackle the cost of living crisis, and we’ve got very good policies to do that.

“We’re going to hold the new government, the new Labour government, to account on that.

“We might be able to work collaboratively on certain policies, but we have returned 72 MPs, so we are a strong voice and I’ll be part of that strong voice to make sure that some of our policies are implemented and maybe adopted.”

What about cutting congestion – and pollution – on our streets, or backing Shipston’s fight for beds at the new Ellen Badger Hospital which is being built in the town?

“These are really important local issues that actually came up from the doorstep as well.

Stratford-on-Avon’s new Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament Manuela Perteghella took a selfie on Lambeth Bridge as she made her way to work on her first day.
Stratford-on-Avon’s new Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament Manuela Perteghella took a selfie on Lambeth Bridge as she made her way to work on her first day.

“With the Ellen Badger, I’ve been campaigning with residents now for a number of years – we are having more and more houses built, not just in the Shipston area and it looks like the increase in housing is not accompanied by infrastructure. And that is not just social infrastructure, but also health infrastructure.

“We know that community hospitals reduce bed blocking in acute hospitals, so it’s really important that we have those facilities here. And yes, I will obviously meet with SWIFT (South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust) and the ICB (Integrated Care Board).

“That’s one of the meetings that I want. The other one is with the police and crime commissioner because of anti-social behaviour and criminal behaviour in our town. The residents have raised [that as an issue], especially in Stratford.

“Of course we are going to liaise with various stakeholders, including Warwickshire County Council and the Stratford Transport Group to see how we can resolve the awful congestion in our beautiful town, which obviously affects lots of residents.”

Safety on the A46 – particularly around the Billesley and Temple Grafton junctions – is also on her agenda.

To date though, Stratford and the district has been overlooked for the likes of Levelling Up funding, despite the huge impact Covid had on this area. Nationally, Stratford-on-Avon is viewed as a wealthy area and is passed over for major infrastructure funding. Whether Labour will view that any differently will have to be seen, so what will Manuela do to support this area’s future?

“I was very disappointed when we didn’t get Levelling Up funding for Stratford and for Studley. There were bids put forward and we didn’t get through.

“I will support [the area] and I will be a champion for Stratford and make the case, demand the funding for a town so that our local businesses can thrive and that we can, in a way, improve the public realm that we have in our town, especially the various gateways into the town centre.

“I want to see our town centres back as the vibrant places that they once were.”

But first things first. The focus for Manuela will be those offices and making sure she has the right team around her – from parliamentary researchers to administrators.

“After that, I’m really, really looking forward to working with my colleagues, holding the new government to account and really improving the lives of residents because my constituents will always come first.”

She plans to be seen (as well as heard) in the constituency – and not just in Stratford; the market towns and villages of the area will feature.

“I brought politics into people’s homes on the doorstep during the campaign, so I want to go around the constituency and meet residents and local businesses. Whether I call it a tour or a roadshow, I’ll be out there meeting people.”

That visibility and record of supporting the area will be key for when the next general election comes around. It may be about five years away, but the history of the seat as a Conservative stronghold won’t just disappear – especially if, nationally, the party can pull itself together under a new leader.

Can Manuela keep that level of support, which is likely to have included a good number of protest votes from those with a history of voting Conservative?

“I’m sure we can do that because I will be a different type of MP,” she said. “I’m not a career politician. For me, this is public service and I will be a very different type of parliamentary representative than we had maybe in the past years. I’ll be a proper constituency MP.

“My residents will see me out and about; I will be really trying to solve whatever issues we have. And, yes, again, I will hope to be the community voice in parliament and champion the fair deal that our constituency deserves.”



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