Interview: The Political World of Anne Milton, Independent Candidate

Published on: 30 Nov, 2019
Updated on: 30 Nov, 2019

On campaigning, Brexit, and leaving the Conservative Party

Chloe Meley, politics student

By Chloe Meley

This article, edited by The Guildford Dragon NEWS, is taken, with kind permission, from the University of Surrey’s student Incite magazine where it was first published.

On Tuesday, November 12, I met Anne Milton, independent candidate for Guildford and long-standing Conservative MP, in the Britannia pub for an interview. We spoke about Brexit, the General Election, her decision to stand as an independent, and more…

Anne Milton

Asked about how her time in the NHS has informed her views and her work in Parliament, Ms Milton said: “Having worked as a nurse in the NHS for 25 years, everything I do is in the light of that background.”

She highlighted the similarities between what motivates a nurse and what motivates a politician, considering both to stem from care and support, for patients or constituents.

“Unless you’ve been a nurse, or possibly a social worker,” she believes, you would not have this unique insight into life’s difficulties people face.

She talks of the privilege of being a carer, “The humbling experience to realise that most people aren’t like you, and they’re dealing with pressures and stresses and strains and extraordinarily difficult circumstances.”

Nurse Milton in 1978 when she was 22.

Ms Milton feels the compassion she cultivated as a nurse has been translated into her work as MP for Guildford, where, she admits, there still are “significant pockets of deprivation”. Her time in the NHS is spoken of fondly, but this experience is clearly central to her political persona, which she has been crafting and refining since her election in 2005.

She was Minister for Women between June 2017 and January 2018, and Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships between June 2017 and July 2019, a position she resigned from shortly before Boris Johnson was announced Prime Minister.

Although her tenure as Minister for Women was short-lived, Ms Milton has been outspoken about bullying and sexual harassment of women in Parliament, notably resigning from the Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion in October 2018, citing failures by parliamentary leaders, including the committee’s chair John Bercow, the former Speaker, to improve working life for women in the Commons.

She laments that “political debate has become a lot more aggressive […] and quite toxic”, which is made even worse by social media, where “women are disproportionately trolled and attacked”.

Because of her opposition to a no-deal Brexit, Ms Milton was among 21 Conservative MPs to lose the whip in September, and did not appeal the removal. In November, she announced she would be an Independent candidate in the General Election, describing removal of the whip as “enormously liberating”.

Since 2017, she had been feeling uneasy about the Conservative Party, she said, and stopping no-deal was what she “sacrificed [her] political career on”.

[this election] is about Boris Johnson wanting to get his own way…

But Ms Milton was cautious not to be too critical of the years of Conservative austerity measures, which she believes have resulted in the more efficient delivery of public services: “I think the cuts to the public sector, some of them have had some positive outcomes.”

Although she welcomes lifting of some austerity measures because “the pips are squeaking”, she is not fond of increasing taxes, for individuals or businesses, and believes borrowing will burden younger generations with crushing debt.

She distrusts “people saying they can spend more money on everything”, adding: “Nobody’s really been that clear about where they are going to get it from.”

Ms Milton says her journey toward becoming an independent began in July this year, and gained momentum as she grew more and more suspicious of Mr Johnson and his policies. She is now convinced party politics have failed the country, for two reasons.

It denies the public a vote for the party they want…

First, she mentioned the reluctance to reach a consensus and the animosity that permeates Brexit talks, as MPs are pressured to toe the party line and therefore remain entrenched in their respective positions. She says cross-party talks were used by political parties as “political ammunition” against each other.

Incite magazine, produced by the Politics Society at the University of Surrey

Second, she says having smaller parties such as the Brexit Party or the Greens stand down to avoid splitting the vote is fundamentally undemocratic. “It denies the public a vote for the party they want.”

This is also why she is open to voting reform. “First-past-the-post works well when you’ve got two main strong political parties, but we are moving to an era where that is no longer the case.”

Ms Milton believes an Independent MP would give Guildford constituents a voice that is essentially “free of the ties of party politics”. She also talked about the “very good cross-party alliances” she built during her years as an MP and her time as Deputy Chief Whip, a position she held between 2015 and 2017.

For her, those alliances will prove invaluable in the case of a hung Parliament. If elected, Ms Milton says she will “pick and mix policies that [she] will support”, putting the emphasis on “good sound financial management, never putting our national security at risk, and sensible borrowing that doesn’t saddle our children with too much debt”.

As for campaigning, running as an independent is obviously very different. “I have no big party political machine behind me,” Ms Milton says, “It’s friends and supporters”.

You will have 24 hours when you will sit and weep. And 24 hours when it feels almost insurmountable to carry on…

Her campaign is traditionally classic, leafleting, door-knocking, and meeting people is still what works best. And, she says: “What has been staggering is the overwhelming support that is pouring in.”

Asked about the strain General Election campaigning has had on her mental health over the years, Ms Milton sighs. “You will have 24 hours when you will sit and weep. And 24 hours when it feels almost insurmountable to carry on.”

But she points out that her age (64 in November) and experience have made her more resilient. Campaigning can be exhausting for younger candidates, she says. “The harsh reality when you become a candidate is that actually you’re going to get knocked around, and I think that can be quite tough if you’re experiencing it for the first time.”

Ms Milton considers herself fortunate for not having an extensive social media history which can be weaponised against candidates. “When you’re younger, you know, 18 or 16, you might have taken photos of yourself or done things you regret later in life, and all that gets dug up. It can be pretty vicious.”

It would be a shame if anybody had a large majority…

She adds: “Politicians as a whole aren’t popular people, so nobody is going to have any sympathy for them. We rely, democracy in this country relies on people putting their name forward. It would be a shame if only the people who can survive a bruising General Election campaign are the people that put their name forward.”

Her hopes for the General Election? “It would be a shame if anybody had a large majority,” Ms Milton believes, because that would give the government licence to implement under-scrutinised policies.

For her, this election “is about Boris Johnson wanting to get his own way”, and she worries that a large Conservative majority would give him the mandate he seeks.

A hung Parliament she feels, would result in a “government of national unity”. She also maintains this General Election is “largely but not entirely being fought on one issue”, which she condemns. “I think general elections work well when you’re […] asking the people to decide on a range of policies.”

And Ms Milton is emphatic about Brexit. “The only way to get closure is a confirmation referendum.”

Chloe Meley and her team have offered to interview the other candidates standing in Guildford, if they wish. The list of candidates follows.

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