A LEADING Brexiteer, Lord and journalist joined the Earley and Woodley Conservatives at a recent party meeting to answer questions about international security, overseas politics, and more from borough voters.
Daniel Hannan was one of the leading political figures in the Leave campaign to take the UK out of the European Union in a referendum held in 2016.
Prior to that, he was a long-serving Member of the European Parliament for the South East from 1999 until the UK left the EU in 2020.
He was made Lord Hannan of Kingsclere in 2021 when he was granted a peerage by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Recently, he joined Conservative councillors and party members at Pearson Hall in Sonning.
Earlier this year, councillor Pauline Jorgensen, the leader of the opposition on Wokingham Borough Council was selected as the Tory parliamentary candidate for the new Earley and Woodley constituency.
Cllr Jorgensen (Conservative, Hillside) said: “Dan was great company, he mingled with the audience and then spent more than an hour answering questions on a broad range of topics many of which were far-reaching and international in focus.
“This included questions on China, its oppression of minority populations such as Uyghurs and its impact on international security; questions about Russian, Canadian and American politics and the Middle East.
“He also talked about his activity in Parliament on the Board of Trade. It was very generous of him to give up so much of his time and tell us more about such important and interesting topics.”
Lord Hannan currently serves as an adviser to the government Board of Trade.
Cllrs Laura Blumenthal (Conservative, South Lake) and Charles Margetts (Conservative, Finchampstead North) were spotted at the meeting.
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Audience members tucked into local cheeses and homemade pate while Lord Hannan answered their questions.
The Earley and Woodley parliamentary seat was created by the Boundary Commission for England and became official this summer.
It covers the Wokingham Borough areas of Earley, Woodley, Shinfield and Sonning, where the meeting was held, and the Reading Borough Council wards of Whitley and Church.
The Liberal Democrats and Labour Party are yet to announce their candidates for the new seat, with cllr Rachel Eden (Labour, Whitley) announcing that she will be seeking selection.
At the time cllr Jorgensen was announced as the candidate for the Conservatives, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “The people of Earley & Woodley have been let down by 13 years of failure from the Conservative government.
“The choice at the next election is clear – a changed Labour Party that can tackle the challenges we face and provide hope for our country, or more failure with the Conservatives.”
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