Bromsgrove candidate makes pledge on expenses

Feb 18 2010 By Jonathan Walker

The Conservative candidate bidding to replace Julie Kirkbride as Bromsgrove’s MP has pledged to publish every expenses claim on his website on the same day he submits them.

Former banker Sajid Javid said politicians faced an uphill battle to win back public trust following the expenses scandal, after sitting Tory MP Ms Kirkrbride and her husband, also a Conservative MP, were ordered to repay £60,000 to the taxpayer.

But he insisted he would not be defined by his religious background – after David Cameron highlighted him this week as a young British Muslim who was making his mark on the party.

The Tory leader name-checked Mr Javid in a high-profile speech which accompanied the launch of a poster campaign aimed at people who have never voted Conservative before.

Mr Cameron said: “I’m so proud that young British Muslims who may too often these days feel that instead of doors opening for them they’re being shut in their faces – that they can look at the Tory party, the Tory party with Sayeeda Warsi in the Shadow Cabinet, Sajid Javid in Bromsgrove, Zahid Iqbal in Bradford West and say yes, I am a Muslim, I’m British and I’m as welcome at the top of this society as anyone else in Britain.”

But Mr Javid said: “For me, that is completely insignificant. It is not in my thinking at all.”

He is one of a number of rising stars named as a “Parliamentary candidate to watch” in a study by consultants Insight Public Affairs.

Conservatives enjoyed a majority of 10,080 in Bromsgrove at the last election so Mr Javid should be confident of winning the seat this time around, but he may nonetheless face a challenge earning the respect of voters who have lost faith with politicians. Mr Javid said he believed candidates across the country would face similar challenges, but radical changes were needed to convince the public to trust politicians again.

“Winning back public confidence is required everywhere. I was campaigning in the Warwickshire North constituency recently, and we people there were challenging us over expenses and asking what MPs actually do.

“People are upset with politicians up and down the country. A new Parliament is just the start. Politicians need to behave differently.

“For example, MPs need to be completely transparent. I have already pledged that every expenses claim I ever make will be published on my website on the day I make them, with the receipts.”

But part of the answer is to give MPs more power, so that they are able to do a better job of representing constituents, he said.