32 year old Anthony Mangnall has been the MP for Totnes since 2019. He is a former broker in a shipbuilding company and a Brexitecr. He told me: “One of the things we have seen over the last 18 months has been the benefits and opportunities of the UK having a flexible, independent arrangement in which it can make its own decisions without having to be beholden to 27 other countries. That to me is hugely important and we’ve got to go in that direction.

What did he think has gone well with Brexit and what hasn’t gone quite so well? “It’s gone well for the fishing industry which is making more money than it has ever made before. That’s a good result. Obviously our vaccination programme has gone very well, we are signing new trade agreements at a rate that was previously ridiculed. We are signing new defence deals, our diplomatic network is stronger than ever, employees have not fled the City of London, more and more people are coming in and investing in the UK, we’re now the fourth most eligible place to invest in for trade deals down from seventh, we’ve got highest level of venture capitalism investment in this country, we’ve got the fastest level of growth in the G20. The list goes on and on and we have to be very clear there are positives to this but there are are also significant challenges and one of the things we saw was the export rules and the way we were getting British products to mainland Europe. There were some difficulties there and I hope the French won’t play as much politics as over the last few months but these things can be worked out. For an new intake MP who came in in 2019 and who wasn’t in Westminster for those massive long-winded late night debates, the opportunity is now to try and find a solution to the problems we are facing and my door and my colleagues doors are open to come up with a solution. We’re not going to go back. We’re not going to re-join the European Union as much as some people might like us to. We now have to make it work and it’s my job as a local MP to do that.

I then asked Anthony what were his personal passions? What would he like to achieve during his term in office?: “Locally its about making sure there is more infrastructure in the area more buses and more trains, making sure the roads are in better nick...” What then about the electrification of the railway from London Paddington, through Totnes to Penzance?: ‘ That would be a fantastic idea if you could do it but at the moment I understand it would be extremely costly but who’s to say that’s not possible?” I’m determined to reapply for Brixham to get the levelling-up funding, I’m determined to see that we get the investment to see that we get new jobs in the area and South Devon College is already doing that, I’m determined to try and open a fishing school in the area which we’re making good progress on at the Noss on Dart site, supporting our armed forces also here through the Britannia Royal Naval College. These are all big things for me but I’m also passionate about international relations, foreign affairs and fishing and farming play such a huge role in this area. Supporting them and making sure they have a strong voice in Westminster who is listening to them, rather than Westminster coming down and telling them what to do is absolutely imperative for me.

The interview was carried out in mid-November and I put it to him that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had a bit of a rough time recently. Had he felt let down by his boss? “That’s putting it mildly. He’s had a terrible two weeks and there’s no doubt about that. In many respects we were led up the hill and found that he wasn’t there when we turned around.It’s been bitterly disappointing and huge mistakes have been made but the mark of a leader is somebody who can say he’s wrong and he got it wrong.

I ventured to Anthony that Boris hadn’t said sorry explicitly: “I think he’s said to the Liaison Committee how wrong he got it. It’s right that Owen Patterson has now resigned. (his Shropshire North seat was won on a 34% swing in the following by-election by Helen Morgan). Politicians are never universally popular but we can always do better by enhancing transparency, by enhancing accountability and making sure people know the service we provide and what we can do to help restore people’s faith in democracy.

We do need to be able to do that to not be partisan but really help on the issues that matter to people.

Finally I asked whether Boris could just ruffle his hair, smile and everything will be alright as all his faults are ‘priced in’ by the public?: I don’t think so. When I have seen the Prime Minister I have found him to be very good on fishing, on farming on defence or whatever it is in relation to South Devon. From my limited interactions I’ve seen him pretty determined to get things done and to change the status quo and that’s quite important. That’s why people voted for the Prime Minister. I don’t think he’s doing it for the fun of it I think he’s doing it because he wants to make a lasting difference. That’s why policies such as the levelling-up agenda, the global Britain agenda are making a difference and we just need to make sure South Devon doesn’t get overlooked.”