Isle of Wight councillor for Central Wight, Cllr Bob Seely, has confirmed through OnTheWight that he would be ‘interested in standing’ for the role of Isle of Wight Member of Parliament (MP).
He’s not trying to elbow Andrew Turner aside, but rather if a vacancy comes up, either if the current MP stands down, or when a second seat become available.
OnTheWight
Following Jonathan Bacon’s open letter to Cllr Seely, OnTheWight emailed Bob asking whether he was considering standing as a candidate for the role.
He’d previously been shy in answering when we’d asked before, but now Cllr Seely has chosen to reveal it instead through OnTheWight in a comment he left on an article:
“First, becoming the MP. Yes, like, many others, I would be interested in standing if there is a vacancy.
“If there is a vacancy/vacancies, there will be many people standing, including very probably some MPs from the mainland.
“If all I wanted to do was to be an MP I would have applied for the many mainland seats which came up at the last election. I didn’t. The reason I didn’t is because I love the Island and I want to see it prosper.”
Former Conservative candidate
The world of politics is certainly not new to Bob Seely, also known as Robert W H Seely.
Back in 2005, he stood as the Conservative candidate in Broxtowe, Nottingham(1), coming very close to winning the race with 37.2% of the votes (18,161) – just 2,296 behind the Labour candidate.
He’s been a spin doctor for the Tories (2) and a member of the PR team at music channel MTV. Not to mention serving in Iraq in the Territorial Army.
Bob’s currently doing a PhD at King’s College, London. His profile reads,
“Robert Seely is a PhD candidate at King’s College, London(3) and is a Research Associate at the Changing Character of War Programme, Oxford University.
“His area of study is non-conventional warfare.”
References
1. Election 2005 results
2. Nottingham Post
3. King’s College London
