Chris Philp is the Conservative candidate to be our next MP in Hampstead & Kilburn. He has lived in the area for ten years, and recently got married to Lizzy.

Chris is not a career politician in the usual mould. He was educated in the South London state system and went to Oxford to study Physics. After graduating, Chris left a secure job in the City to set up a distribution business when he was 23 - and started off driving the van himself. Four years later, the business had over 100 staff. More recently, he has set up a business re-building parts of the former Yugoslavia which were torn apart by the civil war in the 1990s.

Asked why he is now running to be our next MP, Chris said, ‘I have always believed in creating opportunity for everyone, irrespective of their background. So one thing I would do as our MP is campaign for reform of the state education system so standards are as good as those in the private sector. I want everyone to be able to have the opportunities that I have had.'

He added, ‘I also believe that encouraging enterprise - creating jobs and prosperity - is the best way to combat poverty and raise living standards.' Chris has always believed in taking action and getting things done. For example, as a local campaigner in our neighbourhood, he has succeeded in keeping our Police based locally - preventing the closure of Hampstead Police Station and keeping the 999 Police based in West Hampstead and at Kilburn Police Station on Salusbury Road, Queens Park.

Now Chris is running to be our next MP to continue energetically working on our behalf. ‘This area is special and I love living here,' he says: ‘I am passionate about about keeping it that way.'

Q: Why are you standing to be an MP?
I want to build better public services, especially the education system and the NHS. We need to cut out excessive bureaucracy and central control, and let professionals get on with their job. I want to make state schools as good as private ones, and see the NHS lead the world once again.

Q: And why are you standing here in Hampstead & Kilburn?
A: I've lived here for ten years and there is nowhere else I'd rather live. I also think our area is special, and I want to stand up for it.

Q: What do you most like about living in this area?
A: Running is a passion of mine, and I love the open spaces we have. We are very lucky to have so many - from Hampstead Heath to Queen's Park to Primrose Hill.

Q: You seem quite young to be running for Parliament?
A: I'm 33, and therefore full of energy. But it's not how old you are that counts, it's what you've done and what you will do.

Q: Most people have had enough of career politicians. So what have you done in real life?
A: I made it from a south London state school to Oxford. Since then, I've set up three businesses - including a distribution business which is now a public company. In 2003, I was even voted by Ernst & Young and the Times as London's ‘Emerging Entrepreneur'.