Episode 39: interview with Sir Bob Neill MP

Sir Bob Neill is the Member of Parliament for Bromley and Chislehurst. Appropriately as Sir Bob is a supporter of the Arts, Darren Weale and Sarah Marsh-Collings interview him at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley when the Churchill Singers are rehearsing nearby.

We talk about his life including his career as a barrister – “a tidied up version of Rumpole of the Bailey” – when he discovered that a famous crime was plotted in Chislehurst. Sir Bob talks about what an MP does, how he became one, and then becoming a Minister of State. He describes the value of MP’s, his joy and relief of being first elected, and then his first steps as a new MP, which was a “pretty frantic time… the first couple of years were absolutely manic”. We ask about his local and national work that has made him proud, his role in organising the 2012 Olympics, and about his priorities for the future. Sir Bob tells us what he loves about Bromley, and the importance to him personally of support services for people who have suffered a stroke. We also bring a moment or two of parliamentary banter to life from the Churchill Theatre.