Oliver Colvile
This is an interview profile suitable for a student magazine or a youth magazine. It may fit in well with the on-line publications "Student Beans" or "The Student Room".
Oliver Newton Colvile is the current Conservative Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton & Devonport; he won the seat from the Labour candidate Linda Gilroy at the 2010 General Election.
Born: August 26, 1959 (age 54), United Kingdom
Party: Conservative Party
On Friday the 18th of October, 2013, I braved a freak rain storm (well, I do live in Plymouth); to go and speak to Mr Colvile about some issues and general inquiries. Oliver Colvile is a conservative MP for Sutton and Devonport, and he was elected in May 2010. He has lived in Stonehouse for 10 years, and has been interested in politics since school. After years of studying, Colvile joined the professional staff of the Conservative Party at the age of 21, and worked as a political agent.
Mr Colvilles Constituents office is on Exeter St, Plymouth. It's pretty hard to miss, with his name boldly etched across the top of the door way. As I entered, I was greeted by a small office full of political posters, community helping leaflets and the general things you'd expect to find in a political office. I was slightly nervous as to what to expect, as we all know how opinionated and hot headed politicians can be. I had heard through the grape vine that he was a keen lover of Cricket- something that could possibly break the ice- however it's not something I know much about. After a short wait, I was soon put at ease by a smiling gentleman who was really not that scary at all.
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One of the main reasons I wanted to meet Colvile was to talk about students, the issues with students loans and students in the city in general. This wasn't one of the campaigns he backs as of yet, so I was hoping he would take an interest. To my delight, he did and was happy to listen to my point of view as I put my point across and asked some questions. Controversially, Colvile was involved in an EMA row not so long go, believing it was unfair and should be scrapped. This hit the headlines hard with a major backlash from many in the area of Plymouth, stating he had been "silver spooned" and didn't know what reality was. Aside from the above, Colvile also has many community matters he backs and is passionate about. His current stances to improve the city of Plymouth include;
• A cleaner Derriford Hospital by allowing local doctors and nurses to decide the clinical priorities - not civil servants in Whitehall
• Plymouth to remain Britain's principle naval port
• A better deal for our armed services whilst serving both at home and abroad
• Devonport dockyard to get its fair share of surface ship refitting and not to become a nuclear submarine dumping ground
• UK fishing waters to come back under UK control
• Changes to national licensing laws so that local people have a greater say in the pubs and clubs that are located in their local community
Colvile has his priorities right when it comes to hospital care, however on this occasion of meeting him I was more interested as a student about possible graduate schemes and also the issue of student loan and student bursaries. One of the issues I brought up was the fact that student loan is based on parental income. We both agreed that this didn't work in all cases, such as people who are possibly a more mature student and may be trying to cut the apron strings and live more independently- as well as gain a good education. With something that can make such a difference between living on the bread line and surviving education, it's a surprise that in a lot of cases it isn't assessed on a person to person basis. It especially saddened me to learn that, despite being 23 years old and scraping by, I was paying for other students bursaries and such. I felt this wasn't fair as we were all in the same boat, and how could I possibly benefit from paying for such things whilst being in so much debt myself?! Talking to others, the feeling was mutual. To my delight, Colvile has decided to take my issue with how student loans and grants are granted, and I am really excited to hear back from him in a few weeks with the outcome of my point in hand. It's really exciting and I feel I am hopefully helping to make a difference!
• A cleaner Derriford Hospital by allowing local doctors and nurses to decide the clinical priorities - not civil servants in Whitehall
• Plymouth to remain Britain's principle naval port
• A better deal for our armed services whilst serving both at home and abroad
• Devonport dockyard to get its fair share of surface ship refitting and not to become a nuclear submarine dumping ground
• UK fishing waters to come back under UK control
• Changes to national licensing laws so that local people have a greater say in the pubs and clubs that are located in their local community
Colvile has his priorities right when it comes to hospital care, however on this occasion of meeting him I was more interested as a student about possible graduate schemes and also the issue of student loan and student bursaries. One of the issues I brought up was the fact that student loan is based on parental income. We both agreed that this didn't work in all cases, such as people who are possibly a more mature student and may be trying to cut the apron strings and live more independently- as well as gain a good education. With something that can make such a difference between living on the bread line and surviving education, it's a surprise that in a lot of cases it isn't assessed on a person to person basis. It especially saddened me to learn that, despite being 23 years old and scraping by, I was paying for other students bursaries and such. I felt this wasn't fair as we were all in the same boat, and how could I possibly benefit from paying for such things whilst being in so much debt myself?! Talking to others, the feeling was mutual. To my delight, Colvile has decided to take my issue with how student loans and grants are granted, and I am really excited to hear back from him in a few weeks with the outcome of my point in hand. It's really exciting and I feel I am hopefully helping to make a difference!
A lot of Colvile's aims are all very marine based, and looking at what he supports this is very much a pattern throughout. This is due to his Naval family background- his grandfather served in the Royal Navy whilst his uncle commanded the Royal Marine garrison at Stonehouse. This is understandable and admirable as the Naval base counts for a lot of family incomes and it also offers places for students who may want to join the forces and gain a degree at the same time. It is something I feel needs backing and kept alive, and is part of the city of Plymouth. It's great he is backing this, as it really does make Plymouth Plymouth.
The great thing about Colvile is that he is easily contactable and available for anyone to speak to. Within contacting him and asking to meet, I had a reply within 24 hours explaining he would love to chat to me and had a time and date set. His office is filled with advice for foreigners, people struggling with money, debt charity information and so on. He was easy to talk to and quick to give an explanation and come out with a plan. He is extremely interested in students and the future of students, which was really great to hear and talk about.
Colvile has shown great interest in the students in the past, by running things such as student workshops where students can bring up any issues they may have with their course or where they feel they are going in life. It's a great idea, and I was eager to listen to his opinion.
All in all, I think there is a lot to come from this man and a lot of changes shall be made with him being the local MP! He has hit the headlines of the local paper a lot recently, helping residents with issues such as flooding and even the controversial opinion he has about cannabis being used for medical purposes. The Conservative MP said the drug would be good to use for medical reasons. He is definitely getting people talking. I am looking forward to getting a response from my meeting a follow up letter, outlining what was said about my concern over student loan funds being fair for all. Watch this space!
