Candidates must back cyber vision

THE Conservative leadership contest is in full swing. With 11 candidates declared, and more to come, it’s starting to look like the Gold Cup start line.

I will be reviewing the various pitches carefully, of course.

But I can’t help get the sneaking feeling that anyone who actually wants to be PM at a time like this probably ought to be disqualified.

My principal focus will remain the work that brought me into politics in the first place – driving social mobility in Cheltenham.

For decades, social injustice has persisted in our town – with some of the country’s poorest neighbourhoods existing cheek by jowl with more affluent ones.

I believe passionately in radical steps to tackle it.

Generating opportunities is at the heart of my plan. If we can show a young person from generations of workless households that great opportunities exist here on their doorstep, the impact can be transformational.

That’s why I’m so committed to driving the cyber vision for Cheltenham which I launched back in 2014, and which has been backed with £23million of Government cash.

Since the pilot Cyber Innovation Centre was established in 2015, local cyber security start-ups have generated an estimated value of more than £75million.

Last week I was delighted to help launch Hub8 - a new 7,000 square foot co-working space partnered with Cynam that will be opening in the Brewery Quarter this summer, dedicated to the cyber community.

Hub8, a play on Hut 8, the hut which led wartime codebreaking efforts at Bletchley Park, will bring together individual start-ups, independent SMES and major cyber employers.

It’s where Cheltenham ideas will move from start-up to scale-up, generating those precious opportunities for great jobs. That’s fantastic news for social mobility.

Any future PM must back Cyber Cheltenham to get my support.