This man wants to be Stoke Bishop’s next Tory MP and he loves Linkin Park

Mark Weston is the Conservative candidate in Bristol North West who is hoping to take the seat from Labour on December 12th.

His name will be one of the ballot paper choices for any UoB students in Stoke Bishop halls that have registered to vote in Bristol.

The Bristol Tab spoke to Mark to find out a bit more about his views.

"Straight up, if you don’t vote, I don’t think you have the right to complain"

Mark explained that politicians tend to focus on the demographics that vote the most. He thinks that if students want a louder voice in politics, they need to make their own voice heard and participate not just through demonstrating, but actually voting.

"If you look around the world, there are people crying out for the right to change their government. Democracy is a beautiful thing, make sure you participate.

"If you had an opportunity to have your voice heard and you didn’t take that opportunity, then its on you." Mark told The Bristol Tab.

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion"

Mark also gave his thoughts on celebrities endorsing politicians in the media, and their ability to sway the youth vote.

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion – that is the joy with free democracy. I disagree with some comments from certain celebrities, and I agree with others. You tend to select the ones that agree with you.

"I would just say that when you’re looking at the wider picture of how you’re going to vote, I would urge everyone to do a bit of wider research and not just go on what you see on Facebook, not just at what celebrities are endorsing.

"If Stormzy wants to say something – that’s fine. I’m not into Stormzy’s music anyway." Mark told The Bristol Tab.

We then asked him what he thought of comments made by Conservative MPs, including the time when Jacob Rees-Mogg blamed Grenfell victims for lacking 'common sense'.

"Jacob Rees-Mogg did not cover himself in glory – you can have that as a quote"

Mark said, "all politicians can say stupid stuff at one point. Barack Obama made the comment that good people can do bad things, and no one is perfect. I think that we have to accept we are humans and we are flawed.

"At least when I was a student there were no camera phones – it was easier for me. No one has a picture of me with pink hair."

"I think at the moment politics is broken"

If Mark is elected MP, he will vote for Johnson's deal and support an "orderly Brexit." He was vocal in his opinion that those wanting a second referendum would be disregarding democracy.

Mark said: "If we had a second referendum, what if remain won – do we then make it best out of three? How is that any more or any less democratic than the vote we just ignored? That is my dilemma.

"I think that we should honour the result and leave in an orderly manner. I want us to be good friends with the EU, not bad tenants which is what we are at the moment. Because that doesn’t really help anyone."

"On the principle on paying university fees for education, I think you probably should"

Mark believes that it is unfair for the taxpayer who doesn't go to university to have to foot the bill for those who do.

He sees interest rates as the problem, which he thinks should be capped to prevent them from "spiralling out of control." He also says that the Government should be pushing apprenticeships and vocational training.

"No one wants animosity between students and the local community"

Definitely the biggest problem concerning students in Stoke Bishop is the issue of parking, Mark explains. Lack of access to halls car parks means that there are a build up of students' cars on residential roads. Mark highlights the concern that local residents have in that if the University is looking at whether they can get even more students in the North campus, this will exacerbate the parking situation.

"The first thing the university have to do is acknowledge that there is a problem, and then work with us to find a solution. There is all manner of ways to do it but they need to reach out and talk to the council about it. If I were elected, I would want to broker that conversation. " Mark told The Bristol Tab.

Book, Movie, Album?

Book: Magician by Raymond E Feist

Movie: Shawshank Redemption

Album: Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park

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If you're still in doubt over where you'll be casting your vote, check here to see what constituency you’re in.