On a grey afternoon by the Thames, I interviewed local resident, Derek Gatesby, about the public services and social life of Kingston. First on the agenda was one I knew had been of great annoyance to many Kingston residents, roadworks. Mr Gatesby was more understanding than most, telling me
‘I think to an extent the roadworks are a good sign, as they show the commitment to upholding the standard of public roads’, before adding, with a look of quiet frustration that ‘there have been so many roadworks, and so many at the same time, and parts of Kingston during weekends are just completely congested. ‘ Chief among the causes of roadworks is the need for local governments to get rid of the money left over in their budgets. Mr Gatesby said that he has ‘certainly noticed that around spring they seem quite high but I also think around late summer they start to increase. Right now is an especially prevalent time, and I think more now than in April. I think the system of simply spending money to ensure a maintained budget year on year is a foolish one.’ The extra revenue, according to Mr Gatesby, could be used for more useful projects such as extending WiFi and broadband access.

I next asked him about one of the hot button issues in British politics, immigration. Kingston voted heavily for remain and is a Lib Dem stronghold, and Mr Gatesby’s views are in line with Kingston’s liberalism. He told me that ‘I certainly think that immigration has helped Kingston in so many ways. Firstly, the diversity of immigration has allowed Kingston to be immersed in many different cultures. I think by seeing the amount of cuisine for example on offer we can easily witness how multicultural the area is and that is one thing I really admire about the area.’ Seeing that this was a man with a knowledge of Kingston’s varied local restaurants, I asked him whether he could recommend any in particular. Although being unable to think of any particularly excellent non food chain restaurants off the top of his head, he said the area along the River Thames where we were sitting was very good.

However, despite being a staunch multiculturalist in a time when many weep in to their quinoa on the state of tolerance in the U.K, Mr Gatesby was more optimistic than I would have thought about Brexit. He told me ‘I think the state of the final deal reached with the EU will contribute as to how much Kingston is affected but I am sure that no matter what Brexit throws, Kingston itself will hold many of its values, like multiculturalism, and will remain a nice part of Greater London’. When asked about the impact of Brexit on the U.K. economy and therefore Kingston’s public services, he said they could cope, and that austerity seemed not to have much of an effect on vital services. 

Finally, I asked him about Zac Goldsmith, his local MP, a maverick environmentalist Tory who called a by election over Heathrow expansion, then controversially running as an independent, losing, and then returning to the Tories to fight the general election, winning by 45 votes. He said that ‘I think Zac himself is a nice man and I believe he has been a good mp for north Kingston and Richmond (he is not the mp for central Kingston). I believe that though rejoining the conservatives may be controversial it probably won’t affect his general work as an mp. I do feel for Sarah Olney, as I feel she had very little time to prove herself, but I feel that Zac himself has proven that he is popular and reputable in Kingston’. It was quite a refreshing view from the usual cynicism of politics.

By Alfie Watkins