Q. What are your views on the MPs' expenses issue?

A. No Lib Dem MP had a phantom mortgage, flipped their property or failed to pay capital gains tax. Not a single London Lib Dem MP claimed for a second home. The expenses scandal is a symptom of our broken politics which neither Labour nor the Conservatives can fix. If both Labour and Conservative MPs voted to exempt Parliament from the Freedom of Information Act, if they had succeeded the expenses scandal would never have come to light. They failed because Lib Dem MPs, like me, blew the whistle on them.

Q.If you had to pick the single biggest issue you will campaign on as MP for the borough, what would that be?

A.To make sure that local children are at the front of the queue for a place in a local school. I challenged the Prime Minister over Labour’s failure to help the 170 families without a high school place in the borough. As a result their sons and daughters a condemned to go to schools outside the borough. We need to change the law so that local children get first pick of local schools.

Q.What is your biggest regret?

A.Not asking my wife Mary out on a date sooner.

Q.What was your biggest achievement at school/university?

A.Just getting to Southbank Polytechnic was a big achievement. I was the first member of my family to study for a Degree. I am part of a generation lucky enough to go to college for free. I think anyone with the ability to succeed at university should have the opportunity regardless of their means.

Q.Do you believe in euthanasia?

A.No. I believe that there is much still to be done by the NHS in conjunction with the hospice movement to develop and extend the benefits of palliative care.

Q.Have you ever smoked cannabis?

A. No.

Q. How did you get involved in politics?

When I was at Carshalton College I found myself in discussions with other students about economic and politics which made me realise that I disagreed with both Labour and Conservative and identified more with a liberal view of the world that promotes freedom and fairness.

Q.How long have you lived in the borough?

A.All my life. I was born at St Helier hospital which is one of the reasons I am so passionate about getting the investment it needs. My children attend local schools. I have deep roots in this community and count it a privilege to serve it as MP.

Q.Have you ever belonged to another political party?

A.No.

Q.What do you recycle?

A.Having pioneered the expansion of recycling in the borough when I was a councillor from just 4 bottle banks to what we have today my family are all keen recyclers and composters.

Q. If you have one item on a desert island, what would it be any why?

A. A clock-work radio; I love listening to Radio 4.

Q.Where would you least like to live in the borough and where would you most like to live in the borough?

A.When I was a child I lived in Sutton Common Road, when I was a single man I lived in Benhill Wood Road, now I live in Cheam. I just like living in this area it is a great place to live.

Q.What is the borough's best attribute?

A.Its excellent schools.

Q.Do you agree with abortion or are you pro-life?

A.Abortion is a difficult and often painful decision for a woman to make. It is a decision only she can make, based on the dictates of her own conscience and faith, not on the dictates of someone else's opinions. But except under exceptional circumstances, such as rape, incest, or danger to her health, she should make that decision as early as she can, so she is not aborting a foetus that is increasingly becoming more like a person.

Q.What's your favourite biscuit?

Fox’s chunkie cookies

Q.What happened when you first got drunk and did you learn your lesson?

I was at a party at a friend’s house at Stonecot Hill and drank too much it made me very sick and gave me a terrible hangover. I learned my lesson.

Q.What annoys you?

Intolerance, prejudice and queue jumpers!

Q.Do you do the washing up or do you get others to do it?

Yes. I also do a lot of the cooking, especially at the weekends.

Q.Apart from a house what is the most expensive item you have bought for yourself?

A.A trailer tent which Mary the children and I use every summer for our main holiday.

Q.Facebook or Twitter?

I have both a Facebook page and people can follow me on Twitter.