Square Mile and Me – Conservative City candidate Tim Barnes: ‘I live here, so I understand the everyday problems’

This article originally appeared in City AM and you can read it in full on their website.

Ahead of the election, we’re asking the candidates for the Cities of London and Westminster to introduce themselves. Today, Conservative candidate and Centre for Entrepreneurs CEO Timothy Barnes gives his pitch to the Square Mile

What was your first job? 
As a teenager, I did quite a lot of things that might have felt like work, but were probably volunteering! My first paid job was when I was 18 and I spent a couple of months doing graphic design and layout for a small charity that trained and supported community volunteers across Cambridge. It was my first experience of the daily routine of heading into an office and helped me understand that I would always like work that has a creative element involved.

When did you decide to try your hand at politics and what were you doing before?
I ran successfully to be the finance and societies officer for the student union at UCL, where I had been studying, and led to me taking a year out after university. I first ran to become a councillor over fifteen years ago and have always combined politics with having a day job. For the last two years, I have been the CEO of a charity based on the borders of the City. We promote entrepreneurship and help push policies that make it easier for those who want to help themselves to get going. Before that I have worked in universities, management consultancy, venture capital and set up my own businesses.

What’s one thing you love about the City of London? 
The Dragon boundary markers! Also, so many of the interesting and quirky old venues. I was saddened by the closure of Simpson’s Tavern and it would be great to see it revived as the site is still unoccupied and just falling into abandonment. The coverage in City A.M. has really saddened me. One of the wonderful things about the City are the little pockets of heritage among the daily bustle. If we lose those, things will just be a little too bland. Am still sad about the closure of the Wig and Pen, opposite the Royal Courts of Justice, as much for the idea of the place as anything.

And one thing you would change? 
One of the first meetings I had after I was selected as a candidate for the election was with some of the Aldermen and women in the City to understand its needs and issues. I would like to see more outreach and support for the residents who live here. The Corporation has done a huge amount to improve the liveability of the City in recent years, but there’s more that can be done for those who reside here permanently in terms of housing and having access to a ladder of opportunity, which are two of the six core themes of my campaign. 

Why should people vote for you?
I want to see the City flourish as a financial and service centre and as a place to live. My background in entrepreneurship policy and teaching at universities including UCL and Cambridge underline my belief in the value of business and wealth creation and I would like to see the regulatory frameworks adapted to reflect UK capital and market needs. The Mansion House reforms were a good starting point but we need to see more to attract new listings and deeper pools of capital. Residents should know I am the only candidate of any major party who lives in the constituency, so the services I use and the problems I experience everyday are the same as theirs. 

What’s been your most memorable moment of your political career? 
Four years ago, I led the development of a new class of business rates relief that applied to grassroots music venues, a first in the UK that’s since been copied. We launched it at the 100 Club on Oxford Street and it was reported in the NME complete with a photo of me on stage. Making it into the hallowed pages of the NME has to be one of the most unexpected and memorable moments of my political life to date!

And any political faux pas?  
Am really not sure I have one, but if I do I am absolutely not going to bring up again! 

What’s been your proudest moment?
As a councillor during Covid, it was the work we did to support residents and businesses at an unprecedented time of disruption. Individuals who had never had to turn to the council for help before came to see what we could and how to navigate things. As the cabinet member for young people and learning, we brought in the first scheme in the country to buy digital devices for the children who needed to learn from home during the pandemic, to ensure those from less affluent families didn’t fall behind those with easy access to laptops and tablets.

And who do you look up to?
In politics, Ken Clarke. He was a real influence on me in my formative years as I was working through my own beliefs and attitudes to politics. I don’t agree with everything he said or did, but his capacity to find the things that mattered and bring about change in what he did, his reputation as a heavyweight with a bit of personality thrown in, left his mark. My mum is a bit of a hero, too, but that’s probably not quite the original insight you are hoping for!

Are you optimistic for the year ahead?
Inflation is coming down and I think the Bank of England will cut rates in the second half of the year, so it should be a year of things getting better. England should do well in the T20 Cricket World Cup, too, and that would make me smile. But I might need you to ask me my thoughts on the rest of the year after 4 July! If Labour wins the election, taxes and inflation may well be back up by Christmas. 

What does a typical day in your life look like? 
Days vary a lot, to be honest. Mondays tend to start early as I have a lot of team and board calls first thing to get ready for, so that’s a 5.30am start or so. If there’s been a late work night the night before, I try and sleep a bit extra. Two or three days each week, I walk from home through Leicester Square and Covent Garden to my day job office on the Strand. Work is usually a mixture of team meetings and calls through the day with a nip out to one of the sandwich shops at lunchtime. Evenings are always work or political events with at least five a week, and sometimes two or three on an evening! Right now, that’s getting in the way of eating in the evenings, which is my main form of regular relaxation, whether I am going out or cooking it. The evenings are for social media and messaging catch ups and bed by midnight before it all rolls around again!

We’re going for lunch, and you’re picking – where are we going?
So many places I could recommend or feel like. Eating and drinking out is one of the reasons I love living and working here. There’s a bit of me that would love to be a restaurant critic or even opening one of my own. 

There are a lot of chains now in the City, so perhaps we should head out for somewhere that will have something for every palette but still feels a little bit more like a one-off? How about Cabotte on Gresham Street? Classic French cooking and a glass of wine if you don’t have anything too important to do in the afternoon? If you want something a little less formal, I am quite a fan of a good food truck, so perhaps we could wander and see what comes up?

And if we’re grabbing a drink after work?
There’s always a buzz standing outside of the New Moon in Leadenhall Market.

Where’s home during the week?
I live in Soho, which also means I can walk to work!

And where might we find you at the weekend?
Here! You don’t live in the West End to disappear from the city at weekends – it’s so you can walk home after a night out whether that’s eating, drinking, film, theatre or cultural life!

You’ve got two weeks off. Where are you going and who with?  
Over the years, I have been lucky enough to have travelled to some pretty far off places across Africa and Asia – next time I am hoping that will be somewhere in West Africa. I like to alternate between those adventures and somewhere more relaxing and try as I might to be original, the answer is Italy: the weather, the food, the people, the history and the views – it really is the complete package.

Quickfire: 

• Favourite book? Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• Favourite film? 12 Angry Men – the Henry Fonda version
• Favourite artist? Matisse – his Snail, in Tate Modern, changed my life when I was twelve and he still mesmerises me. The chapel he designed in Vence plays with light to create a space quite unlike any other I have experienced.
• Favourite place in London? There’s plenty of places with great personal memories But home is the West End and when I cross the road from any direction and place my feet here, I know I am where I should be.
• Cocktail order? Tom Collins.
• Coffee order? Cappuccino before 11am, flat white in the afternoon and sweet East Mediterranean coffee in the evening
• Early bird or night owl? Right now, it’s both! 

This article originally appeared in City AM and you can read it in full on their website.