The RX-8

“I didn’t enjoy those years at all” he says. “I left at 15
to work as a vehicle mechanic apprentice for Wallace
Arnold, in Leeds. I really enjoyed that, and in a
strange way it got me back into education. Within a
year I was in the top technical grade at Leeds College.
However if I’m honest I didn’t like getting my hands
dirty, so I began looking around, and this is when the
armed forces caught my attention.”
Andy joined the Army at 17 because, he says, he
didn’t like the monotony of the 9 to 5 routine. He
was ambitious and loved a challenge, which might
explain why he made his way up the ranks to
become the youngest Sergeant in the Royal Corps of
Transport, at only 24.
At the age of 21,the former school-hater Andy had
taken his ‘O’ Levels, and then at 24 he went on to
gain 4 ‘A’ Levels,
“Taking them at this age was hard work, although I
actually enjoyed doing it. I think the problem with
school was it never fired my imagination, whereas
the Army did”.
During his Army career, Andy did tours in Northern
Ireland, and then spent 14 of his 23 years service in
Germany, where he taught in nuclear, chemical and
biological warfare. He also served in Warminster,
Wiltshire, where he was a Platoon Weapons
Instructor.
By the time he retired from the Army, he’d risen to
the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major.
When he left in 1993, he opted for another uniform
and worked as an officer in the prison service at
Parkhurst. “It was not the most enjoyable time of my
life,” he recalls, “but it kept the shekels coming in.”
Andy had first come to the Isle of Wight during his
Army days, when he worked on the range at
Porchfield, and it was here that he met his second
wife Maureen.
So was it love at first sight?
“Yes it was” he says, “and that goes for the Island as
well I suppose”
Andy and his wife were married at Freshwater. He
has two daughters from his first marriage, both of
whom live on the mainland, one working in the
prison service and the other who is happy as a fulltime
mum of two.
In 2001 when Andy became leader of the opposition,
he reduced his hours at Parkhurst to 19 hours a
week, and spent the rest of the time with his
consultancy company, doing exams with the
Development and Improvement Agency.
“That flourished for me, as I ended up going round
working with the Audit Commission and with the
Improvement Development Agency inspecting and
reviewing other authorities. This gave me a good
knowledge base, as I visited places from the North of
England right down to the South Coast.”
It was this experience that stoked Andy’s interest in
politics, and led to his success in the 1999 by-election
Island Life - www.islandlifemagazine.net
“I cannot live
without
Sainsburys”
when he took over from David Holmes.
”I also stood in the 2001 election, won my seat, but
unfortunately did not gain overall control of the
council, so again I became Leader of the Opposition.
At this time we concentrated all our efforts on the
Parliamentary seat, and in 2001 we won it, which
was a fantastic result. I spent the next four years as
leader of the opposition, keeping a group of 13
councillors together.”
This must have been a testing time for him?
“It was very frustrating,” he said, “to see things going
wrong, but not being listened to. A good example was
the Pop Festival, which we tried to stop the council
from running. This, as we all know, ended up losing
nearly £400,000. This should have gone to the private
sector from the start. Those were an extremely
frustrating four years.”
But he says that far from making him want to throw
in the towel, the sheer frustration increased his
INTERVIEW
Can Island tourism ever
complete with package
holidays abroad?
I don’t think it can at the
moment. But it has a great
opportunity if you look at
the next 20/30 years,
especially if global warming
is going to continue at the
rate it is.
Name one building that
you would love to
demolish on the Island?
County Hall.
Do you think we should
have an overall speed limit
of 40mph?
No. Modern cars cannot
travel at 40mph.
Is the infrastructure there
to keep building these
large housing
developments?
No, the infrastructure is not
there and until it is we will
not continue building these
large developments.
Where is your favourite
spot on the Island?
The Needles.
If you had to sum up the
IW in 3 words what would
they be?
Progressive, vibrant and
magical. Would I ever go
back to Leeds? No!
What shop could you NOT
live without on the Island?
Sainsburys - and e-bay.
What would you say is the
best thing about the Isle of
Wight?
The people.
And the worst?
The culture of talking it
down, the negativity. That
old Island saying, “It won’t
work here”
If you were invisible for
the day where would you
go and what would you
do?
I would go to St Ormond’s
Street Hospital, because
that’s where you realise
there are real problems out
there.
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