Chamali Fernando – Conservative Party general election candidate
Interviewed April 13th at the 'Keep our NHS Public' hustings, and April 23rd at the Housing hustings.
As described by the depositor:
Chamali told us: “I am 36 years old, I used to be a Liberal Democrat, it is no secret. I was also the youngest ever candidate shortlisted for the role of Mayor of London. Cambridge offers me the opportunity to put a City on the map. My interest in politics stems from when I was a child, my father contested two parliamentary seats when I was 7 and 8 years old and I helped him campaigning. In an Asian family politics is not something considered as a career for a woman. I am in this because I genuinely feel I can make a difference, that is what motivates me that is what drives me. ”
At the Housing Hustings, Chamali stopped to chat to us as she left, what was a very angry meeting about the cost of housing in the City both to buy and to rent: She said: “I was very impressed by the amount of expertise in the room. I think Cambridge is punching well under its weight, we are a pioneering City, and we should be achieving more. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on the NHS Hustings – I didn’t say what I was accused to say by the blogger about the mentallyill wearing wrist bands. I had death threats, and the misreporting of the event has upset those who are mentally ill too. I was personally thanked at the end of the Hustings.”
As described by the depositor:
Chamali told us: “I am 36 years old, I used to be a Liberal Democrat, it is no secret. I was also the youngest ever candidate shortlisted for the role of Mayor of London. Cambridge offers me the opportunity to put a City on the map. My interest in politics stems from when I was a child, my father contested two parliamentary seats when I was 7 and 8 years old and I helped him campaigning. In an Asian family politics is not something considered as a career for a woman. I am in this because I genuinely feel I can make a difference, that is what motivates me that is what drives me. ”
At the Housing Hustings, Chamali stopped to chat to us as she left, what was a very angry meeting about the cost of housing in the City both to buy and to rent: She said: “I was very impressed by the amount of expertise in the room. I think Cambridge is punching well under its weight, we are a pioneering City, and we should be achieving more. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on the NHS Hustings – I didn’t say what I was accused to say by the blogger about the mentallyill wearing wrist bands. I had death threats, and the misreporting of the event has upset those who are mentally ill too. I was personally thanked at the end of the Hustings.”