Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2012 | Page 41
INTERVIEW
Peter White talks to the Isle
of Wight Council leader
David Pugh used to play the cornet
in Shanklin Town Brass Band, but
these days he simply doesn’t have
the time.
Of course the cynics would say
that as leader of the Isle of Wight
Council he is now too busy blowing
his own trumpet.
In fact, nothing could not be
further from the truth. As a
32-year-old leader of the Conservative-controlled Council, he has
already achieved much. He was
elected to the Council in 2005, and
just over two years later he found
himself thrust into the limelight as
its leader following the resignation
of Cllr. Andy Sutton.
It would have been easy for him to
get carried away with such a rapid
rise to prominence, particularly
for someone who grew up first in
Newport, and then in Lake and
Shanklin, and had to attend speech
therapy lessons because he had great
difficulty with pronunciation.
But amid all the hype and often
controversy that has surrounded
him these past five years, David
remains a modest man, fully
accepting he has made mistakes
along the way, and could have dealt
far better with some contentious
issues. But like him or loathe him,
there is no doubt he has a genuine
passion for leading the Council and
serving the Island to the best of his
ability.
He smiled: “I think people
sometimes have this caricature
of me as this arrogant youngster
know-it-all, but I am first to admit
I don’t know all the answers. When
some people meet me they do realise
I am not actually a monster with
two heads.
“I wouldn’t like to say I am thick
skinned, because that may sound
as if I don’t care about certain
things. But I don’t allow emotion
or personal comments to distract
me from the fact we have to make
decisions.
“When I am out in the street,
generally people are very polite. I
don’t mind discussing things when
I am on my own – that comes with
the territory. I find the vast majority
may not agree with everything we
have done since we were elected,
but understand why we have done
it.”
Having been educated at
Westmont and Newport CE
Primary Schools, and Trinity
Middle School - now Christ the
King College - David first became
interested in politics when taking
A level exams at Sandown High
School.
He recalls that the 1997 General
Election was looming, and he began
reading the Daily Telegraph which
the head of Sixth Form left in the
common room. He is not sure
where his career would have gone
if it had been the Labour-leaning
Guardian newspaper instead!
After leaving Sandown High
School David studied politics at the
University of Aberystwyth. He was
due to study there for three years,
but stayed only two, explaining:
“At the end of my second year
I had just been elected national
deputy chairman of Conservative
Future. In the run-up to the 2001
General Election I was asked if I
wanted to take a year out to work
at Conservative HQ in London,
working on the youth side of
the campaign. It was a golden
opportunity to get involved. Politics
doesn’t generally attract everyday
www.visitislandlife.com
41