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