Island Life Magazine Ltd November/December 2005 | Page 13

INTERVIEW

“County Hall is an awful
looking building”

Undeterred, Andrew spent a further four years in opposition,
showing his commitment to the Island by buying a flat in Cowes
with his partner Carole.
Victory finally came in 2001, when he won the seat with a massive
25,233 votes, and again in 2005 he retained his position with a
landslide victory of 32,717 votes.
Since then, the Island has definitely become home to Andrew and
Carole: “I wouldn’t like to live anywhere else” he declares.
His favourite “away-from-it-all” haunt for walking his two rescue
dogs, Bertie and Sausage, is right up on the Downs at Brighstone –
and when he wants to relax with company of the two-legged kind,
he enjoys winding down at The Bargemans Rest, five minutes walk
from his home in Newport.
Andrew and Carole now live at Seal House, in Newport town centre,
which they share with the resident ghost, a boy who appears from
time to time on the stairs. The house has a colourful history
altogether – and Andrew is just one of a number of MPs who have
lived there. Other previous parliamentarian residents have included
Sir Tristram Dillington, who famously lost the house in a game of
cards.
When at home, Andrew loves to watch old movies, which he has
been known to use as a diversion from all forms of DIY, painting,
fixing things, and assembling furniture.
“If I cannot operate it from the