Broxtowe has arguably been at the centre of the Conservative Government's levelling up agenda for the East Midlands, with significant investment planned for its towns and transport infrastructure. The Government has, however, also been in the thick of the partygate scandal. Nottinghamshire Live's Agenda Editor sits down with the borough's MP, Darren Henry, to find out why he believes he, and his party, can still deliver.
Before landing his seat in Broxtowe with a 5,331-vote majority, Mr Henry was in the Royal Air Force (RAF).
It was a Conservative hold, after former MP Anna Soubry defected to the Change UK party and lost her seat, and his win came despite his name being an unfamiliar one for the electorate.
Mr Henry was also relatively new to the world of politics, having left the RAF in 2013, but Ms Soubry's failure to tap into the battle between the Conservative Party and Labour in 2019 helped push him into the fray.
Owing to his time with the Armed Forces he had made many connections to various places across the country.
And a memorable tour in Norfolk, where he had to work as a community support officer, was ultimately "where the seed was sown."
His first attempts to join the world of politics began when he was shortlisted for North West Hampshire, where he failed to gain sturdy footing.
In 2015 he was selected for Wolverhampton North East, while working at Harvest Fine Foods, and having not been successful he opted to serve as a parish councillor in Wiltshire.
His final tour with the RAF had been at Boscombe Down, and thus this is where he remained before later joining the county council.
In 2019 he was shortlisted for Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner, and then shortlisted for Kensington, but failed to be selected on both occasions.
Mr Henry's connection to the borough of Broxtowe had already been firmly established many years prior, however, having first arrived in Nottinghamshire in 1989, seeking to buy a house.
It was here that he met Nottinghamshire's current Police and Crime Commissioner, Caroline Henry, in 1994.
The pair married and had two children, twins, now 21, who were born at Nottingham City Hospital.
But Mr Henry's role in the RAF meant travelling to and living in various places across the country, prompting them to leave.
"One of the things my parents were working hard to achieve was home ownership," he said.
"I was an SAC, a senior aircraftsman, not on a great wage. My dad said: 'Bricks and mortar, son, that's what you want to put your money in.'
"I couldn't afford Bedford so I moved further north and ended up in Nottinghamshire, because I had a tour at RAF Wittering."
His life then came full-circle, having failed to successfully be selected or elected for a seat elsewhere, when one popped up in Broxtowe.
"As seats became available I was looking where I had a local connection," he said.
"I was absolutely delighted when the seat where my wife was born and grew up, where we had a home, became available.
"I'm not a career politician. The thing is, if you are on that list, you might as well not bother being on the list if you do not apply for seats.
"There is no point in sitting there waiting for the chance that the area you live in or grew up in becomes available. At the time Broxtowe was not available."
Mr Henry had joined the Conservative Party in 2014, soon after his time in the RAF came to an end.
His decision to join the party came about from his parents, he says.
"I now realise that with my parents working all those hours, to make sure all that hard work pays, that was instilling in me what I say are Conservative values: Low tax, getting into employment, taking responsibility, providing for yourself, doing your duty," he told Nottinghamshire Live.
"Having hard-working parents, I'm not ashamed to say, made me Conservative."
Arguably the Conservative Party, as many had perhaps known it, has been changing for some time.
Long-time members such as former Rushcliffe MP, Ken Clarke, as well as Ms Soubry herself, said it had shifted its focus to more "right-wing" values and ideals.
And now the party, under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has been marred by the ongoing partygate scandal.
But Mr Henry believes the Prime Minister, his party and himself still have something to offer.
He described Ms Soubry, his predeccesor, as "very, very hard working", but argued she ultimately lost focus.
Commenting on the Prime Minister, he said: "We just need to realise that nobody is perfect, people do make mistakes, people do need to follow the rules. But it is really, really important for the people in this country that we focus on levelling up and things that will make their lives different and I do think the PM and his cabinet has made a great start in doing that."
His priorities for Broxtowe also stem from his upbringing.
Born in Bedford, Mr Henry's father worked for Vauxhall Motors while his mother for Texas Instruments.
His parents worked opposing shifts and his father was always "taking on people's night shifts", focused on hard work, meaning Mr Henry was forced to cycle more than three miles to school.
"When I came to take my children to school, I drove them in a car, so there has been a shift in that," he said.
"Leisure cycling is really thriving around here but I want utility cycling.
"The problem with utility cycling is, cycling to the shops, to work, to school, is that as you get to one dangerous junction or some barrier to cycling that will stop you doing it, that stops you altogether so what I aim to do is break down some of those barriers."
Mr Henry was speaking from his constituency office in Derby Road, Stapleford.
He had moved it from Beeston, where Ms Soubry had been based, because he wanted to be part of the town's regeneration.
Lobbying alongside Newark MP, Robert Jenrick, Mr Henry was able to secure £25m for the town.
"At the heart of everything going here is Stapleford," he added.
"And I see that as a resource area. I lobbied hard with Robert Jenrick at that time to make sure we could get that.
"What we can see is Beeston is on the up, footfall is rising there, we have got a lot of cycling shops there, but Stapleford to me is like a blank sheet of paper.
"That is why I chose to have my office in Stapleford. I want to be part of the change here. Finally people are seeing some investment in this place."
In the news recently Mr Henry made the headlines for being Britain's most expensive MP, with expense claims totalling more than £280,000.
He put this down to considerable staffing costs amid the pandemic, but argues these costs may begin to pay off, with much to offer his constituents over the next year.
"We had a huge spike in activity, at a time when I had people off sick, and so we ended up spending an awful lot of money on staff costs to make sure the constituents were served," he said.
"I have managed to get the ideal team and we are going to really push things forward, but that came at the expense of people doing overtime, off sick, so the staff costs were high. Next year it is going to bear that out."
Through his role as the co-chair of the Midlands Engine All Party Parliamentary Group, he hopes to deliver investment to the borough and the region.
This investment, he says, will be delivered through the East Midlands Freeport, a "bonded warehouse" which allows goods to be stored without tariffs, before they are processed and moved on again.
There are also plans for a "fuel cell" gigafactory on the Ratcliffe-on-Soar site, while HS2 is set to be delivered, albeit in a much lesser form, from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway.
"Why I want opportunities for people is I would like to see people choosing to stay in the area, having their children and grandchildren in the area," he added.
"People get very upset with me because there is divided opinion about HS2 because, some people, all they can see is the disruption.
"But when you have big changes there is big disruption. It happened when the tram went into Beeston. People are thinking, wow, that was bad, how bad is HS2 going to be?
"I'm thinking this is not for me, it is for my children and my grandchildren and what is it going to like around here for them? Are they going to want to live here?
"That is not going to happen if everything has gone to Birmingham and London and everywhere else."
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