Name: Tony Durrant.

Age: 64.

Education background: Westminster City School, and then I decided to go to work. I started working at 3M in London, moved with them when they moved out of London, left them after 26 years and my style is to learn things as I go along.

Profession before running for MP: I was financing operations all the way from a training accountant all the way to directors in three countries for software companies and defence manufacturing companies. I left because I wanted to be more hands on and influence things. I retired in October 2016/17. I’m on Bramley Parish Council and have been the Chairman for the last five or six years.

Family life: There’s my wife and I, we’ve both been working people all our lives. We’ve been together for 41 years, we’ve been married for 15 years. We don’t have kids, but we have an awful lots of nieces and nephews.

What car do you drive? I drive a Mercedes, E Class now. I’ve driven all sorts of cars, this one is a low emissions car compared to before. I fascinated by cars, I like thing automobiles.

Where did you last go on holiday? We went to Italy in July, just to Lake Garda. Very relaxing, very pleasant area, lots of history.

What was the last thing you ate? Just a piece of toast this morning, with some jam on top.

Have you ever taken illegal drugs? No.

When was the last time you cried? Probably at a funeral, my father-in-law a few years ago. I’m not prone to crying. I always look at the moments that made me happy and remember those.

What is your favourite book of all time? It’s about a lonely German soldier in Russia during World War II. It’s a very poignant, brutal, detailed account of life in those times, and that sticks with me. I read every day, when I’m on holiday my suitcase is full of books.

What are you ties to the area you hope to represent? We’ve lived here 31 years. We moved here when this was new and we looked at it because we thought it was a development that was small, convenient and in-keeping. This area has its problems because of the expansion. I think people deserve to be represented.

What’s your favourite restaurant in North East Hampshire? I like the Hook Tandoori, been using that on and off for years. We’ve also used Monsoon in Hartley Wintney. But my wife is an excellent cook and I quite enjoy cooking.

Where do you do your food shopping? We use Sainsbury’s in Tadley, Tesco in Chineham, Waitrose in town, Waitrose in Yateley. We don’t tend to shop online for food. We also have a local shop in Sherfield.

Describe your perfect Friday night: These days I like to sit quiet on a Friday night. I’d maybe go out for an early drink, but I don’t drink a lot of alcohol. I like a more relaxed life but I do find being a parliamentary candidate work and effort that is rewarding. If I’m successful my Friday nights will be different.

What’s your favourite drink? Tea, I drink Earl Grey and decaffeinated.

Best place in Hampshire in your opinion? North East Hampshire! I like all of the countryside, we do have a boat so also Southampton.

Do you think MPs should be allowed to hire their family members? Not really, no. I think it eliminates conflict and it improves work-life balance. If I was elected, I would like a balance of age groups of people.

In a sentence, why do you deserve the gig? It’s because I will represent people – I want to listen to what people have to say and it may or may not agree with what I think, but I believe an MP’s responsibility is to represent the people.

What do you think the biggest issue facing residents of North East Hampshire is? I think the cause of it is overdevelopment without infrastructure. I think the problems that people have is the day-to-day problems: health, care for the elderly, cost of tuition. All those services that have been cut are the things that affect people’s lives. That’s what I would like to see our government doing, not making election inducement. The biggest thing facing North East Hampshire is development. But there’s no great infrastructure development.

In a sentence, what do you want to change if you are elected? I would like to change two things – one is this one-size-fits-all development policy, and I would like to see the resources put back in to the things that effect people’s lives.