The marginal constituency of Croydon Central was a key battleground in the 2015 General Election. The incumbent Conservative MP Gavin Barwell was fighting a serious challenge from Labour, for whom the seat was an essential win if they were to become the largest party. But Gavin Barwell held it by 165 votes. The rest is electoral history – one that he hopes to write in a forthcoming book about the campaign trail in Croydon. He joined Birkbeck Politics to discuss the issue not just of winning, but governing in difficult times.

Gavin Barwell was elected as the MP for Croydon Central in 2010. Before becoming an MP, he worked for the Conservative Party, serving as its Chief Operating Officer between between October 2003 and May 2006, and had his own consultancy business. In 2011 he became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Greg Clark, which was followed by his appointment in 2012 as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Gove, the then Secretary of State for Education. In 2013 he became the Assistant Government Whip and in 2014 was promoted to his current role as Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty’s Treasury.

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