Charlotte at home in Westbury

Charlotte Leslie, 30, lives locally in Westbury-on-Trym, and works from home for the National Autistic Society. She has lived in Bristol nearly all her life. While at school in Bristol, Charlotte represented the City of Bristol in swimming, and made national finals in 100m and 200m Backstroke. She went on to study Classics at Balliol College, Oxford, and spent her university summers employed as a surf-lifeguard on the beaches in North Cornwall.

About Charlotte

Charlotte currently works from home for the National Autistic Society. She has also worked in television at the BBC on shows including ‘The Weakest Link’ and on consumer programmes such as ‘The Holiday Programme’. She has tutored children, including those with special educational needs.

Charlotte has also trained and  worked as a surf-life guard on the dangerous North Cornish Atlantic coast, dealing closely with the public and with the emergency services. She has been a gym instructor and leisure centre coordinator, and is a qualified swimming teacher, teaching children and adults of all abilities.

In her spare time, Charlotte enjoys swimming, surfing, running, writing, drawing, and listening to Bob Dylan. She also enjoys boxing when she can, and is President of the Avonmouth National Smelters Amateur Boxing Club.

To hear more about Charlotte and how she got into politics, click HERE

Charlotte’s political experience

Charlotte Leslie with David Cameron

Charlotte currently works from Bristol on education for the National Autistic Society and has worked with charities and organisations such as the Scouts.  Charlotte was the Conservatives’ special advisor on education when David Cameron took over the leadership of the Conservatives, and has worked on the party’s Public Services Policy Group Report.

She has written widely on her special interest, Education; writing for national papers such as the Daily Telegraph, and for a range for think-tanks, from the Social Market Foundation to the Adam Smith Institute. Her first publication, “More Good School Places”, written for Policy Exchange with James O’Shaugnessy,  has informed the policy of all three major parties.

She is the  editor of the Bow Group’s “Invisible Nation” research series, which spotlights the issues facing politically and socially neglected or forgotten corners of society and is also editor of the Bow Group magazine ‘Crossbow’.  She has writen for a wide range of national publications, including The Spectator, Prospect Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail and The Guardian.

On leaving university, she served as a Parish Councilor in Almondsbury and as secretary to Bristol West Deanery Synod.  She  subsequently worked with the Centre for Social Justice.

Conservatives Working for Bristol North West

Charlotte Leslie campaigning with FOSBR

“Bristol has consistently had the worst, or near worst education results in the country. The percentage of Bristol’s youth leaving school with no qualifications whatsoever is consistently around double the national average. It is little wonder that with that kind of education record, some parts of Bristol North West also suffer from anti-social behaviour problems and high levels of crime, drug and alcohol abuse.

I will make it one of my priorities to improve this disappointing record, and to make sure the great potential of the young people in Bristol North West does not go to waste.

Bristol North West is also the most socially diverse constituency in the city, with wards in the top and bottom 25% of national deprivation levels existing side by side. There must be no ‘no-go’ areas for today’s Conservatives.

I look forward to reaching out to communities who may feel forgotten, and I look forward to getting involved in community life and helping local community initiatives to flourish, particularly in The Places the Politicians Forgot.”