Local parents met the Shadow Education Secretary Michael Gove on Saturday when he visited north west Bristol and promised that a Conservative government will help meet the need for an additional secondary school in the area.

If the Conservative party wins the General Election on May 6, they will support parents who want a new school and will ensure that funding will be found for it. Mr Gove and Charlotte, who went to school in Westbury-on-Trym, listened with interest as parents spoke to them about their concerns over both primary and secondary school places for their children.

A Conservative government will seek to end the current confusion over this issue, which sometimes sees children have to travel to schools many miles away from their homes. It will also put forward vital measures to help existing schools improve, giving teachers more power to discipline pupils; classes will be setted, giving better support to both the most able and least able pupils; and there will be  better and more specialised special educational needs support in every school. A Conservative government would also support St Ursula’s bid to become an academy. Charlotte is a governor at the Brecon Road, Westbury-on-Trym school and was instrumental in the decision to turn the independent school into an academy, something which may happen as early as September 2011.

Charlotte said that Mr Gove’s visit to Bristol was a great chance for local parents to quiz the man who could soon be the Government Minister responsible for education, making a real difference to education policy in the city.

She said: “Michael was able to see the difficulties facing local parents. I spoke to a lot of parents and they were reassured to hear that we share their aspirations.

“It was great to hear that Michael Gove is also passionately dedicated to improve existing schools as well as being committed to creating an additional school for north west Bristol. I have already been working with educationalists across the city to bring the nation’s most promising teachers to the city’s challenged schools, and I’m delighted that Michael Gove is supportive of us.”

The meeting was organised by Charlotte Leslie, the prospective Conservative MP for Bristol North West, who also founded the Parents Voice campaign group. Charlotte formed the group with local parents concerned about the lack of school places to serve the BS9 area.