Since 1987 the same Conservative MP, David Tredinnick, has been consistently reelected as the MP for Hinckley and Bosworth, a large market town in Leicestershire.

Four years ago, as a seventeen-year-old aspiring politics student, I contacted Mr Tredinnick in the hopes of bulking up my UCAS application, and consequently spent a day shadowing him. This basically involved following him around for a day as he undertook constituency business, and learning about what it really means to be a Member of Parliament.

As this year marks his 30th anniversary in Parliament, I thought it would be fitting for me to write about my bizarre experience inside the office of Mr Tredinnick — a man who does not deserve the unwavering support from Hinckley and Bosworth residents that he seems to have.

I arrived at his Hinckley office early in the morning and was escorted up a dingy staircase by his assistant. The first thing that struck me about the office was an A3 greyscale image of a half-smiling David Cameron on one of the internal doors. We sat and discussed his roles and duties as an MP, and he explained how he partakes in constituency surgeries one Friday every month, and spends the rest of his time in London. We then set off for a meeting at the Hinckley Times.

As we arrived at the Hinckley Times office Tredinnick explained that while he was happy for me to be at his side during meetings with constituents, his meeting at the Times was not for my viewing. Instead I was babysat by a slightly peeved looking writer who spent the next twenty minutes showing me the story he was working on. “He’s here all the time,” he said. Eventually Tredinnick emerged from his secret meeting with the Editor looking smug and leaving me to speculate what this meeting could be about.

When we got back in the car, he told me about his time on the Health Committee. He explained his deep belief in the usefulness of Holistic medicine, telling me that he believed we could save NHS money if we focused more spending on alternative medicine. It became clear that this is his leading drive in government. Since the age of eighteen I have worked in bars across Hinckley, and during this time I have had numerous individuals vent to me (and debate with me) about their political concerns. Not once has a member of the Hinckley and Bosworth constituency complained to me that not enough money is injected into the exploration of holistic medicine.

Following this we drove to the house of a constituent who was deeply unhappy, and had consistently failed to receive any help. The general gist of the problem was that her fence had been knocked down. Her house backed onto the big pit, and she was finding that her garden would be trespassed onto. She had tried contacting the council several times to get the fence fixed, and had contacted the MP as a last resort, hoping that his involvement would convince the council to act. Instead of ensuring the woman that she had his support, he informed her that it was not his jurisdiction, and instead walked around her garden, pointing out that some of her ash trees were infected, and telling her that she would need to cut them down to prevent others dying. We stepped into the house. There were several instruments dotted around her living room, including a bass guitar propped up in the corner. “What’s that song with a lot of bass!?” Tredinnick exclaimed. He began to make noises and vaguely mime at playing guitar, “I see a red door and I want it painted black…” he sang. It went on for a while. The constituent looked unimpressed; her concerns had not been answered, and it was clear she didn’t appreciate the joking around.

After a couple more visits we headed back to the office. We were driving past Hollycroft Park when he casually asked, “Are you here as a Conservative voter?”. I simply responded, “No, sorry. I just wanted to know what it’s like being an MP, and Liz Kendall wouldn’t take me on.” At seventeen I was far less ideological than I am now, and initially I greatly respected his response; “That’s OK, I’m here to represent all Hinckley people, not just the ones that voted for me”. But the more I think about his actions, his voting record, and his response to questions from local people, it becomes all the more clear how disingenuous this answer was.

That afternoon was the in-office constituency surgery. Before meeting the first constituent, Tredinnick decided to warn me about the people we may meet. I couldn't help but think that this warning was misguided. First and foremost as an MP you should be interested in fixing the concerns of your constituents, not dismissive of them and their problems. It became clear that David Tredinnick simply didn’t care about the people that consistently elected him. At the end of the day he invited me to go with him to a Health Committee meeting, and to PMQs as both were on a Wednesday. At the time I told him I would be in touch, but soon decided I didn’t want to spend more time with him.

As Hinckley and Bosworth is a Conservative safe seat, Tredinnick no longer has to fight for his job. The run up to the general election should play out like a job interview, but instead, Tredinnick’s complacency is not only allowed but celebrated and rewarded.

Since my brief time with David Tredinnick I have learned more and more about his complacency and consistent scandal. In 2009 he attempted to claim expenses of £125 to cover a course on ‘intimate relationships’ entitled ‘Where did the Magic go?’. He has been criticised for the ‘nonsensical’ (Sir John Beddington) belief that homeopathy is a suitable treatment for malaria and HIV. He has claimed expenses of £755.33 for astrology software (though he did return this), and in 1995 was suspended without pay as part of the cash-for-questions scandal.

To the people of Hinckley and Bosworth, Thursday’s vote allows us to really consider whether or not our incumbent deserves his seat, and to David Tredinnick — I’m sorry I never came back to return your umbrella.