From ‘War on Wee’ to Westminster: Cheltenham’s new Lib Dem MP Max Wilkinson
Watch the full report by Max Walsh
Cheltenham’s new MP Max Wilkinson returned to Westminster this week as one of a record 72 Liberal Democrats following the general election.
He unseated Tory heavyweight and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk to help the party to their best ever election results.
He has been a councillor in Cheltenham for a decade, famously leading the ‘War on Wee’ campaign to clamp down on anti-social behaviour at Cheltenham Festival.
Mr Wilkinson said: “The campaign shows that I'm in touch with what local people are concerned about. And as a resident of Cheltenham town centre myself, I am sick every race week of seeing men urinating in the street.
“And there are two factors here. One is that there needs to be more public loos, but also we need to be in a position where it is acknowledged that it is not right to walk through the middle of a town centre in broad daylight and wee.”
Mr Wilkinson insists there is still “more to come”, but his campaign has already seen an increase in temporary toilets and greater awareness around conduct.
Max Wilkinson MP narrowly missed out to Alex Chalk by less than 1000 votes in 2019, so in 2024 he spent a lot of time canvassing.
He estimates he’s knocked “on around five thousand doors on his own” in Cheltenham during his time campaigning. And over the summer, he has still been going door to door to speak to people.
One voter said: “I have nothing against the previous MP (Alex Chalk) but I’m glad there’s been a change in the politics in this country.”
Mr Wilkinson will be hoping to capitalise on that sentiment, but he says at heart he is a “community activist”.
He said: “I've got the community's best interests at heart. And the thing that really motivates me as a politician is getting out there, finding out what people are frustrated about, and working out how I can best solve those problems.
"For me, politics is always going to be about listening. The worst kind of politics is where someone stands on a platform and makes a long speech telling everyone what they're going to do."