The Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Conservative Association welcomed Chancellor Phillip Hammond to Harborough for a dinner on Thursday 26th April.

The dinner was held at Kilworth House Hotel in Harborough, and attended by over a hundred people from across Leicester and Leicestershire. During the dinner, the Chancellor gave a speech and also took a series of questions from guests.

The Chancellor discussed a range of topics including Brexit, domestic economic opportunities as well as devolution of powers and resources. The event also provided an opportunity for Neil O’Brien and Leicestershire County Council Deputy Leader Byron Rhodes to make the case for a fairer funding formula for Leicestershire.

Neil O’Brien MP said: “it was great to have the Chancellor join us in Harborough, straight from his meetings in Paris. We realise the considerable pressures on his diary so were very grateful for his time.

He took a number of excellent questions from the floor, including our trading relationships post-brexit and the important role universities will play in our local industrial strategy. This is particularly important for Leicester and Leicestershire, given that we are home to three world class universities.

It also provided a very useful opportunity for Cllr Byron Rhodes and I to bang the drum again for fairer funding for Leicestershire – something I have been working very closely with the County Council on, and will continue to do so.”