Former Conservative MP for Beaconsfield Dominic Grieve discusses running as an independent candidate and Brexit in an exclusive interview with the Bucks Free Press.

The now-controversial figure was the Beaconsfield MP for 22 years and a member of the Conservative party for 48 years before being very publicly exiled for his views on Brexit earlier this year.

He greatly divides opinions locally and nationally.

Mr Grieve spoke to the Bucks Free Press about the reaction from the constituents since his departure from the Conservative party.

He said: “Some [of the constituents] are extremely supportive of what I’ve done and some are very angry, so I’ll have to accept that I’ll get mixed views.

“It’s noticeable canvassing that there’s a number of people who are attracted to voting for me.

“There are some Conservatives who are horrified by Boris Johnsons deal.

“It even includes some members of my Conservative association who may well support me privately without ever publicly stating that they’re doing it.”

Mr Grieve campaigned for remain in the 2016 EU referendum and lost the party whip following his failure to support the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal earlier this year.

He’s now advocating for a further referendum, saying: “I’m not campaigning to stop Brexit, I’m campaigning to have a second referendum and to give people an opportunity now we know much more clearly what the options are.

“I don’t see anything undemocratic about that because we’re now talking about something that’s so remarkably different to what was being debated in 2016.

“I’ll put all three questions [to leave with no deal, the current deal or to remain] to the public with a referendum with a single transferable vote so that you don’t split the leave vote.

“If people were to say at the end of that actually we’re quite happy to leave with this deal then I would accept it.”

Mr Grieve’s view of Boris’s deal remains the same. He said: “Boris’s deal is going to do this country unique and serious harm, and I worry that Boris Johnson is just trying to bulldoze this through.”

Now running against the former MP as the Conservative candidate is previous Ealing councillor Joy Morrisey who has often been referred to as a ‘hard Brexiter’.

Ms Morrisey previously spoke with the Bucks Free Press and said that “voting for the independent candidate [Grieve] is essentially a vote for Corbyn”.

Of this comment he said: “Well that’s nonsense, and it’s obvious nonsense.

“One just has to consider what I’ve been doing for the last 48 years of my life as a member of the Conservative party and 22 years as an MP.

“The idea that I’m going to facilitate extreme socialist policies is ridiculous.”

He also spoke on more local issues and had similar views to opponent Joy Morrissey.

He is against HS2 as he cannot “see the value for money” of the project, he is against Heathrow expansion and wants to protect the greenbelt.

He spoke of Corbyn and the Labour party, saying: “There’s a widespread fear of Jeremy Corbyn who is really seen to be a bogey man and a fear of his economic policies.

“There’s no way I’m going to help Jeremy Corbyn because I happen to disagree fundamentally with his economic and other policies.

“I wouldn’t facilitate his arrival in Downing Street in any way.”

Both loved and loathed, Mr Grieve has become a figure of national interest – and as our interview finished in Burnham on Friday, a passer-by shouted ‘traitor’ at the once devout Tory.

The former attorney general himself thinks the result of this seat will be close, and the nation will be keenly waiting to see if a safe blue seat could be taken by independent candidate Mr Grieve, who is  essentially attempting to overturn his once staggering 24,583 majority.