By Dan Brookes
December 13 2019, 08.30
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First-time candidate Seena Shah finished second in Brentford and Isleworth as she lost out to Labour’s Ruth Cadbury.
The Conservative received 32.2% of the share, but was more than 10,000 votes behind Ms Cadbury who won with a 50.1% majority.
Speaking after the result Ms Shah, 30, reflected on her foray into politics but was reticent to commit herself to further appearances at the ballot box.
“It was an absolute whirlwind,” she said.
“We would all love to have a long election campaign and something you can plan for but that’s not always what life wants to throw at you.
“You try and make do with no planning, no prep, and you have to just muddle through.
“I had five weeks to fight a general election campaign as a complete newbie to the area so it’s been really exciting and I’ve fallen in love with the constituency.
“It’s a fantastic place and the people are so lovely.
“It’s been a really exciting journey and I’ve learnt tons and tons.”
The snap election meant Ms Shah was sprung into action after selection at the end of September.
A marketing consultant by trade, she feels her approachability is what made her stand out to the public.
“I don’t see myself as part of that Westminster bubble,” she said. “That’s kind of what I saw myself offering.
“I’ve demonstrated that through things like politics in the pub and being really accessible through social media and I will continue to do that.
“The reason I stood was because I wanted to bring a bit of honesty and integrity back to politics and rebuild some of the broken bridges between voters and politicians.
“It’s been really exciting but I never really saw myself as a career politician.
“It’s a little bit of haze because I’ve just thrown myself into this campaign for the last five weeks which hasn’t given me much time to think about what’s next so I’m sure I’ll be doing a bit of that before Christmas hits.
“If it so happens that I have the opportunity to stand again then I will of course be standing for the Conservative Party when it feels right to do so.”
