Conservative Party chairman has confidence in success of Peterborough's multi-million pound development hopes

The chairman of the national Conservative Party has voiced his confidence in the success of Peterborough’s multi-million pound regeneration aspirations.

Richard Holden’s comments came during a whistle stop visit to Peterborough to meet Conservative Party members and city MP Paul Bristow.

Peterborough has received about £100 million in Government Levelling Up and Towns Fund grants to drive a series of development projects from the city’s university, the Station Quarter regeneration to The Vine cultural and community hub and

When asked why has the government put so much money into Peterborough, Mr Holden said: “There are a few factors.

“Peterborough was one of those places which was, for too long, slightly forgotten, despite its location off the A1 and the East Coast mainline and it has been felt that parts of Peterborough could do with a bit of a lift and regeneration.

"Paul Bristow is a hard-working, campaigning MP and that makes a difference in Westminster.

"If you have those things aligned it helps to get everything moving in the right direction.”

He said that a Conservative MP who held local decision makers to account would ensure the Government money was spent wisely.

“You have to see the money is spent well locally to keep the cash coming in.

“More generally, Paul Bristow has a unique way of campaigning, sometimes with the big cheque he was carrying around a few months ago highlighting the extra cash that has come in for the Station Quarter to ARU Peterborough to STEM, a pedestrian bridge and new schools.”