Conservative palimentary candidate for Hull North.

About the woman herself, where she has been and where she is going.

Valerie Prentice: Hi everyone welcome to Humber.TV. We are in the community section and we have got Victoria Aitken. She is the candidate for Hull North Region. This is not all about politics because we have got the elections are coming up, but we are not going to talk about politics. We are actually going to talk about the person themselves. Actually what makes and take where they go, where they have been and all that sort of thing. So Victoria, welcome!

Victoria Aitken: Hi!

Valerie Prentice: So Victoria, where have you been? Give us a quick rundown on the life of Victoria.

Victoria Aitken: Well I am a local born and bred. I was born in Hull and I have my early years over in Hull and to be honest that¢â‚¬â„¢s probably why I got interested in politics because it upsets me that the people in Hull are not actually not represented by anybody that¢â‚¬â„¢s from the locality.

Valerie Prentice: Okay, so you are a local girl.

Victoria Aitken: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely!

Valerie Prentice: So tell me one thing. What¢â‚¬â„¢s your favourite thing about Hull?

Victoria Aitken: I think probably the people. They are interesting. They are self assured and they are individuals and Hull is quite a different community to anywhere else I have ever been.

Valerie Prentice: In what way?

Victoria Aitken: I like to think that we are actually from the biggest village that the country has. Everybody knows somebody that know somebody else and that¢â‚¬â„¢s the very warm feeling and that¢â‚¬â„¢s good and strong.

Valerie Prentice: So, I believe you also have businesses as well in Hull?

Victoria Aitken: That¢â‚¬â„¢s right. Yes, well my family has always been a business in Hull. We have been here correctly five to six generations now and my father and grandfather had a business in Hull. So, I continued on it in sort of the family vein.

Valerie Prentice: So what business was it?

Victoria Aitken: Well, I started off when I was 21 and I went started a T-shirt printing business.

Valerie Prentice: Oh, really?

Victoria Aitken: Yes. So, I was actually poking my wears around the pubs and clubs of various service sort of sporting organizations things like that and actually screen printing and T-shirts for various organizations. At then, I sort of followed on. I was asked to go to exhibits actually an exhibition in Hull. The exhibition called the Ideal Homes Exhibition and I took my trestle table there and my wears and some samples. I spent a week in the City Hall. After the week I have decided that time, I was little bit unsettles because the only people that are actually making any serious money after this exhibition were the organizing company and they came from the South and it was annoying me that all that money from Hull was actually being filtered away from the city as opposed to it staying there.

Valerie Prentice: Definitely.

Victoria Aitken: So, I pondered and thought and bucked-up the courage to go and knock on a few doors and I went and visited a gentleman called Louie Pullman, a counselor in Hull at the time. He actually as a labour counsellor was extremely supportive and he actually help me¢â‚¬¦led me in the right direction to start getting it off the ground and so we actually had organized ourselves. So, we had the first Ideal Home Exhibition in Hull organized by VMP exhibitions, which was in the name of the company at the time and sponsored by the Hull City Council and supported by the Hull Daily Mail.

Valerie Prentice: How long ago was that?

Victoria Aitken: Gosh! That would be back in mid 80s. It was very successful. We run that for several years. We also did Trade industry exhibitions in the city, which was giving local businesses the opportunity to present themselves and their companies and their ways to other members of the business community or to the retail market as well. So, yeah, it was good, very strong.

Valerie Prentice: And were you still printing shirts

Victoria Aitken: Yeah, well I did some of that. I think of that but actually the exhibition business took over and it was a very competitive business obviously it was screen printing and it was at the time when they were just starting to develop the transfers. I did do some transfer work on the T-shirts but it gradually progressed that it was a more viable business was the exhibition business but later on it led on to other things and I later brought a leather furnisher specialist. She was the first leather furnisher specialist in the country. A company called English High Furnishing.

Valerie Aitken: Did you have that based in Hull as well?

Victoria Aitken: That¢â‚¬â„¢s Hull based as well and that was on the corner of Spring Bank and Princes Avenue and that was super business.

Valerie Prentice: Is that the one that across the Geological Pub.

Victoria Aitken: That¢â‚¬â„¢s right. Yeah.

Valerie Prentice: That¢â‚¬â„¢s the big shop in that corner.

Victoria Aitken: That¢â‚¬â„¢s right. Well, that was mine. During that time you know sort of business did very well and I had the family to and various things happened in my life and I had the opportunity to sell that as a going concerning. That was profitable and it was a good thing to do. All the businesses I have get involved in, have always been business where we have had, where I felt very comfortable about the products or the service I have been selling.

Valerie Prentice: So that’s a big jump like from T-shirts to event organizing like business even organizing and then to sort of hide and lounge suites that¢â‚¬â„¢s big. There does not seem to be no common link.

Victoria Aitken: That¢â‚¬â„¢s massive. Yeah, there is a very strong common link and the common link is that you are providing a product or a service to an end user and it¢â‚¬â„¢s whether or not fundamentalist that the product or the service is what the end user wants and its value for money. I think probably came in back to Hull being very large village, and I think this is very big asset for the Hull, is the fact that you have to keep your business clean. If you start misbehaving or being unfair or being dishonest in any shape of form, it will come back and bite you and I like that. So, I think it is a very position that Hull has and I does actually keep us in a community where we look after each other, which is good.

Valerie Prentice: So, your opening this furniture suites and you couldn¢â‚¬â„¢t find any so you and your entrepreneurial self go, ¢â‚¬Å“Well, I am going to have something in Hull and instead of something big have started.¢â‚¬

Victoria Aitken: No not really. No it actual fact it was already in existence so I board it as a going concern and the owner at that time¢â‚¬¦.the guy that actually invented the company. That actually had that first thought and he went off he got an opportunity down in London to join two brothers, which was the beginning of the Welder Brother PLC and he actually opened the World of Leather in Birmingham on the back of having the Hull store, but he had to sell the Hull store to finance the development further on. So, it works extremely well and we use to import directly in from Italy at a time well before many of the modern companies that are now selling leather were doing so and we were literally the only specialist in the country originally.

Valerie Prentice: So, you said the state-of-the-art furniture, beautifully designed.

Victoria Aitken: Beautiful leather furniture and the people of Hull really took to it. We also had very strong links with factory over Lancastershire and we used manufacture in Chesterfields and leather furniture and all the traditional English furniture and everything was made literally to measure to your specific requirements.

Valerie Prentice: Oh that¢â‚¬â„¢s great. Victoria, we just going to have a break.

We are talking to Victoria Aitken. This is not about politics. This is a woman that¢â‚¬â„¢s went everything from printing T-shirts to event organizing to leather furnishing. An amazing woman! So, we will see you after the break.

Hi everyone! Welcome back. Yes, you are listening to the community section and we are talking to Victoria Aitken. She is the Hull North candidate and again this is not about politic we are talking about Victoria about Victoria. So, we have just talked about how you have gone through the businesses and you have got this your leather furnishing business on Princes Avenue. So, how long did you have that business for?

Victoria Aitken: Oh! Quite a few years now actually. I can¢â‚¬â„¢t remember it top of my head, probably seven or eight years I think, yes.

Valeria Prentice: That must have been it in the 80s when you bought it then?

Victoria Aitken: That¢â‚¬â„¢s right. It was yes. When I sold the leather furnished business, I had a young family then. My husband was actually taken ill and I was widowed. So, a lot of my life changed at that point and I didn¢â‚¬â„¢t have to actually be the entrepreneur or the bit of wiz business wise. Everything else I put on hold. My life had been changed and now I have to actually start being mom, dad and sort of family supporter as opposed to being the wild entrepreneur that I have been sort of slightly before. So, it was a time then to consolidate and to actually sort of be a mum primarily. There were obviously several things that needed sorting out. I did a lot of caring at the time and so I moved on from there.

Valerie Prentice: And how? That situation, I think that¢â‚¬â„¢s a massive thing to lose somebody like your life partner to lose.

Victoria Aitken: Yeah, that¢â‚¬â„¢s right.

Valerie Prentice: Through death. So, how did it change your view, like your philosophies in life, values did it change?

Victoria Aitken: Yes, it did. It changed them quite dramatically because prior to that I was motivated by financial success and they changed after that. Yes, it is from that point on I actually downsized and sort of started saying that there are other things that are more valuable in life, which was a good lesion to learn I think.

Valerie Prentice: It¢â‚¬â„¢s a hard lesson, that one.

Victoria Aitken: I think this is probably where of politics stands from. It is part of a combination of the changes in my life that led me actually sort of start inquiring. I mean, I was, it must be five years ago now, I was actually had my arm twisted up my back by local friends to go off campaigning against various countryside actions that were going on down in London. I did not have any political activity prior to that at all and I really went to support the community. Well, that was my driver. And to be honest, while I was involved in that time, I was quite horrified as to how little input that local community had into politics. And that, I sort of opened my mask, put my head above the parapet and sort of said, ¢â‚¬Å“Where is the local representation here?¢â‚¬

Valerie Prentice: I gather it you are personally type that you couldn¢â‚¬â„¢t just not sit down.

Victoria Aitken: No. I am not very good at that. No it was not going to happen, was it?

Valerie Prentice: You got to get there and go like¢â‚¬¦no, no, no, no, no. your pushing water up the hill mate.

Victoria Aitken: Yeah, that¢â‚¬â„¢s right. And to be honest I am proud of that because I think that it is good to push the parameters and ask the questions. So, I literally as I said sort of four years ago I sort of said that it was time that I had a go make any difference. I could do the same as everybody else and sit at home and tut. I can shout at Question Time and I could sort of read the papers and think the sort of the present government is a nightmare or the past government was even worse. Whatever the politics of the day are, I could have an opinion, but was I doing anything about it? And to be honest, that¢â‚¬â„¢s my challenge to the people of Hull and the people of East Riding that we have to actually at some point either put up or shut up and its not until we put up when we actually start putting ourselves out there, to actually try and make a difference, rightly or wrongly. I don¢â‚¬â„¢t profess for a minute about all the right ways of going about things but what I do profess is that honesty and hard work have got to be the foundation of whatever we do.

Valerie Prentice: I guess as being your background to, like the business there are, this area is very much, if you do hard work they will reward you, but you got to do a lot of hard work.

Victoria Aitken: That¢â‚¬â„¢s right.

Valerie Prentice: Yeah, you got to prove yourself and I guess¢â‚¬¦.

Victoria Aitken: And you have got to make some opportunities and not expect to be spoon fed those opportunities.

Valerie Prentice: And I guess that is a big thing when you look at society having their hand doesn¢â‚¬â„¢t expect things to come.

Victoria Aitken: Well, unfortunately, we are actually perpetuating the dependency at the moment and what we must do must be very, very difficult. I have constituents within the whole North area that0 have worked all their lives and then they see their children and grandchildren not able to get work and they are seeing the motivation fall away and that has a great worry, massive worry. I have met small children who are the 5th generation and potentially going to be unemployed in Hull, five generations. Where do you actually find the motivation if you have no history of work?

Valerie Prentice: Because even like you are looking at your background like your family has been in business so you had that¢â‚¬¦.

Victoria Aitken: That¢â‚¬â„¢s right, that structure is there.

Valerie Prentice: And that is drive and that push so you look for opportunity.

Victoria Aitken: That¢â‚¬â„¢s right.

Valerie Prentice: I mean you think the 5th generation like you, that¢â‚¬â„¢s just they spread out you, any thought of even going for events of basics.

Victoria Aitken: But the thing is that there is an expectation in the community that the dependency is acceptable as oppose to it being fantastic as a support, fantastic supporting, but we are very poor as actually instigating determination and drive to actually pull themselves out.

Valerie Prentice: Well, this is interesting because we interviewed Paul Shull and that was his big thing. He is really very much in creating leaders. The leadership and entrepreneurship because that¢â‚¬â„¢s what is really squashed out of us.

Victoria Aitken: Yeah absolutely.

Valerie Prentice: That must be like a time now I guess there is society as time for us to turn the balance and now to create leaders and create entrepreneurs as to basically, I think my way is to pull your finger and get things done.

Victoria Aitken: It is, but the thing is that to go into a lot of these families and just sort of say, pull your finger out and get things done.

Valerie Prentice: Yeah.

Victoria Aitken: They don¢â‚¬â„¢t know how. They have not got that structure there to actually do that because I have that structure in me because I had seen it in previous generations. It had been instilled in me, at the breakfast table, at the dinner table. It had been there day and day out what we have not got in a lots of these families, and I must not make sweeping statements here because we do have extremely hardworking families in whole and they work extremely well that sort of support like kids to get out and work and would rather have a child sweeping the road than sit at home doing nothing. So, we must not blow this too much in the wrong way. But there are also a lot of families out there that would rather sit at home and do diddly-squat and claim their benefits as a right then to actually go out there and make work

Valerie Prentice: You really got a big thing on your point that one. Let¢â‚¬â„¢s go and have a break then.

We are listening to Victoria Aitken and we are talking about the person behind the politics and we will see you soon.

Okay hi everyone! Welcome back you got Humber.TV and we are in the community section and we are talking to Victoria Aitken, the woman behind or the person behind the politician, the person aimed to be the politician. Okay Victoria, people are out there, it¢â‚¬â„¢s their choice either to vote. Why should they basically get up there and vote for somebody like you? Nobody really believes. People are just sick. Nobody actually believes what the politics are. They know they are just lying, they are just, they are doing why they can to be voted in. So, it¢â‚¬â„¢s really I guess at the end of the day, it¢â‚¬â„¢s people now wants to know what the person is like and if they said all those person like what you have proved in the past with your businesses, but really what makes you worthwhile for me to get up in the morning, go out to the polling booth and vote for you.

Victoria Aitken: Because I am somebody different. I am not a professional politician. It¢â‚¬â„¢s not something I have been educated in. I am sure I can very politically incorrect a lot of the time like so many, the rest of the population and there is an awful lot of politics that I do not understand the process of, but what I do believe passionately is that it¢â‚¬â„¢s not until we have ordinary people representing us back as from here in Yorkshire back down into London and actually representing the community down their as opposed to the Westminster descending their views up here.

Valerie Prentice: But then ordinary people like you, being you have had a business background like a lot of, that¢â‚¬â„¢s like kind of such a strict class system here. That¢â‚¬â„¢s like privilege background like what would you know that people that have always been an employee like how can you, do you feel that you can relate.

Victoria Aitken: Well that¢â‚¬â„¢s most unfair, very unfair because I think you are presuming now that I do come from a privilege background. Because we have worked hard and that is not necessary the case, I have been in the very unfortunate position where I have had to join the queue of Britannia House and have had occasion where sort of things have gone wrong and back in the 70s when there power cuts, schools were closing and sort of people of my generation will remember that well and when we went Boston, we had nothing and sort of it was case of rebuilding and it¢â‚¬â„¢s having not grit to rebuild. I know there are constituents of mine whose families were involved in the shipping industry, trawlers and dockers and people like that and from those families, they were very, very strong and hardworking families that lived life very hard and after the trawlers and the fishing industry collapsed, then they set to and they started again and they rebuild and sorry to say that all people that are in business are privileged, it is very unfair.

Valerie Prentice: So, the thing is you have been down to the bottom and you¢â‚¬¦

Victoria Aitken: Back up again. That¢â‚¬â„¢s right and that¢â‚¬â„¢s why I do believe that human nature does have that within it and it¢â‚¬â„¢s just the case of sort of actually encouraging that and there are times when we actually make it too comfortable at the bottom and perhaps there are times where it should not be so comfortable at the bottom and that we must actually sort of create the stimulus to actually to progress.

Valerie Prentice: Good, so another question, now that this is a very hard type of question. Woman in politics, how do you find being a woman in the whole help political arena.

Victoria Aitken: Fantastic.

Valerie Prentice: that the problem, I do not think you got a problem, but the thing with you, you really just at there¢â‚¬¦

Victoria Aitken: Yeah I think, I mean people, the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling is something that they may be taking it about a lot with women in politics, but 10-15-20 years ago, women could not progress in business. I have ignored that and I am quite happy to ignore it in politics as well. I think that I am very fortunate that I do have that confidence to be able to go and be an equal out there in the world. I believe I am equal. I believe that as I said earlier that there are times in my life when I had to sort of concentrate on my home and my family, but there are men that have to do that at times as well. So, the fact that I am a woman that wasn¢â‚¬â„¢t because of that, it was just of a coincidence and to me it is sort of women can and will and do, do all the things that men can women do and we are. We can do whatever we need to do.

Valerie Prentice: Yeah. So, but that is really¢â‚¬¦advantage of you. Is that you just go out there like in the 80s, you had to teach your business, you had that the whole events organization and the furniture, so you just, you seem to be very much and very solid person in yourself that you decide to something, you just go for it and you..

Victoria Aitken: Just do it and actually I enjoy being different. There is often at times when it is actually quite good and it¢â‚¬â„¢s stimulating to be different. But I think that what politics, whether it¢â‚¬â„¢s business or politics, you have to actually want it and if you really want it and believe in it. I think there are times and there have been times when as a woman I probably had or felt that I had to be better than man because the hurdles are probably put there for you to climb over and more readily than they have been for men, but I think that if you can very quickly become endanger of actually weakening woman by making fast tracks for them and I wouldn¢â‚¬â„¢t appreciate never have looked for a fast track because I am a woman and so I think it is danger, but it actually can weaken woman¢â‚¬â„¢s position.

Valerie Prentice: Yeah but it must be difficult for you like you are a mom, like you are a single mom, and how old is your¢â‚¬¦

Victoria Aitken: My daughter is actually 21 now so, well I doubt I think the hard¢â‚¬¦.give me a six-year-old¢â‚¬¦.

Valerie Prentice: But in that view, the view as a mother is completely different from a view of a male like that¢â‚¬â„¢s a dad, coz you¢â‚¬¦.

Victoria Aitken: Alright! Is it?

Valerie Prentice: Oh yeah! I always feel there is you know because, like it¢â‚¬â„¢s a woman that you created life…

Victoria Aitken: No we created life together. I couldn¢â‚¬â„¢t have done it by myself.

(Laughs)

Valerie Prentice: I think there is something but try to make it that way. But you don¢â‚¬â„¢t feel like the whole gestation period that makes it like there is more intimate for you or¢â‚¬¦.

Victoria Aitken: No I think that is unfair to men. So I am going to actually stay on the men side. No I think there some men and some women that are more maternal and paternal than others, but I think very sweeping statements¢â‚¬¦

Valerie Prentice: That¢â‚¬â„¢s the thing. You are keeping me in line. I wonder you are the interviewer now, I am lost. So the thing also we are talking about before like, we would like to get to know you as a person like what are your hobbies and the thing is you really don¢â‚¬â„¢t have time, isn¢â‚¬â„¢t it?

Victoria Aitken: No, my hobby is my life, my family. I do things that I enjoy doing that I find stimulating. Often, I set up down a path and something that you mentioned earlier that pushing water uphill and there are occasions when I think, when I am going to stop taking these things on and sort of it¢â‚¬â„¢s all a good idea in the beginning and then you sort of get the heavy heart off way through and that, it to be honest, is when you actually have to dig deep and you think right, okay head down, let¢â‚¬â„¢s just keep going and yes you smile at the end of it and you have, it¢â‚¬â„¢s a illation again because you have actually not only achieved something but you have actually gone through the pain of having to achieve something as well. So, that is strong as well.

Valerie Prentice: That¢â‚¬â„¢s great. Victoria we are going to end there. Thank you very much.

Victoria Aitken: Thank you.

Valerie Prentice: Everyone you have been listening to Victoria Aitken she is the Hull North candidate and I have actually had my bottom whipped in line for sweeping statements and this woman is amazing. So, if you are interested, just have a look, just follow her around and see what she is up to and see if she stands I am sure she stands up what she said, I just can¢â‚¬â„¢t believe I just whipped in front of the camera, but¢â‚¬¦..things you do. Okay, I am Valerie Prentice and we will see you next on Humber.TV.