FREE school guru Toby Young is threatening to run against Labour Hammersmith MP, Andy Slaughter in the next election.
Mr Young, who co-founded the West London Free Secondary School and Primary in Hammersmith, told the Chronicle this week he was thinking of running for Hammersmith MP as a Conservative candidate due to serious worries academies and free schools will be in grave danger if the Conservative government is voted out in the 2015 general election.
The associate editor of the Spectator and author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, said: "I've only started to think about becoming an MP as a result of worrying about what would happen to the two free schools I've co-founded in Hammersmith if a Labour government is elected in 2015.
"I would run for MP to protect the free schools and academies in the area. I'm worried about what would happen if Ed Miliband came into power. So far, most of the Labour party policy since Miliband became leader has been directed by the trade unions and they've always been opposed to academies and free schools."
The father-of-four, who has lived in Shepherds Bush and then East Acton since 1991, admits he has had a couple of clashes with Hammersmith's incumbent MP, Andy Slaughter. Mr Young said: "Andy Slaughter has shown himself to be no friend of educational reform. He told me that if Labour is elected in 2015 it would bring all the academies and free schools under local authority control.
"He was opposed to the West London Free Schol from the beginning. He said it wasn't wanted and would mainly cater for parents from outside the borough, in fact three quarters are from Hammersmith and Fulham."
Mr Young added that it would be a tremendous honour to become MP for an area he has grown very fond of over the past 20 years. "There are lots of really exciting things happening in Hammersmith, White City and Earl's Court," he said.
"I also think the local council has done a great deal to turn Hammersmith and Fulham into a borough of opportunity. I think it is much better if the local MP for Hammersmith gets on with the council."
The one time Top Chef judge and voluntary chair of the West London Free School Academy Trust emphasised he still has to make a final decision about becoming an MP, which will be based on whether he has enough time to serve the constituency as well as spend time with his wife and look after his children.
His potential rival, Mr Slaughter, has refused to comment on who the Tories select before they make an announcement. He said: "Then it will be the same questions on Tory policy locally and nationally, whoever they choose - starting with whether their candidate supports the closure of Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith's accident and emergency."
