Double Olympic champion James Cracknell previously said he believed Bexit had «forced us to look inward». Photo: Paul Grover for The Telegraph
Conservative candidate James Cracknell has suggested Britain could return to the European Union within a generation.
The two-time Olympic rowing champion said he had no desire to cancel Brexit at the moment, but predicted Britain could return to the bloc when young people, the vast majority of whom supported remaining in the EU, grow older.
< p>In his first interview since being chosen to stand as the Conservative seat in Colchester, Mr Cracknell said he would treat the contest like the Olympics.
He suggested that At the same time, there's little point in obsessing over Tory polls because «Anyone making a year-ahead forecast is pretty stupid.»
«We won't win on election day, it's something we do in the autumn, spring, summer, autumn of next year — that's when we're going to win,» he said.
The 51-year-old told The Telegraph , that he was a conservative all his life because “you should live in a country where you are allowed to set your own limits.”
He was known to be eyeing a seat in Parliament, although his initial preference was Henley-on-Thames — one of Boris Johnson's old constituencies — where he has rowed since he was 18.
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Mr Cracknell said he liked the «attitude» of Colchester residents but admitted he did not have extensive connections to the area.
«I'm not going to overstate my local communications, so the first thing I need to do is talk to the local councilors and also really understand the local issues,” he said.
Mr Cracknell backed Remain in 2016 and has been a vocal critic of Brexit since then. «forced us to look inward and become a little Britain.» Speaking after his election, he made it clear he would not support a proposal to rejoin the bloc now, insisting Britain must «make full use of» their freedoms, but suggested that there might be a possibility of a return in the future.
When asked what he thought about reunification, he replied: “If we return to the negotiating table now, what terms will we get?”
“If this ever happens, it will happen when people aged 18-25, 18-30 who voted predominantly Remain will get older… many over 50s voted predominantly Brexit… perhaps in a generation. But no, we made a decision, we must support ourselves.”
Mr Cracknell said he was a big fan of Rishi Sunak because he believed he would do the “right thing”. He backed the Prime Minister's decision to make Britain's net zero ambitions more accessible to struggling households, warning that people are currently more concerned about the cost of living than their carbon emissions.
“Net zero by 2050 is still the goal, but to achieve that goal you have to really take the country with you,” he said.< /p>
“So there's been a bit of a change, so really… what people go to bed thinking about most is: They're more worried about the cost of living, paying the mortgage, paying the bills than they are about carbon emissions right now.
«For anyone living with a high cost of living, you wouldn't make buying a new heat pump a priority in your life when you really need to pay your mortgage and buy food.»
Mr Cracknell said he wanted to become Member of Parliament because he has a «very good life» and wants to give something back.
He is best known for winning gold at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, but said his choice in as the Tory candidate in Colchester was «much more emotional».
Paul Dundas, leader of the Colchester Tories, said he was the «obvious choice» of local members, adding: «I think he will be a fantastic candidate and an excellent MP for Colchester. He will win because he is a man who does not lose.”
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