Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones has won fame as the Black Farmer, and now he has aspirations to reshape British politics. Laura Williams caught up with him at his new base in Chippenham.

I f ever there was a prime example of a self-made man, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones would be it. Sitting back in his elegant Chippenham flat, dressed in a pink shirt and satin ivory waistcoat, with a very English-sounding double-barreled name, Wilfred could be the classic Conservative.

And as the prospective parliamentary Conservative Party candidate for the newly-created Chippenham ward, in some ways, he is.

"I'm a modern-type Conservative," he says. "Not an old-school Conservative MP."

Wind back half a century and Wilfred was growing up in poverty – a far cry from his current lifestyle.

Born in Jamaica in the 1950s, his family decided to move to the UK in search of a better life. The family of 11 ended up living in a small two-up, two-down house in Birmingham, a city which was also attracting hundreds of other immigrants.

"At that time, a lot of immigrants were coming to Britain from the Caribbean," he says. "It was regarded as one of the poorest areas in Europe – a concrete jungle."

His self-dubbed "poor boy done good" story is the perfect example of meritocracy; something Margaret Thatcher championed.

And just like Thatcher, the daughter of a grocer who defied all odds to become leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister, so Wilfred looks set to lead the way as one of a handful of black Conservative MPs.

Chippenham is currently included in Conservative MP James Gray's North Wiltshire constituency, but for the next General Election it will become a seat of its own.

Wilfred will be up against Liberal Democrat Duncan Hames and Labour candidate Nick Thomas-Symonds.

"The whole principle, in the US, that someone from nowhere can become the president is built into the American psyche. In the UK, our history and tradition means it will be a lot more difficult (to become Prime Minister)," he says.

"Ten years ago, someone like me wouldn't have even been considered as a parliamentary candidate. But the local Conservative association had the courage to select me.

"They could've gone for an archetypal Conservative person, but they decided to go for me – a maverick.

"I hope that I can pay that back. I would like to see a black Prime Minister in my lifetime, but I'm 52 now and unless the country changes in the next 20 years, it's unlikely to be me.

"I have always been frustrated that the people who govern the country are career politicians who live in a bubble. They don't have the experience of life when they are making their decisions. I felt very strongly that people like me aren't represented in the government. Rather than stand and moan, I thought 'get involved'. And I will not be confined by race, convention or tradition."

One thing is for sure, the Black Farmer, as he is known, has an impressive track record of realising his dreams.

It was during his trying childhood in the West Midlands that he developed his interest in farming. "My father had an allotment," he says. "As the eldest boy, it was my responsibility to look after it.

"I promised myself, at the age of 11, that I would one day own my own farm. Everything I did, after, was to try and be in a position to buy my own farm."

After leaving school with no qualifications, and a short, unsuccessful stint as a squaddie in the British Army, Wilfred enrolled on a catering course at a Birmingham college.

He says: "I had plenty of ambition and persistence, but didn't do well at school. My life had been pretty much a failure – the only thing left available to me was catering."

But he soon realised that working in hotel kitchens and restaurants was not going to earn him enough money to buy the farm of his dreams.

"I said I'd like to work in TV and everyone said I was nuts," he says. "They thought I was getting above my station, but I was an immigrant with a drive to succeed. I spent a year writing to people and ringing people, desperately trying to get a break. I got a job as a runner and worked my way up to being a researcher and then producer of The Food and Drink Programme.

"I am credited with bringing many of the top celebrity chefs to the small screen, including Gordon Ramsay, Antony Worrall-Thompson and James Martin. "I worked at the BBC for 10 years, until I decided I needed to earn more money to buy my farm. So I set up a food marketing company and that gave me the money."

He says that he initially looked at farms in Wiltshire, but found them far too expensive.

"It took me 40 years, but I did it. I travelled a lot with the BBC and I always felt a connection with the South West.

"I fell in love with the vibe. It has a feeling of independence, it's comfortable in its own skin. I wanted a place which had that feel."

Then, he struck lucky and bought a dairy farm near Launceston on the Devon/Cornwall border.

"It was a 200-year-old family farm – pretty prehistoric, with no gas or no running water; you had to pump it from a well," he says.

"It was a dairy farm, but it was around the time dairy farming was really struggling. It's cattle country. It's no good for arable, so I decided to rear Ruby Reds for beef."

It was there that he picked up his nickname, the Black Farmer, but he wasn't a hands-on farmer for long.

He said: "I think I was the only black farmer at the time. Farms tend to be handed down from generation to generation; it's actually very difficult to buy one.

"My neighbours would refer to me as the Black Farmer, which I thought was wonderful. It provokes discussion; is it politically correct or isn't it? After spending my whole life trying to buy a farm, I got into politics, so I'm not there much any more."

Perhaps it is entirely that quality which has helped him get where he is today. It's certainly not inherent wealth, academic excellence or an old boy's network – the stereotypes associated with the Conservative party.

But with his quite radical policies impacting on business, is the Black Farmer building himself up for a big fall?

Asked whether he would consider himself conservative with a small "c", Wilfred replies: "I firmly believe in the power of the individual.

"When individuals are allowed to get on with it, they make a pretty good job of it.

"Some of the greatest problems arise in society when the State tells people what they should be doing with their lives. The Conservative Party is, I believe, a natural choice for anyone who wants to be left alone to get on with their lives."

Wilfred, a father of three, now divides his time between London, Chippenham and, occasionally, his farm in Devon.

"I was born in Clarendon, Jamaica, right in the heart of the island. It is very rural and I have always felt that farming, and being in a rural environment, is part of my DNA.

"I lost touch with that when I moved to Birmingham, aged four. Now I have found it again."

Canvassing hundreds of the 66,000 residents in the Chippenham constituency every week, Wilfred says he has developed a real idea of what matters to local people.

He said: "Chippenham is in an amazing location, but it's a town that has been neglected. It was decimated before the credit crunch and it's even worse now. It's dying on its feet and it needs a champion."

With no date yet set for a General Election, Wilfred must wait for his chance to become a fully-fledged MP. But he's not the type to just sit back and let things happen.

He added: "My father said you only really need two things to succeed in life – focus and attitude.

"I believe that you give back to society and to your local community.

"I have achieved what I have today because people were generous enough to believe in me and, more importantly, to give me opportunities."