Having narrowly lost a Barnhill by-election in January, Stefan Voloseniuc is setting his sights on the Senate in Romania.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Stefan Voloseniuc is standing for the Romanian SenateStefan Voloseniuc is standing for the Romanian Senate (Image: Archant)

The Wembley businessman and member of the Brent North Conservative Association is standing for the forthcoming elections to the Romanian Senate as the only independent candidate against eight established political parties.

Stefan seeks to give a voice to the thousands of Romanians who live in London and help to improve their situation, lives and opportunities.

All 136 seats will be contested on December 6, including two who will represent voters in the Romania diaspora, as it is estimated that approximately 20 per cent of the nation’s population now live out of the country, including some 430,000 Romanians who have moved to the UK.

“It is a massive challenge and something that is very different to my usual business world but I discovered that the UK is an amazing country of opportunity for those who work hard and want to build a better life and now I feel very strongly that I should help others who are here to achieve their goals as well,” he said.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Stefan Voloseniuc who was a Conservative candidate for Barnhill is standing for the Romanian SenateStefan Voloseniuc who was a Conservative candidate for Barnhill is standing for the Romanian Senate (Image: Archant)

Stefan was born in a remote village in Bukovina, Romania in 1983 and left home aged 18 with just 300 euros borrowed from his grandmother.

Briefly living in Portugal and France, he arrived in London in January 2007 to work as a road digger.

Despite speaking no English, Stefan was determined to develop his own business so he could support his family at home.

Within a few years he had created and built his own Borehamwood-based civil engineering company, SF Stefan, which now turns over close to £30m a year and employs 150 staff including Romanians as well as British workers.

He said: “I know that the vast majority of Romanians who have come to London and the UK for a better life are good people and very hardworking, as you can see from the increasing number of shops, restaurants and business and it is time we had a voice in our Senate.

“As an independent candidate for the Senate, my focus is to assist Romanian people with better representation, support, education, pensions and job opportunities and especially to encourage and help them to return home to Romania and be able to reintegrate and take their newly acquired skills, languages and wealth to help build a better long-term and stable future for the country.”