Businessman Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones is best known for his “Black Farmer” range of foods. He is on David Cameron’s A-list of Conservative parliamentary candidates and will stand for Chippenham, Wiltshire, in the next general election.

Emmanuel-Jones, 50, was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. In 1961, his parents moved to Birmingham with their nine children. After leaving school without qualifications, he joined the army but was dismissed after a year due to his “lack of discipline”.

After working in catering, he set up a marketing agency in London, which gave him the capital to buy West Kitchen Farm, Devon.

He has since become involved in setting up a scholarship scheme to encourage children from ethnic minorities in urban areas to get involved in farming. His work was featured in the Channel 4 series, Young Black Farmers.

He lives in Chippenham, Devon and London with his wife, Michaela, and their children, Scarlet, 10, and Alexander, 14. They also have a 21-year-old son, Peter.

How much money do you have in your wallet?

I’ve just been to the cashpoint so I have £500. I tend to take out the maximum and hope that it lasts me the month. I’m the kind of guy who likes to have cash in hand — not necessarily to use, but in case of emergency.

As a precaution, I tend to keep some of it in my wallet and some in my trouser pocket.

Do you have any credit cards?

I have a NatWest Mastercard for business and a First Direct Visa for personal use. The NatWest card has a direct debit set up so it’s paid off in full every month. The First Direct is sometimes only partially paid off, depending on what’s happening in any given month.

I prefer to use credit cards because it gives me that extra month to pay things off.

Are you a saver or a spender?

Definitely a spender. As an entrepreneur, you have to be prepared to spend in order to get a return. You have to have faith in your decisions.

I also like to treat myself and I can spend an entire day at a health spa. I don’t do it often, so when I do I really like to spend. In terms of savings, I prefer to put my money into something tangible like property or land. As the people of Northern Rock almost discovered, having savings in the bank is not always the best option.

That’s not to say I have a problem with banks. What I do worry about is them playing with our money to increase profits. When it goes wrong, we’re the ones who suffer.

How much did you earn last year?

My business turned over a total of £6m last year. I made well over six figures in personal profit from that.

I have a contract with all the big supermarkets and the brand also covers things like sausages, chicken and so on.

How much was in your first pay packet?

As a young teenager in Birmingham I was earning 50p a day as a paperboy.

Have you ever been really hard up?

As a child, I never had pocket money and I did know what it felt like to go hungry. My mother had to somehow feed a family of 11 with one chicken — and that’s in this country.

When I moved out in my early twenties, I was on the dole for a few months before I got into catering, which didn’t pay well.

Do you own a property?

I have my farm, a house in London and a flat in Chippenham, which I bought about 19 months ago. The farm is 40 acres in size and is just outside Launceston. It has a house and four barns.

The house has five bedrooms and three bathrooms. It’s probably worth about £1.6m now — it’s more than tripled in the 10 years that I’ve had it.

I don’t spend much time there at the moment so I’ve entrusted it to my neighbour who looks after the animals. He’s a dairy farmer.

The barns are also substantial and three of them are being converted into living spaces for each of my children. Scarlet’s barn is the only one that’s more or less complete. It is a two-bedroom property.

I spend most of my time in Chippenham. I bought the flat when I was selected to fight the seat. It’s a two-bedroom property in the town centre and it cost me about £200,000.

I’ve had a six-bedroom property in Wandsworth, southwest London, for the past nine years. It’s worth about £1.6m. My family are mainly based in London and my daughter goes to a London school. My son, however, goes to school in Dorset. It’s just the way things have worked out.

Why did you decide to get into politics?

In the past, I didn’t think I was the kind of person the Conservatives would be interested in, but I don’t think we’re in an era of conventional politics anymore. It’s more about conviction.

One of my great frustrations has been that the people who represent us have not necessarily been through the ups and down of life, so when they make decisions it’s more an academic exercise than something that is fuelled by passion based on personal experience.

I’ve always been a Conservative because I believe that things are much better when you leave people to just get on with it.

It’s great being chosen to represent Chippenham. The fact that they went for someone like me shows great courage.

What is the most lucrative work you have ever done? Did you use the fee for something special?

I’ve always been running my own business, so perhaps the most lucrative thing I’ve ever done is set up the label.

I knew there was some potential controversy over the name — whether or not it was politically correct and all that — but by making it a talking point, the brand became better known. It’s three years old now and the total turnover so far has been around £10m.

Do you invest in shares?

I don’t — it’s not something I understand.

What’s better — property or pension?

I don’t put any money into a pension. Property and especially land are good long-term investments.

Though prices are going down now, you have to look at the long view. When I bought my farm 10 years ago, land was very cheap. Now, with food prices going up, the cost of land is increasing.

I use my land for cattle grazing — it’s the easiest type of farming. I buy cattle at about six months and then keep them for 13 months before they’re taken away for slaughter.

I’m very much into traditional breeds, so instead of going for the larger black and white continental varieties, which you see up and down the country, I prefer the more traditional English breeds such as Ruby Red.

I believe this is the way British farmers can differentiate themselves from farmers in eastern Europe, where beef can be produced at much cheaper rates. It would give us an edge over the competition.

How is the farming industry doing in Britain?

I think there is a good future for farming in the UK. A lot of the foods we’re importing from the Caribbean and other parts of the world can be grown here with the right technology — chillies, for example.

We still have a problem of connecting the farming and urban communities in Britain. One of the great ironies is that the fastest-growing brand in this country is Fair Trade. British consumers are prepared to put their hands in their pockets to help farmers in Third World countries, but they don’t have the same sentiment for British farmers.

Are you financially better off than your parents?

By far. My father worked as a labourer for British Leyland and my mother worked in a number of different factories.

What’s been your best investment in life?

My business.

What about the worst?

It has to be my current car, which is a Lexus hybrid GS450h SE-L. I thought I’d do my bit for the environment so I replaced my Mercedes. Having had it for about a year now, though, and exceeding 30,000 miles, the lower-grade interior is beginning to wear out.

Do you manage your own financial affairs?

I do, but I also have an accountant who deals with my tax returns.

What aspect of our taxation system would you change?

I don’t know how my gaffers are going to respond to this at Conservative headquarters, but I’m a firm believer in lowering income tax. We really need to encourage entrepreneurship in this country and this is one of the best ways to do it.

What is your money weakness?

I’m an Apple computer junkie. I recently bought myself a new laptop for about £2,500. It’s irritating, though, because a couple of weeks later a new thinner version was launched.

Apples are almost always design classics. I already have six laptops and a very old Apple desktop.

They are taking up a lot of space, but I’m hoping they’ll become antiques at some point.

What is your financial priority?

I’m trying to expand the Black Farmer brand and I’m looking for more investment — something in the region of £2m. Hopefully it will go to Ireland, South Africa, America, Australia and Jamaica in the near future.

What is the most extravagant thing you have ever bought?

I once bought a painting by Sandra Millar about 10 years ago. She’s a talented London artist.

The painting cost £5,000, which was a lot of money for me back then, but I just had to have it regardless of the consequences. This picture takes pride of place in my London home.

Do you play the lottery?

Yes, but only occasionally. I once won about £100.

What would you do if you won?

Invest in the Black Farmer rather than seek outside investment.

What is the most important lesson you have learnt about money?

Never chase money, chase success.