I was elected to represent Kew in May 2006 with 1932 votes. Since then I have combined my work as a ward councillor with a full time career in the London Insurance market, handling marine claims for one of the oldest Lloyds of London brokers.
I was born in Saltash in Cornwall on 10th May 1979. Although I still have strong links with the Duchy (my parents live Penzance where they run a small business), I was bought up in the Cotswolds and have since had spells living in Sunderland, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Bromley. I moved to Kew in January 2005.
Shortly after the election, I was appointed to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Education and Children’s Services. It sounds obvious to say it, but it is a hugely important part of what we do, getting the very best for young people, both in and out of school is a great opportunity to have a genuinely important and positive impact on their lives, a great opportunity and a great responsibility. I was also appointed to the Regulatory Committee.
Prior to being elected I spent three years as a member of the Royal Naval Reserve; I am a member of London Cornish RFC although I am currently playing for Salisbury Barbarian Exiles for the remainder of the 2006/07 season.
My non political passion is sailing and I have a (very) small yacht based in Chichester Harbour.
It is perhaps not surprising that my appointments to outside bodies include the London Reserve Forces & Cadets Association, Countess of Derby Charity, Father Thames Trust, London Youth Games, River Thames Alliance and the Thames Rescue Service.
As my father was chair of what was then South East Cornwall Liberal Party, you could say that I was born both into politics and the old Liberal party. Our house doubled up as local party HQ and early life was punctuated by the comings and going of activists and campaigners, not to mention endless leaflet delivery.
The family dining room was, much to my chagrin, the venue for many of the party meetings and some of it must have sunk in. Although, like my four siblings I resented being banished upstairs, I remember sitting half way up the stairs and listening in.
Like most middle class teenagers, I toyed with many different political ideas, but by the time of the 1997 general election, I was a committed Liberal Democrat. During my student years I was an active member of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Liberal Democrats. In those days we were a minority party on the City Council but we did form a five year plan.
Although I was long since gone, it gave me great pleasure to see that the Liberal Democrats did achieve control of the Council in 2004. Interestingly Greg Stone, who scared the life out of Jim Cousins in what was once the safe Labour seat of Newcastle Central at the 2005 general election, was the candidate in the first election I was involved with on joining in 1998 when he was elected to the City Council. If another general election comes soon, we might well see a Lib Dem in Newcastle Central yet.
On returning south, I lost touch with politics for a number of years, but when a long term back injury forced me to pack in the Royal Naval Reserves in early 2006, I decided to divert my energies back into politics. On a national level I was sick of Tony Blair and New Labour. Angered by the illegal war in Iraq and fearful of the consequences of policies such as ID cards and imprisonment without trial (to name just two),
I also felt that I had a contribution to make on a local level. Kew is a fantastic place in which to live, but there are challenges here as in any ward. Night flights and the expansion of Heathrow Airport have a very real impact on people in the ward. Living on what is basically a muddy peninsular jutting into the Thames, we are at the mercy of local as well as global environmental damage. So many commuters rely on our transport links to London, but both the District Line and the mainline railway services are competing for investment with the rest of the region.
I was selected as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats in 2006 and was elected in May.
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