My Profile

I am one of two Mendip District Councillors for Frome College ward, which covers the northern part of Frome, in Somerset. I was elected in May 2011 and re-elected in 2015 and 2019.

Originally from north London, I moved to Frome in 2003. I am married with three young children (and Bluebell, a Cockerpoo). Having been a care attendant while at university, helping people in their homes while their carers took a break, I now work in an environmental consultancy, assessing the implications of planning major infrastructure projects.

I stood for election to help protect and improve our important community services and open spaces, and help make Council decisions better informed, fairer, greener, and more responsive to and engaging with local residents and community groups.

I am currently a member of Mendip’s Planning Board, Scrutiny Board, Audit Committee, Climate and Ecological Emergency Working Group, and the Strategic Leisure Board, and a Mendip rep on the Somerset Waste Board’s Scrutiny Panel.

In December 2013 I was elected at the byelection for Frome College ward onto Frome Town Council, and served until May 2015. Also in 2015 I stood as the Parliamentary Candidate for Kingswood near Bristol, and in December 2019 I was the Parliamentary Candidate for Somerton & Frome constituency for the Liberal Democrats, coming second with an increased share of the vote (26%).

I am currently one of the two Liberal Democrat candidates for the Frome North division of Somerset County Council in the May 2022 local elections. Councillors elected in May will serve as Somerset County Councillors until 1st April 2023 when they become councillors at the new unitary Somerset Council, which replaces both the County and Mendip and other District Councils.

My ‘interests’

I work for Jacobs Engineering, which has offices in Winnersh near Reading, and Bristol. Before this I worked at Nicholas Pearson Associates in Bath for over 21 years (1995-2017). I work mainly in the field of Environmental Impact Assessment and planning of major development and infrastructure projects.  Through work I am a member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, and the Society for the Environment, and I am an IEMA Registered EIA Practitioner.  Previously I have been Chair of the Ireland-UK Branch of the IAIA, and remain on the IEMA Impact Assessment Network’s Steering Group.

I am a member of the Liberal Democrat party, and the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors (ALDC).