[Statement from May 2021 Kent local election] Making the best of a community is a team effort.

Full statement

In Sevenoaks that means finding the common ground and a way to make everyone’s lives better.

I am a Liberal Democrat because I genuinely believe that life is better if we look after each other and value our differences. As your councillor, my job will be to represent everyone and I will.

I have been to places where that kind of politics has completely broken down; during my military service in Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland around the millennium, and then in Afghanistan in 2010.

Politics and politicians generally get bad press but when it is done as I hope to do it, life improves for everyone.

From war zones to Sevenoaks seems a big leap, but my survey tells me the same story. Help us make a living, give us a good education, promote access to health and social care.

Most of all I know from those experiences that a community is only as strong as its weakest link.

A vote for me ON THE 6TH MAY IS A VOTE TO MAKE THE BEST OF OUR TOWN AND OUR COMMUNITY

OUR ENVIRONMENT We must take action NOW for the sake of future generations. We need: • Action on single use plastic • Action to halve the level of pollution in Sevenoaks • To be carbon neutral by 2030 • To make it easier to use electric cars and bikes • To plant more trees

OUR EDUCATION • More local school places for local children • Specialist SEN school places in Sevenoaks so all Sevenoaks children have access to the right school locally • Investment in schools that benefit the whole town • Fix Kent’s poor spending record on education

OUR TRANSPORT • Fix the pavements, the potholes and unblock the drains • A Sevenoaks 20 mph zone • Safe walking and cycling routes • A local hop-on electric bus • Fix bottlenecked junctions where traffic can’t flow and pollution is bad • An improved joined up transport system for Sevenoaks