I've lived in the Gunnersbury part of the ward since 2014 having lived in Chiswick for 30 years before that. My first home in Chiswick was on Devonshire Road, above what is now La Trompette. I was elected in 2018, representing Turnham Green ward, and re-elected for the same ward, but expanded and renamed Chiswick Gunnersbury ward, in May 2022. My hair wasn't grey in 2018.
My background is in politics, lobbying, corporate communications and reputation crisis management. I was on the stairs of Conservative Central Office at 3am on 4th May 1979 when Maggie Thatcher came back to thank us after her landslide victory. Nothing beats working for a political party through a general election that you win - though I've been lucky to have had other highly memorable experiences. Two stand out in particular. I organised the Tory Reform Group's 15th anniversary celebration dinner, on 8th November 1985, at which Harold Macmillan made his famous selling off the family silver speech. I was in the press gallery, as head of press for the Corporation of London, on 24th November 1992, when HM The Queen spoke, in a hoarse voice, of her annus horribilis. In 1998 I went freelance working for local and international charities, large corporates and small businesses including several independents in Chiswick which I had been keen to support since moving to Chiswick.
After being elected in 2018, I set up the Chiswick Shops Task Force specifically to support independent shops, bars, cafes, restaurants and service businesses that were struggling before Covid made it even worse. I published a major report, Ensuring a Thriving Retail Economy in Chiswick, which I used to lobby cabinet members and officers in Hounslow Council, government ministers, backbench MPs and civil servants. Now, with a cost of living crisis, I remain as keen as ever to do what I can to help our loyal local independents not just survive but thrive. With independents in 18 shopping roads in Chiswick Gunnersbury ward, including the longest stretch of Chiswick High Road (a destination and a through route since Roman times) and the westerns sides of Devonshire Road and Turnham Green Terrace, there is always something to do. When shoplifting emerged as a huge problem, I organised a meeting for traders with the police team; later, I organised a second meeting for the police team to report on its actions and listen to traders. I was the Conservative Group's retail spokesman from 2019 to 2024.
Residents are rightly demanding, continually pushing for better, not wanting the Labour council to get away with lowering standards here. Housing is the heart-breaking issue with overcrowding in social housing, many going through no-fault evictions, appalling conditions in housing associations and badly-run houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). I was the group's housing spokesman from 2022 to 2024.
Unearthing how an ever-changing, ever-expanding Labour council works, and how best to support everyone we councillors serve, is a continuous process. Restructuring departments hides weaknesses; processes are buried in fog. I am far better now at digging for facts, tenaciously refusing to take no for an answer, using the knowledge I’ve gained, and continuing to learn, while fighting for Conservative principles.
I hope I am known for my determination, persistence and resilience showing that, even when I am attacked (as I often am) by our political opponents, I bounce back with no loss of enthusiasm. I have this ward, and its residents and business ratepayers, at the very front of my mind. Whether the issue is crime (shoplifting, drug dealing, burglary), heart-breaking (vulnerable residents in terrible housing, homelessness), dangerous (dodgy pavements, crossing the cycle lane, the floating bus stop), overdevelopment (campaigning against inappropriate high-rise shoebox blocks of flats), festivals in Gunnersbury Park (too many, too loud and taking up too much space), policies driven by Labour ideology (LTNs, the bus gate, parking restrictions) or frustrating (bureaucracy and what I call blah blah blah responses from the council) I aim to continue working hard with the same level of proactive, keen, focussed energy I had at the start.
