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Someone mentioned to me that I don’t do much of an introduction of myself in my leaflet. So here you go.

I was born, grew up and was poorly educated in Leeds. I ended up in IT and then worked for a number of manufacturing companies. The trouble with manufacturing was that it was always in decline. Eventually I moved to the Midlands and got a job as a project manager at a company that implemented software. From there I ended up travelling at working all over the world. I’ve lived in quite a few countries and worked in many more and I count myself lucky to have experienced many different cultures.

One major thing I learnt working abroad is that the UK is not a wealthy country. It’s a myth as far as standard of living or quality of life goes. That’s not to say it doesn’t have people who are comfortably off, but on a quality of life scale the UK works too many hours, accepts poor public services and it is getting worse.

I mention this because as a councillor I will not stand by and watch Guisborough be a victim of a loss of hope and vision at a borough level. If government is cutting back funding to this area then what is being done to reverse the cuts? Are we to wait for the generosity of a Tory MP putting a good word in for us to receive some money? And when we do get the money, where is the plan? I mean a proper costed detailed plan that actually matches the needs of the town. Where is the list of what is going wrong? Where are the proposed solutions?

I think councillors connected to political parties cannot openly ask these questions and cannot make too much noise about how they can be fixed. A councillor saying that the government present or future should spend more on supporting local services runs the risk of highlighting their own party’s failures. A Labour councillor cannot scream and shout about cuts when their own party may well have policies that are no different. I once saw the party system as bringing about the change we need. I no longer have faith in that system to deliver the required change. We need to reconnect local politics to residents needs and demands.

Not that I think all independents are the answer. Some are just as set in their ways as the those that represent political parties. For me it’s not about left or right. I’m not interested in those things at a local level. It is about getting things done. It is about choosing policies based on the benefits they will bring, not on gaining the favour of party bigwigs.

I was also asked what I could bring to the post of councillor. I have run programmes all over the world. Some that were extremely tricky and I’ve delivered. But the real need in Guisborough is not some great saviour. The real need is somebody who represents the people of Guisborough and I would do that.