Community minded

I feel that am well respected within my community and I have a reputation of the person that 'gets things done'. I always tell people, that as you progress on the political ladder, from town councillor to Unitary, It can be easy to lose touch with your community and get sucked into meeting after meeting. That is why I make a special effort to talk to local people as often as I can and participating in many different community groups. 

Some of the groups I attend are more formal like the SERCO group – which looks at the local medical out of hours service - CAB, Job Centre Plus, Chamber of Commerce, Save Stratton Play Park group, Town Council and I am a school governor. I really enjoy just spending time chatting to people and doing what I can to help them. There are lots of ways to meet people but my favourite is going to various coffee mornings in different parishes to talk to the elderly.

The other thing I tell people is that when making a decision, I take into consideration what the majority of my community wants, what is best for the community and not just my personal opinion.  Sometimes it is not easy to gage people's opinion of certain things because the majority can stay silent when minority might shout loud. By having contact with different community groups I can always ask them question if I am in doubt.