Category: Uncategorised

On Saturday, I attended a meeting of the National Conservative Convention in my capacity as Chairman of Basildon & Billericay Conservative Association and sat in on a hustings for the upcoming Conservative leadership election, attended by all six of the remaining candidates and I thought I would share my recollections and thoughts about the occasion.…

I already posted a ‘vlog’ on my Facebook page back on 15th February about the February meeting of Full Council and the passing of the 2019/20 Conservative Budget but I thought it would be worth uploading my budget speech on this website.  You can also watch the webcast of the meeting here. “Thank-you, Mr. Mayor.…

At the Full Council meeting in December last year, Cllr Kerry Smith (Ind, Nethermayne) moved a motion with cross-party support seeking to promote a borough-wide ban on products containing palm oil. Never one to miss a passing bandwagon, Councillor Smith was quick to seize on the publicity surrounding the Christmas advert for Iceland, which sought…

This has been a tumultuous year for me – politically, professionally and personally – but also for Basildon Borough. When I look back to the end of 2017 and where we were; Basildon Conservatives were in Opposition, having previously been in minority administration since Basildon Council fell into No Overall Control in 2014. We had…

Thursday was an exceptionally good night for the Conservatives (much better than 2016). We held the five seats we were defending (Billericay East, Billericay West, Burstead, Crouch and Wickford North) and, in addition, won five more (Laindon Park, two seats in Pitsea South-East, Wickford Castledon and Wickford Park). UKIP, who were the second largest party…

After a tumultuous five years, I am seeking re-election again in Billericay East, the ward I love and which it has been my profound honour to represent on Basildon Borough Council since 2013. My time on the Council has certainly not always been easy. It can often be a thankless task. The meetings are long,…

Regular readers will recall that I was vehemently opposed to the 2014 application to build a solar farm covering over 26 hectares on Green Belt land off Outwood Farm Road in Billericay. This was granted permission by the Planning Committee, despite an officer recommendation to refuse and opposition from Billericay Town Council, Chelmsford City Council…

The Labour-led coalition are giving up on supporting Basildon residents when it comes to illegal encampments that pitch up in Basildon creating a trail of chaos, misery and devastation in their wake and leaving residents to foot the clean-up bill. On two separate occasions now the Coalition has turned its back on residents, deciding not…

Well. I cannot say that turned out how I hoped but it did largely turn out as I expected.   I said all along that I hoped Hillary Clinton would win the US presidential election. The woman is as crooked as a corkscrew, in my opinion, but I at least thought she was actually capable…

  In the wake of the recent debate on stalled attempts to amend the 2004 Hunting Act, I wanted to set out my own stance on the issue. I first started thinking about the fox-hunting debate some fifteen years ago, while I was still at university, when I started debating it with a friend who…