Lib Dems select candidates for triple by-election in Addlestone
Ronan McCaughey - Addlestone South, Runnymede Borough
Ronan, like many of you, fell in love with our wonderful community when he moved here 10 years ago. You might have seen him walking Eddie, his Scottish Terrier, noticed him cycle by, or heard him (trying his best!) with the local male voice choir.
As a financial journalist, he knows how important it is that every penny of your council tax is spent wisely. Through his work at the local church and fundraising challenges for hospices, he's seen first hand how much we can achieve when we work together as a community.
With close family in the NHS, and years of experience working with small businesses, he understands the day-to-day challenges we're all facing. About standing for election, he said “I'm standing because I believe Addlestone deserves a fresh voice who will fight for our community while keeping a careful eye on the finances.”
Jenny Coulon - Addlestone South, Runnymede Borough
Jenny has been a resident in Addlestone for over 20 years and has fought for accessible local healthcare, a cleaner local environment and more action to fix our crumbling roads and highways after years of neglect. She hopes to join the strong Liberal Democrat team at Runnymede Council.
Speaking about the upcoming election, she said “Addlestone has seen many changes since I first moved here, but local politics remains very one-sided. I'd like our Council to better reflect the diversity of viewpoints, and encourage residents to be involved in the future of their neighbourhood.”
Mike Smith - Addlestone Division, Surrey County
Mike is already an active and hard-working Runnymede Borough Councillor. Before living here, he was a Councillor for 26 years including at County level in Bristol and Buckinghamshire.
Outside of local politics, Mike supports the community with a lot of voluntary work – helping out at a local volunteer-run library, collecting food donations for Runnymede Foodbank, and helping arrange events at Addlestone Community Centre. You’ll often see him litter-picking around the local area.
Mike says “the Conservatives have held power in Surrey for too long – their record of failure, from crumbling roads and pavements to continuing chaos in special needs education, means we need real change here in Addlestone. Across Surrey, it’s only the Lib Dems that have broken through and stepped up to challenge years and years of Tory neglect and complacency.
“Now the Conservatives want to create two huge mega-Councils for Surrey which will mean even less accountability to residents. I’m determined to be a strong voice for our community so ask you to vote Liberal Democrat on 21 August.”
