Political career A high profile councillorI represented my community in and around Ottery St Mary either on the town council, East Devon District Council and Devon County Council between 2009 and 2021. I ran countless campaigns, including on environmental issues, such as protecting trees and the local beaver population, and supporting pollinators with wildflowers. Battling against austerity to retain important services, especially those provided by the NHS was also a priority. When a member of East Devon District Council, much of my focus was on encouraging greater transparency and tackling conflicts of interest in planning issues. Parliamentary campaignsDuring my political career I ran for the East Devon Parliamentary seat three times, coming second at each election, in 2019 achieving almost 26,000 votes. I was the leading Independent candidate in the country on each occasion.NHS communicationsI spent a decade in local NHS public relations from 2001 as a media relations officer, largely focused on public health campaigns, before launching my freelance career in 2007, with the NHS on a range of projects. An occasional broadcasterI am regularly invited to take part in political discussions on local BBC radio and have recorded debates with other news outlets, such as the New Statesman. Other informationI was a deputy chair on the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board for almost three years, resigning when I left frontline politics, as is the requirement. Prior to my political career I spent over a decade in public sector communications, mainly in the NHS in Devon, largely working on public health campaigns and media relations. I hold a Diploma (merit) in Public Relations from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.