A Liberal Democrat for every seat in Babergh, South Suffolk
With nominations closed for the Suffolk County Council elections on May 9th we are pleased to announce that we will be fielding a candidate in all nine seats in the area
With the governments planned reorganisation of local government which will see the county council and the five district councils of Babergh, East Suffolk, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk and West Suffolk. abolished and replaced with 3 geographically based unitary councils, the term of councillors elected in May will be shorter than the normal 4 years with a main focus being on ensuring the transition runs smoothly.
Having said that the County Councils has important responsibilities for such things as Highways and Education and over the coming days we will summarise our policies for these elections in future posts
Our candidates for these elections bring a wide range of experiences but all are united by a passionate belief in public service to their communities
1 Brook
Helen Davies: Babergh councillor for Sproughton and Pinewood and a parish councillor . Helen is Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Nature Recovery & Biodiversity. Committed to the community and working with local people’
2 Constable
John Whyman: Babergh councillor for Capel St Mary and Lead Member for Assets and Investments on the council
John lives in Hintlesham with his wife Jane. . In his spare time, he enjoys sailing and skiing. He has worked in and around agriculture for almost all of his working life.
3 Cornard & Sudbury East
Marjorie Bark: Marjorie has served her community on Great Cornard Parish Council since 2017. She works hard to make Great Cornard a fairer and greener place to live, and pledges to protect local services and facilities.
4 Cosford
David Butcher: Born in Ipswich. Kersey Parish councillor. After a career in telecommunications working in London and for a while in Italy, he came back to Suffolk to retire. Initially he lived in Chelsworth with his wife where he chaired the Parish Meeting an experience which reinforced his belief in strong communities and the need to involve residents in local decisions
5 Hadleigh
Rain Welham-cobb: Rain immensely passionate about our local community. He works for the NHS across the border and until 2022, was incredibly proud to serve as a Special Constable with the Suffolk Constabulary.
6 Melford
Alan Scott : Management Accountant, resident in South Suffolk for 35 years
7 Peninsula
Paul Woodcraft: Paul has been a member of the Liberal Democrats since 2016. He was employed in the NHS as a Senior Clinical Nurse Specialist (CBT) until his retirement and has lived in Shotley Gate for seven years since then with his wife, plus dogs and cats.
8 Stour Valley
Bryn Hurren: For well over 20 years Bryn has been a Babergh district councillor. He passionately believes in his community and fights for their needs and champions their causes. He runs a carpentry business and relaxes at Portman Road!
9. Sudbury West
Nigel Bennett: Nigel has been a Sudbury Town Councillor for 24 years and has been involved with creating our Community Warden Teams, the Museum & Heritage Centre in the Town Hall as well as keeping important services in Sudbury such as the Tourist lnformation Centre and Suffolk Registrars in the Town Hall when larger Councils wanted to close them.
ln the past, he has chaired community Police meetings, been involved in health campaigns for protecting services to the NHS, challenged cuts to services such as the Advice Centre and Sudbury Sports Centre.
He will be a hard-working, listening Councillor, prepared to work with others. I will represent our community,