I was born in Lytham Hospital and have lived all my life in St Annes. I attended St Anne Colleges for Girls for 12 years and then gained an Honours degree in History from Manchester University. I spent 8 years as Headmistress of my old school and then entered the Civil Service where I worked until my retirement. Having been elected to Fylde Borough Council in 1987, I was elected Mayor of Fylde, 2 weeks after I retired! I was very fortunate to be awarded an MBE in 2018 for services to the community of Lytham St Annes, having been very involved in voluntary work since I was at school. I was made Leader of Fylde Council in 2014, a position which I held until 2020. My hobbies include travel, reading, history and I am a lifelong member of St Thomas’ Church in St Annes.
I had the great honour of being Mayor of Fylde from 2008-09 and have held several other positions of authority on the Council, including Portfolio Holder for Tourism and Leisure. It was in this role that, working closely with our Tourism Officer, I brought the Lytham Proms (now Lytham Festival) back in 2012.
I was Deputy Leader for a number of years until I was honoured to be elected Leader in 2014, a post from which I resigned in 2020. During this period, I was in the Town Hall every morning, attended the vast majority of Fylde Council Committee meetings, in addition to attending monthly meetings with all other Lancashire District and Unitary Authority Leaders to discuss high level matters affecting us all. I also attended monthly meetings with representatives from LCC and Kensington to bring about the M55 Link Road. One of my proudest achievements was the building of the Splash Park, which was my brainchild and which I was thrilled to see being built in my ward to bring the former Paddling Pool back to life!
I have enjoyed these leading roles but I am now in the role which has always meant the most to me - looking after the people of my ward and dealing with residents' issues and concerns. May I ask that you will allow me to continue this work by voting for me on 4th May?