FIRST and foremost, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to the residents of St Austell Central and Gover for placing your trust in me. It’s an honour to represent our community and I’m committed to working tirelessly to improve lives here and across Cornwall.

Since my election, I’ve been actively engaging in the induction process and getting to grips with the challenges ahead. One of my top priorities is holding the new administration to account - ensuring transparency, fairness and a focus on delivering for all residents.

Unfortunately, Reform UK has been shut out of forming a working coalition with any of the other parties. Multiple attempts were made, publicly and privately, by our leader, Rob Parsonage, to work together with the other parties for the good of all Cornish residents, but we were met with nothing but rejection.

We’re also deeply concerned about proposed changes to the council’s code of conduct, which risk stifling free speech and punishing councillors for expressing independent views. This is not the democratic Cornwall we believe in.

Despite receiving over 32 per cent of the vote on May 1, Reform UK has been offered just two vice-chair roles across all committees. Meanwhile, the Lib Dem and Independent coalition has awarded itself all key positions – allowing them to “mark their own homework”, so to speak. This lack of balance is especially worrying given Cornwall Council’s spiralling debt: from around £600-million eight years ago to over £1.3-billion today.

Still, I remain hopeful. Reform UK will continue to push for accountability, fiscal responsibility and a council that truly serves its people. I look forward to working with residents to build a better future for St Austell and Cornwall.