I grew up on a farm on the North Yorkshire Moors, but together with my partner, have been a Fulford and Heslington local for the last 15 years. It’s been a fantastic place to bring up our two children (aged 15 and 12) and we cherish the strong local community, the rich heritage and history of the area and the wonderful green spaces.

I have a degree and a doctorate in science and I work as a science journalist, keeping abreast of the latest discoveries and reporting in national and international newspapers and magazines. I also run communication and policy workshops and enjoy helping other people to realise their full potential.

In recent years I’ve become increasingly concerned with the way that our city has been run. Piecemeal decision making along with a lack of vision, strategy and long-term planning has left York vulnerable to unsuitable development, jammed with traffic and economically unbalanced with a huge dependency on tourism. I’ve spoken at numerous council meetings to raise these concerns, but the lack of strategic planning continues. Better decisions need to be made for us all, so I’m standing to be a Councillor with Labour’s strong, experienced and talented team in order to get our beautiful city back on track.