Work

My Work

I'm currently employed with the London Borough of Sutton working as Head of Leadership Office - this is an exciting role advising the administration and working with the officers of the Council on policy for the current and next four years. Quite how i have ended up in this role seems complex looking back, but right now seems to be the best for me...

The year employed as President of the University of Nottingham Union (UNU), 1993-1994, was a brilliant introduction into the realities of the working world. UNU had a turnover in excess of £3 million, had over 50 staff and was a significant voice in the strategic developments of the University. Rightly there is a bar at Nottingham requiring sabbaticals to be for one year only, and so the hectic pace of Union life came to a natural end in August 1994.

Higher education was an environment in which I thrived, so a job at Staffordshire University seemed a natural progression. Working within the Quality Assurance Unit of the Academic Registry provided a detailed insight into the construction of academic courses and course delivery.

Moving to Stoke-on-Trent to start work was a real wrench from Lincolnshire and Nottingham - it was a very different city with a very different range of challenges. Staffordshire University had a clear objective of working with local communities, recruiting mature students and providing real life long learning. It was this vision which gave me with the deep affection and love for the City of Stoke-on-Trent.

Within the University I found myself developing a host of ideas and enthusiasms - most of these found an outlet when I became Academic Warden of Thompson House Student Hall of Residence. This was the most rewarding time - I could put back into the student body some of the delights I had enjoyed at Nottingham and had a direct and real link with students finding their feet. This was a role which lasted until I left the University in 1999.

Within Staffordshire University there was a constant need to change to meet the increasing demand within Higher Education and so was born the PIP Project: Process Improvement Programme. Essentially this was a desire to introduce constant and positive change into the university - I was seconded to this from the QA Unit and it was great. Under the direction of Tina Theis it was exciting, innovative and challenging. What now seems clear and obvious was then sensitive and needed negotiation - e-mail for all staff being the most stark development.

Two bomb shells however, soon landed in my life. My involvement with Liberal Democrats had grown and grown and on Thursday 6^th May 1998 I was elected City Councillor for the Stoke West Ward. On Friday 7^th May one of the students in my Hall of Residence committed suicide. He was a quiet innocuous student, had a good circle of friends, the reasons remain unclear now. What I do know is that it sent shock waves through the hall and tested every people skill I possessed. The subsequent weeks were testing and emotional and my only real focused reflection is that I am pleased I was warden of Thompson House to support the students at such a difficult time.

The second and less dramatic development was the resignation of the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir (now Lord) Paddy Ashdown MP. Few would have seen this a significant development in their professional life but for me triggered a need to move out of Higher Education and into the field of politics proper.

I have always cited Paddy’s resignation as the cause, but think on reflection my exhaustion following the tragic death in my Hall combined with my disappointment over the ability of the University to cope, meant I was ready for a change of direction.

So for the period 1999-2002 I worked as the Campaigns Officer for the Liberal Democrats in the South West. This was a hugely wide ranging role covering 7 held and 7 target constituencies and was a massive effort of time management as well as resource allocation. I enjoyed the role but with hindsight I realise that it took too much out of me and I left the job after just three years physically and emotionally exhausted.

Two years then out of the political framework at Watford Borough Council as the head of Mayor's Office to Dorothy Thornhill, the directly elected Mayor of Watford. This was challenging and fascinating being a real exercise in the actual implementation of policy. I learnt a lot and developed my political antennae in ways I would never have thought of. However, after two years in the role the Liberal Democrats had progressed from being a new and minority group running the council to a confident and strong group of 27 out of 37 councillors and it was clear I wanted a new challenge.