"What Have I Actually Done?"
Every election, like clockwork, a few people appear from the woodwork and ask, “But what have you actually done?”as if I’ve been sitting in County Hall with my feet up, sipping tea, and playing Sudoku for the past four years.
So, for those who haven’t been paying attention (or for those genuinely interested), let’s break it down.
First off, I’ve made it a point to be as visible as possible. Not just for the photo ops (though I do love a good selfie), but because being accountable is part of the job. I’ve published monthly reports, attended parish council meetings, and generally made it difficult for anyone to claim they “never see their councillor.”
Now, let’s talk about the actual work:
✅ Casework – thousands of them! I’ve helped residents with everything from potholes to care for the elderly. If you’ve had a problem and reached out, chances are I’ve been on the case, and when the emails dried up in the quiet months, I was out there activly asking people if they need my help.
✅ Backing Our Local Football Team – Secured funding for Coalville Town FC, because supporting our clubs isn’t just about cheering from the sidelines, it's ensuring our kids have the best facilities locally.
✅ Fighting Overdevelopment – I’ve stood up for our community against inappropriate developments, ensuring we don’t become one giant housing estate with no infrastructure.
✅ Supporting Local Events – From summer fêtes to Christmas markets, if it’s happening in our patch, I’ve been ther, helping, funding, and promoting.
✅ Potholes? Consider them tackled. I’ve reported and helped get thousands of potholes fixed. Some might say I’m a bit obsessive about it, but if you’ve ever had your teeth rattled by a crater in the road, you’ll understand why.
✅ Major Road Resurfacing – Secured resurfacing for Forest Road, Ravenstone Crossroads, and more. Because our roads should be smoother than a politician dodging a difficult question. I've also got Belvior Road next on the hit list.
✅ Protecting Our Green Spaces – Successfully blocked plans to build on Hugglescote Reccy, because once our green spaces are gone, they’re gone forever. I've also contributed to getting 500,000 trees planted in Leicestershire.
✅ Saving Our Landmarks – Secured £60,000 of funding to restore Mantle Lane Bridge, proving that even old bridges deserve a second chance (unlike some politicians).
✅ Fighting Labour’s Anti-Farming Tax Grab – Campaigned hard to protect our 215 family farms in North West Leicestershire from Labour’s latest attempt to make life harder for those who feed us.
✅ Raising Thousands for Charity – Whether it’s fundraising for veterans, local causes, or taking on sponsored hikes and rough sleeping, I’ve put my money (and my sleeping bag) where my mouth is.
✅ Honouring Our Veterans – As a veteran myself, I’ve been involved in most of the local veterans’ parades, attended the monthly meetings and the obligatory decompresion sessions in the pub and have helped raise funds for veteran support groups.
✅ Coalville’s Relief Effort for Ukraine – Helped organise and lead Coalville’s response at the outbreak of the war, because when people are in need, we step up.
✅ Driving 18 Tonnes of Aid to Ukraine – And because I don’t do things by halves, I personally drove 18 tonnes of relief from Coalville to Ukraine. Not your typical “desk job” for a councillor.
✅ Litter Picking – I don't just go on litter picks near an election, I've been organising them in Coalville North for the past 3 years.
✅ Tackling the E-Scooter Problem – Got the Chief Constable to change police policy on nuisance e-scooters. One small step for road safety, one giant leap for not getting run over on the pavement.
✅ Parking Issues? I’m On It. – Worked with residents to mitigate parking concerns, because there’s nothing more British than complaining about parking (except maybe queueing).
✅ Improving Our Children's Services – Helped turn our Children’s Ofsted rating from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Outstanding’ because every child in Leicestershire deserves the best start in life.
And just to top it off, I’ve done all this in a part-time role, while running a family business in Coalville and attempting to have a somewhat normal life. (Spoiler: The normal life bit isn’t going so well.)
So next time someone asks, “What has he actually done?” feel free to forward them to this. And if they still don’t get it, well… there’s only so much you can do.
🗳️ On May 1st, vote for a councillor who gets things done, not one who just talks about it!
#OneOfOurOwn #ProvenTrackRecord #KeepingLabourOut #VoteConservative
