Ready to listen.
Ready to challenge.
Ready to deliver.
✅ Experienced leader in media and business
✅ Independent from party politics
✅ Focused on fixing local issues
Independent candidate for Essex County Council
Brightlingsea, Alresford, Elmstead Market, Thorrington and Great Bentley
Election: 7 May 2026
About Mat
I am standing as a truly independent candidate because this election matters more than most people realise.
Essex County Council is responsible for the services that shape daily life. Roads. Pavements. Schools. Special educational needs. Adult social care. Highways. Buses. Transport planning.
Over the next few years the current County Council will be replaced by a new unitary authority. The decisions taken now will shape that handover.
We need to make sure Essex is handed over in a position of strength, not decline.
Core Issues
Roads & Transport
Potholes, pavements, active travel and transport planning.
Education, SEND and Youth
Special educational needs, schools and education and youth opportunities.
Fixing The Basics
Holding powers to account, and reporting directly to you, the voters.
This is not just another election.
Over the next 2 to 3 years Essex County Council will make decisions that affect:
• The condition of our roads and pavements
• Investment in transport and infrastructure
• School places and SEND provision
• Adult social care services
• Traffic management and safety
• Planning frameworks that shape development
At the same time, local government in Essex is changing.
The County Council as we know it will be abolished and replaced by a new unitary authority. That transition will either happen from a position of competence and stability or from a position of stretched services and declining trust.
This may be the most important county election in this area’s history.
We cannot afford complacency. We need to stand up for the area so we can get them to Fix The Basics.
Why stand as an Independent?
Party councillors are expected to follow party lines. That is how party politics works. It is not inherently wrong, but it does mean loyalty is divided.
As an independent, my only loyalty is to residents.
- If roads funding is diverted elsewhere, I can challenge it.
- If development is pushed without infrastructure, I can oppose it.
- If service standards fall, I can speak plainly about it.
- No party hierarchy.
- No central office.
- No career ladder to climb.
Just accountability to the people who live here.
Experience that fits this moment.
Before public office, I spent over 30 years in senior corporate roles across national media and commercial organisations.
I have:
• Led large sales and operational teams
• Managed significant budgets of more than £40m per year
• Built challenger businesses competing against established national players
• Negotiated complex contracts
• Delivered growth in difficult markets
• Held teams and departments to measurable performance standards
Over the last 10 years I have built businesses from the ground up, competing against far larger organisations and winning market share.
That means I understand:
• Strategy
• Financial discipline
• Delivery under pressure
• Accountability
• Performance management
Local government needs competence, resilience and clarity.
I bring that.
From Town Council to County Level
As a Brightlingsea Town Councillor I worked on roads, signage, safety, active travel and standing up for the town when service standards slipped.
I resigned from the Town Council because I believe my energy and capability are better focused at county level.
The levers that matter most for roads, education, transport and social care sit at Essex County Council.
That is where change needs to happen.
Listening first.
I am not running a personality campaign. I am building a mandate.
If you live in Brightlingsea, Alresford, Elmstead Market, Thorrington or Great Bentley, I want to understand what matters to you.
You can:
• Tell me the issues you care about
• Raise local problems
• Offer ideas
• Support the campaign
• Volunteer
Everything starts with listening.
Questions you should ask every candidate
On most pages you will find some relevant questions you can ask me and other candidates to find out more about them. Such as…
- How will you balance party loyalty against residents’ interests?
- Will you publicly challenge your own party if local services decline?
- What measurable outcomes will you commit to?
- How will you report back on performance?
- What will you do in the first 12 months if elected?
This election deserves serious answers.