"I joined the Conservative Party in Yorkshire in 1973 (at age 15) and have been an active member and campaigner ever since, holding posts at ward, constituency, area, regional and national level, including two years as National Chairman of the Conservative Political Centre (CPC) and two parliamentary campaigns - one of them a parliamentary by-election."

2008 -
Deputy Chairman (Finance) - London Region

2006 -
Deputy Chairman (Finance) - London North Eastern Area

2004 -
Deputy Chairman (Political) - West Ham Conservative Association

1994 - By-election Candidate for Dudley West
I was selected in November 1994 following the death of John Blackburn MP. Given the unpopularity of the then government commentators were agreed that it was one of the more difficult by-elections of that era. However, I fought a strong campaign aided by a great team of professionals and volunteers from all of the UK

Post-campaign comments included:

“I am proud of the way you have set out the Conservative case with honesty and vigour.”
Sir John Major

“May I send my warm thanks to you for the outstanding way in which you fought the Dudley West by-election. We ran the most professional campaign and I am extremely grateful to you. You fought the campaign in difficult political circumstances and the Party could not have asked for a better candidate.” - Sir Jeremy Handley - Party Chairman

"Very many congratulations on an outstanding performance in very difficult circumstances. Being a by-election candidate is one of the most difficult things any politician can be asked to do, especially when representing the Governing Party. You have done it with great style and won many friends throughout the Party.” - Sir Anthony Garrett - Director of Campaigning CCO

1987 - Candidate for Walsall South
Adopted in October 1985 I was PPC for 20 months and succeded in building a high profile in the local media. At the election I polled over 21000 votes and succeded in increasing the Conservative share of the vote.

I have been active in every General Election since February 1974 and have mutual aided at by-elections throughout England and Wales.

Having worked in local election campaigns since the mid-1970's, I fought my first contest as a candidate in 1980. Since then I have worked in, acted as agent for, and contested very many local government campaigns. However, my more recent campaigns include:

2002 - Candidate for Directly Elected Mayor of Newham

2006 - Candidate and organiser West Ham constituency. I worked to ensure that we fielded a complete slate of 21 candidates for seven wards - the first time for over twenty years.

I have been an active, campaigning member of the Conservative Party ever since I joined and I enjoy it as much now as I did then. I have held positions at every level of the voluntary Party. The following are some of the key posts I have worked in:

Young Conservatives
I first became a member in Selly Oak in Birmingham and was successively branch chairman, chairman of the Birmingham District YC's and Area Deputy Chairman. I served on the YC National Advisory Committe from 1980-1983.

Conservative Political Centre (CPC)/Conservative Policy Forum (CPF)
I was national chairman of the CPC from 1996 to 1998 in which role I was also a member of the National Union General Purposes Commitee, the National Union Executive Committee and the Standing Advisory Committee on Candidates.

Following the transition to the CPF I was elected to the CPF Board.

National Advisory Committee on Education
I was chairman of the West Midlands Advisory Committe on Education and an active member of the National Advisory Committee on Education (NACE).

The West Midlands CPC team established a solid reputation for delivering effective training throughout the West Midlands Area. This commitment to training continued when I became deputy-chairman of the CPC at a national level. In 1993, I was the author of a training programme entitled "Campaigning on the European Issues". Following an appraisal by members of the Conservative Group at the European Parliament, this unit was used throughout the country in the run-up to the 1994 European Elections and subsequently relaunched as "Campaigning on the Issues" as a Westminster training package.

In my current role as Deputy Chairman London North Eastern Area, I am active in developing new packages and CD ROM based resources to assist constituencies with their campaigning and training needs.