Torridge and West Devon Liberal Democrats

Ashley-Ross West

A parish councillor in Buckland Monachorum, sitting on both planning and finance committees.

Main goals are to improve social care for all ages, to improve infrastructure both transport and internet and to make sure that local housing is suitable for the needs of the local community.

29 years old and I have a 2:1 degree in Economics from Plymouth University

Lived in Yelverton since he was 5 years old and it's the only place he has called my home.

Chris Bright

Great Torrington Town Councillor and Torridge District Councillor for the Great Torrington ward.

Member of GTTC Policy and finance committee, GTTC Environment Committee, TDC Licensing Committee and TDC Community and Resources Committee, as well as numerous community groups.

Raised, educated, and still lives in Great Torrington. Works at Eaton Aerospace. Previously worked at Appledore shipyard, and repeatedly lobbied Government for work to keep the site open.

When he is not in a meeting with GTTC, TDC or other community groups speaking up for Great Torrington, Chris lives with his glorious Latin teaching wife, renovating their grade 2 listed building in his 'spare time'.

Northam Town Councillor, representing Northam Ward.

Member of Planning, Climate Emergency and Westward Ho! Park committees.

Lives in Northam. Works part-time. Graduated from University of Westminster in 1986, worked in legal compliance and for an MP before being elected to Winchester City Council in 2011 and 2015.

Married with grown up daughters, a rescue dog named Molly and a classic campervan called Basil. Loves adventures, gardening, sunshine and live music.

David Chalmers

Under David's leadership as Mayor this past year, Northam has taken real steps to tackle the climate emergency and protect our environment and to offer support to local businesses during this challenging time. David has the competence and know-how to get things done. He brought different councils together to find a long-term solution to the problem of parking in Appledore. Westward Ho! was the first town in the country to ban the sale of polystyrene body boards. For too long Northam has been unheard and ignored. As county councillor working with others, David will make sure that northern Devon has a strong voice at County Hall - bringing us the investment in jobs and the improvements in our infrastructure we deserve.

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Bert Bruins - Diversity Officer

Bert has lived in Torridge for 15 years. He has run green businesses and currently works in home care.

If elected as a county councillor for Bideford West and Hartland, Bert will campaign for restoring the central government grant back to pre-2010 levels (we have lost so much funding: terrible roads and increasing Council Tax bills are some of the results).

Bert will also highlight the problem of finding carers when you live in a rural area and are in need of home care. He will push to stop the practice by some of "flipping" second homes into businesses, which then leads to no Council Tax being paid on those properties (the rest of us ending up paying more).

Stephen Potts - Treasurer

Stephen is an accountant who has worked in Financial Services for the last 25 years and is currently working locally.

He is passionate about balancing protection of the environment with the need to create genuine well-paid jobs in North Devon especially in the aftermath of Covid and Brexit. It is an area which has for too long been ignored and unsupported by both county and national administrations.

He is married with 3 children all of whom have been educated in local Devon schools. He moved to North Devon 10 years ago and has never looked back, enjoying the local countryside and community spirit. Hobbies include long coastal walks with the family's springer spaniels, appearing in the local Panto and gardening.

Peter Squire

Pete has been a Tavistock town councillor for 4 years and a recycling champion with the Borough Council. Born into a local farming family, Peter attended Tavistock College, where his children also went to school, and was chair of Tavistock College Governors in the early 2000s. Pete has spent over 30 years working in health and social care for Devon County Council and the NHS. He knows the importance of sound investment and management of social care. He wants to see county council services maximised to their full potential, and to build relationships across the community to support recovery from the pandemic.