Thank you to all who voted for her, and for the army of volunteers who put so much effort in.
The work starts now.
You can watch her gracious acceptance speech via this link.
A new air quality report covering NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) levels in Ewell village has been published. It shows no improvement on the unacceptably high levels and an Action Plan is now needed to deal with the problem.
With Hook Road car park never more than half full and businessmen wanting cheaper parking in the town centre, the Lib Dems are brokering a marriage between the two.
Surrey County Council's local committee for Epsom & Ewell received a report that an overspend of £75,000 was incurred on a range of highways projects undertaken in the borough within the last financial year, so the funds available for the current year have been reduced accordingly. Questioning from the committee revealed that the 21% excess of costs over budget arose because prices quoted for projects are based on estimated costs. The contract agreed by Conservative-led Surrey County Council does not require the contractor to be held to this estimate and allows the contractor to charge whatever the work actually costs.
The County Council's Conservative administration has recently decided to allow members of the public to submit petitions at meetings of the whole Council, not just at committee meetings. This is something that the Liberal Democrat group at County Hall have requested many times in order to open up the Council, but which until now has always been refused by the Conservative administration, even as recently as March this year.
The Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council have for many years regularly suggested that the County Council could make significant savings by reducing its reliance on costly agency staff by reducing the number of agency staff and using its own directly-employed staff instead. At last someone has listened.
Proposals to cut "school special" bus services, in some cases from this September, brought such strong public opposition from parents and schools that none of them will be removed before September 2011. However, this is just a reprieve. All "school special" bus services across the county are still being considered for closure, with the Cabinet expected to come to a decision on 13 July.
November marks Islamophobia Awareness Month, a time to reflect on the experiences of Muslim communities in the UK and to stand with them against prejudice, discrimination and hatred.
Ed Davey remembers Ming Campbell in remarks made to the House of Commons
October has arrived, bringing with it Black History Month - a time to celebrate the Black British community and their past, present and future contributions.
