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.
Surrey Police have cut costs and red tape, to put more PCs back on the streets. However their government grant is less than half the national average, so despite cutting 144 administrative jobs, they needed to raise their share of council tax by 4.9%. The Labour government has threatened to "cap" them, which would entail the loss of another 80 staff, including front line PCs.
The persistence of the European Liberal Democrat MEPs has paid off. They have secured a pledge that the EU will seek to harmonise mobile chargers. The aim is to reduce costs for European consumers currently obliged to replace chargers which still work, and to cut the enormous quantity of waste generated.
At a recent meeting of the Strategy & Resources Committee the borough council's annual Audit Commission letter for 2007/8 was found to contain factual inaccuracies but at least it was acknowledged that on recycling the council has "moved out of the worst 25% of councils"!
Surrey Highways are currently not repairing street lights except in the most urgent cases. A new PFI street lighting contract is expected to start early next year, which will involve replacing 80% of the existing lamp columns, so they are not spending money on repairing columns that will be replaced.
The Conservative Cabinet at County Hall have refused to reconsider their decision to axe the Pegasus school buses as from July 2010. The Tory administration is reneging on a decision made only last December 2008 to continue the service for at least two more years until July 2011. The Conservatives do one thing before the election and another thing after.
Due to the pressure and the thorough examination of Liberal Democrat councillor David Goodwin, Surrey County Council Transport Select Committee have forced the Council's Cabinet to reconsider their decision to axe the popular Pegasus school bus service and to proceed instead with a proper investigation to find out how it can be maintained in future for the benefit of Guildford children and parents.
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.
