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.
The RA candidate, Michael Guest, who resigned last year as a councillor in Woodcote ward, has been returned to the council for Ruxley ward, but only by a small margin and after a recount. The turn-out was low at less than 20%. Unlike the 2003 election, when the closest challenger was Labour, this time it was the Tories - who nearly took the seat.
Surrey County Council Liberal Democrats have called on the Tory-run County Council to reassure the public, following the disclosure of details highlighting the appalling service from one of Surrey's highways contractors, Carillion.
Following a lengthy debate, punctuated by interjections from a packed public gallery, Epsom & Ewell's planning committee have voted to reject the controversial proposal for a large supermarket in the Upper High Street on a majority decision. As for all planning applications, this proposal had to be determined purely on planning grounds, despite immense public interest and pressure. Council planning officers had recommended approval, but most members felt that the size of the planned store would create more additional traffic than that part of the town could cope with.
After six years of campaigning, the Liberal Democrats at County Hall have succeeded in convincing Surrey County Council to undertake urgent work to make its properties "disabled friendly". The County Council has approved a Liberal Democrat motion that puts disabled access high on the County Council's priorities. A report recently commissioned by the County Council highlighted the current situation of the County's public buildings.
Surrey County Council Conservatives' claims that extra funding has been put into education, social services and road maintenance by sweeping cuts in administration and bureaucracy could be described politely as misleading or perhaps more accurately as downright lies, according to Councillor Janet Maines, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council. Most of the extra funding in the budget has come either from the government or from prudential borrowing says Mrs Maines.
Councillor Janet Maines, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, commenting on the County Council budget said, "I welcome the single figure increase in the Council tax for Surrey residents, which is good news for people on fixed incomes including pensioners. But I have opposed the budget because the Conservative administration at County Hall has not gone far enough to reduce bureaucracy and inefficiency within the Council. The base budget has not been examined in detail as was agreed by the Council one year ago. A number of multi-million pound contracts are not being adequately controlled by the Council. Although the Council is now making a welcome start to introduce cost-saving preventative measures such as key worker housing and energy efficiency promoted by the Liberal Democrats, it has been slow to do so."
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day.
The UK must once again stand tall, leading on the world stage and working closely with those who share our interests – including, above all, our partners in Europe.
No child should ever have to experience sexual abuse. These are horrifying crimes that cause so much harm to the children who are victims. We will keep up the pressure so that the action needed to make our communities safe all children finally happens.
