New Residents for Guildford Group Name 10 Independent Candidates for Council Seats

Published on: 1 Mar, 2019
Updated on: 2 Mar, 2019

Members of the Residents for Guildford & Villages, including three of the Independent Alliance councillors currently at GBC.

Guildford’s new Residents for Guildford and Villages (R4GV) group of independents have compiled a list of candidates to stand in the borough council’s May 2 election.

So far, ten have been confirmed. They are Joss Bigmore, John Redpath, John Rigg, Colin Cross, Deborah Seabrook, Chris Barrass, Bob McShee, Tim Anderson, Tony Rooth and Chris Blow. Two lady candidates do not want their names revealed yet and a group spokesman said, “we are in discussions with four potentials”.

Mr Bigmore, chair of the group, said they are planning a “meet your candidates” publicity campaign over the next weeks, providing information about candidates, relevant wards and policies.

Describing himself as “a political novice”, Joss Bigmore is aged 42, lives in Holy Trinity since 2011 and is married with eight-year-old twins. He had a 20-year career in the City, and left in 2016 to become an investor in start-up companies. He has not yet confirmed where he will stand.

He said: “I think Guildford is a fantastic place to live and bring up children but I’m worried my children won’t have a similar experience.  I’m concerned about affordability of homes, pollution, and unnecessary Green Belt development, but it sickens me to see how many people we have living on the streets in one of the most affluent towns in the country.

Joss Bigmore

“I think the power of the council Executive is being used to force through decisions that compromise the long-term best interest of our residents so, rather than be a vocal critic, I’ve decided to stand and put my money where my mouth is.  True representative democracy rather than single-party domination is our aim, ensuring all residents views are taken into account in all decision-making.

“I have the utmost respect for the work all our councillors and the officers put in on our behalf but in my opinion the results achieved for all that effort are disappointing, and when that happens there is an issue with the leadership.”

Asked whether his group had an agreement with the Guildford Greenbelt Group not to stand against each other the RG4V leader said: “We have no formal agreement with GGG or any other party and we do not have the luxury of having 48 candidates, so it would make sense to ensure we make the best use of the resources that we and other smaller groups have. To stand against people who share many of our values seems counterproductive.”

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