Candidates for Rother District Council election next May 2023
Ahead of the Rother District Council election next May, local Liberal Democrats have announced their candidates for three key local wards.
Brede & Udimore, Southern Rother and Rye & Winchelsea will be important battlegrounds next May: Liberal Democrats currently hold two of the five seats, with the other three being held by Conservatives.
Martin Griffiths has been re-selected to stand in the Brede & Udimore ward, having lost out to the Conservatives in the by-election held earlier in 2022.
Sitting Lib Dem councillor Andrew Mier has been re-selected to fight the Southern Rother ward (Fairlight, Guestling, Icklesham and Pett).
Guy Harris, the editor of the Rye & Winchelsea Focus newsletter, hopes to be elected in Rye & Winchelsea, where incumbent councillor Rev Howard Norton retires in the spring.
Welcoming Guy's selection, Cllr Norton said: "I am delighted that Guy has been selected by local party members. He has been a huge support to me in the ward over the past months and I have been particularly impressed by his vocal campaigning to safeguard our local health and leisure services and for his interest in farming issues. He will make a splendid councillor and be a terrific advocate for Rye & Winchelsea residents."
The three candidates are pledging to fight hard for residents and businesses, for a low-carbon future for the district, for sound finances and to maintain high quality, accessible health and leisure services for Rye and the villages.
Cllr Mier says: "I hope residents feel that we have listened actively over the past four years and put forward their views with energy. That is exactly what we plan to do in the next four."
I am honoured to have been re-selected by party colleagues. We have not stopped working in Brede & Udimore since the by-election and I get increasing contacts and casework from residents who recognise the Lib Dems' commitment to supporting local communities.
By Martin Griffiths, chair of the Hastings & Rye Liberal Democrats