The University of Surrey welcomed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Guildford MP Angela Richardson to campus on Thursday (30 November).

Epsom and Ewell Times notes the Guildford Parliamentary Constituency is rather marginal. The 2019 General Election result was:

Conservative Angela Richardson 26,317
Liberal Democrats Zöe Franklin 22,980
Labour Anne Rouse 4,515
Independent Anne Milton 4,356
Peace John Morris 483

During their visit, the Prime Minister and Ms Richardson met nursing students and staff from the School of Health Sciences, where they observed practical lessons taking place. They also toured Surrey’s world-class facilities, including a unique immersive simulation suite which digitally replicates different healthcare settings. The Prime Minister also took the time to personally speak to Surrey’s students to learn more about their journey in becoming nurses and why they chose to pursue the profession.

Professor G Q Max Lu, President and Vice-Chancellor, of the University of Surrey, said:

“I am honoured to welcome the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and Angela Richardson MP to the University of Surrey campus. Our reputation for training highly skilled and inspiring health care professionals precedes us. The strength of our excellence in teaching and student support makes Surrey an exceptional place to study.  We are delighted to have this opportunity to showcase some of our state-of-the art facilities to our distinguished visitor.

“As part of our commitment to producing the sought-after health professionals for the future, we are pleased to be welcoming our first cohort of medical students in 2024. Combined with the innovative biomedical and healthy living research undertaken at Surrey, we are steadfast in our contribution and support to the NHS and our communities.”

The School of Health Sciences, which sits within the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, at the University of Surrey continues to go from strength to strength. The calibre of nursing programmes at the school are both nationally and internationally recognised, being ranked seventh in the QS World University Subject Rankings and eight in the UK (The Times / Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024). This builds on an established history of the school, which recently celebrated 40 years of educating nurses at Surrey.

Professor Paul Townsend, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey, said:

“It is an enormous privilege to have the Prime Minister and our local MP visit us.

“Surrey is not only the home to cutting edge research but is a world leader in educating  health professionals of the future. Our team of dedicated teaching staff work hard to ensure that our students have the knowledge and skills needed to care for patients and that they embody the culture and values of the NHS. It is a great honour to be a part of the Surrey family and to witness our students succeed in their studies.”

Jackie McBride, Associate Professor, Head of Department: Professional Preparatory Programmes at the School of Health Sciences at the University of Surrey, said:

“I am delighted that the Prime Minister has met some of our future healthcare professionals  here at the University of Surrey. I am beyond proud of our students and of everything they have and continue to achieve.  Nursing is more than a job, it requires dedication, empathy, knowledge, and skills, and I know the Prime Minister will have seen today all these attributes in our students.”

Surrey University Press Office

Surrey Heath Borough Council is burning through its reserves and eyeing up serious cuts to services, the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee was told. The Monday, November 13, cross-party panel of MPs heard from experts including from the National Audit Office, the Institute of Fiscal Studies, and chief financial officers of local councils as it delved into the ‘financial distress in local authorities”.

Among the group giving evidence were Paul Dossett, from Grant Thornton the forensic accountants deep-diving into Woking Borough Council, Jonathan Carr-West, of the Local Government Information Unit, and Surrey Heath’s chief finance officer Bob Watson.

The committee was also told a lack of professional accountability among senior officers – across all councils – has been a driving factor behind local authorities running into financial trouble – and has been made worse with many scared to stand up against councillors for fear of losing their jobs.

Mr Watson said: “ (Surrey Heath) is not in immediate financial distress, it is like many other councils, predicting a use of reserves over the medium finance period and the burn rate on those reserves is unsustainable into the medium and long term future.”

He told the meeting of the “challenging budget process” the council was going through, including looking at cutting non-essential services. He said: “We have over the past two and a half years embarked on a number of efficiency measures where we’ve taken costs out of the organisation without cutting services to the residents and business in Surrey Heath. It is potentially now likely we will have to look at some of the discretionary services. We also have over the past built levels of ear-marled reserves for very such cases where we’ve started to see some of these higher interest rates coming through. We plan to use those reserves to smooth the gap over the four years. Sufficient reserves to take us through the four years but it is challenging.”

Part of the reason, the committee heard, for councils struggling to balance the books has been a 61 per cent cut in funding, which has had the knock on effect of increasing demand for services – notably in housing and homelessness.

Mr Watson told the committee that the cost of living crisis has impacted on people paying private rent and who were now presenting as homeless. He said: “We in our borough haven’t seen it quite the same (levels of homelessness) as some of the other Surrey boroughs but we’re starting to see that increase. Last month’s statistics of people presenting to our council offices actually doubled- again  driven by cost of living pressures on individuals.  We have the cost prices going up with hotels, we have the cost of hotels going up driven by demand going through and were now starting to see some of the hotels closed by central government these people now presenting to the local authority as homeless.” He added that it was not just a refugee crisis as people have been struggling to find affordable homes for years.

Earlier in the session the committee heard from Grant Thornton’s Paul Dossett. Grant Thornton works with about half the councils in the UK and is completing a deep dive into how Woking Borough Council went bankrupt with debts approaching £2.6billion. Mr Dossett told the committee that local government financing “just bumbles along with no attempt to fix it” and when councils do go bust its the most vulnerable, the ones who rely on council services the most, who are impacted.

He said: “Some of the things that have gone wrong, what we have seen with some of those people responsible from an officer side, in those key roles, the golden triangle of chief executive, monitoring officer and section 151 officer, there hasn’t really been professional accountability. There may have been job accountability in that the person has moved on to a different place but the sort of professional accountability of someone not doing their job to the right professional standard we don’t really see that in any meaningful way. Alongside that there needs to be better job protection for statutory officers to enable those statutory functions to speak very clearly to members to say ‘you can not do this’ 

“That is either breaking the law, or involves a degree of financial risk that the Section 151 officer is not comfortable with,  and should be able to say that without any fear that there will be comeback against you in that role.”

No Surrey MPs voted in Parliament for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. The vote took place on Wednesday (November 15) on an amendment to the King’s Speech that was put forward by Scottish National Party MPs.

The amendment called for government to “uphold international law and protect all civilians in Israel and Palestine”, to “condemn the horrific killings by Hamas and the taking of hostages” and to “reaffirm that there must be an end to the collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.

It also called for the “urgent release of all hostages and an end to the siege of Gaza to allow vital supplies of food, fuel, medicine and water to reach the civilian population”.

Of Surrey’s 11 MPs, six voted against the amendment, and the other five had no vote recorded.
The decades-long conflict in Israel and Gaza escalated and gained further international scrutiny on October 7 after a Hamas attack on Israel.

The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement remains on the ground supporting those affected and said there were more than 1.5million people displaced in Gaza, with more than 240 Israeli hostages being held.
The situation there was described by the charity as “deeply alarming and worsening every day”.

The King’s speech sets out the priorities for the coming Parliamentary session, and was delivered by King Charles for the first time as monarch on November 7.

The amendment calling for an immediate ceasefire was lost by 293 votes to 125.

The Labour Party saw eight shadow ministers and two parliamentary private secretaries leave their roles after going against leader Sir Keir Starmer’s order not to vote for the amendment.

Surrey’s MPs were all elected to represent the Conservative Party in Parliament.

Sir Paul Beresford, Chris Grayling and Dominic Raab have announced they will not be standing in the next general election, due to be held before January 2025.

Reigate MP Crispin Blunt confirmed he was the MP arrested on suspicion of rape and the possession of controlled substances on October 26. He was suspended by the Conservative Party and has been released by Surrey Police on conditional bail.

All the Surrey MP votes are listed in full below:

Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley) – No
Crispin Blunt (Reigate) – No vote recorded
Claire Coutinho MP (East Surrey) – No
Michael Gove (Surrey Heath) – No
Chris Grayling MP (Epsom & Ewell) – No
Jeremy Hunt MP (South West Surrey) – No vote recorded
Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne) – No vote recorded
Jonathan Lord (Woking) – No vote recorded
Dominic Raab (Esher and Walton) – No vote recorded
Angela Richardson (Guildford) – No
Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) – No

Epsom & Ewell Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate Helen Maguire received a British Empire Medal (BEM) in The King’s Birthday Honours list announced in June.

The honour was given for the contribution Helen has made for services to the community of Claygate, Surrey, where she lives with her family.

Helen, a former Captain in the Royal Military Police who served in Bosnia and Iraq said, “I am absolutely delighted to have had the work that I and others in my local community have undertaken in recent years recognised.

 “Our efforts to establish wider facilities for the community to support all ages and particularly young people and sport in the immediate area, while providing new options for others came to fruition with the opening of the Claygate Pavilion. It’s therefore humbling to have received such recognition for what was a team effort, so I therefore congratulate those who supported me in establishing our community centre in Claygate.

 “My ambition in standing as Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Epsom & Ewell, Ashtead and Leatherhead, is to extend the sort of work that we have been engaged in in Claygate to this constituency so that all can benefit from the sort of improvements that are needed in the area”.

Helen served in Bosnia on a NATO multinational peacekeeping mission and Iraq, to help rebuild the Iraqi Police Service while providing on-the-ground counter- insurgency policing support to front line infantry.

She is a nationally recognised fundraiser having secured over £1 million for UK charities since leaving the Army.

Chris Grayling MP has announced he will not be seeking re-election at the next General Election due 2024 / January 2025 latest.

In a message to the Epsom and Ewell Conservative Association he wrote:

“I am writing to let you know that I told the Conservative Association AGM on Wednesday that I would not be standing again for Parliament at the next election. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and although the treatment has been successful, it has prompted me to think that after 22 years it is time for a change. The Association will now move ahead and select my successor as Conservative candidate.

I am very grateful to you for the support I have been given by you all over the years. I will obviously carry on working as normal until the election and will hope to see you at one of the upcoming events.”

An MP with a chequered career at ministerial level he is nevertheless recognised as a dedicated and attentive constituency MP.

This has been reflected in sustained large majorities against all challengers in the six elections he has fought, with his share of the vote peaking in the 2017 election at 59.6%.

Mark Todd lives in Epsom and is the Chair of the local Labour Party. He contested the new ward of Horton at the 4th May Epsom and Ewell Borough Council elections. He is an active cyclist and member of the local tree board.

Unfortunately, Britain seems to be stuck in a whole series of crises at the moment: a cost of living crisis, an economic crisis, an NHS crisis, a care crisis, a public sector wage crisis, a housing crisis, and a climate crisis.

We’re in a Tory perma-crisis and no wonder it’s so tough!

It’s not surprising that public services start to fail after a decade of Tory under investment. If you starve state schools and the NHS of money for 5 years, the results are not good; but they are not disastrous. If you starve them for over ten years, well the chickens really come home to roost.

Labour handed over to the Tories the best public health service in the World in 2010. Now we have over seven million unfortunate souls on waiting lists and people who have paid into the system all their lives are left in terrible pain waiting for essential procedures.

In education our schools are crumbling, and teachers struggle to provide pupils with a good education as they are spread too thin. Care services can be appalling with older people left neglected at their time of greatest need.

A Labour Government would get more money into these services, and they would implement common sense reforms to improve them too.

Sewage in our Streams: The Conservatives’ privatisation of many public services has been a disaster; but none has been so disastrous as water. They created a system whereby foreign vulture capitalists moved in and minimised the investment they put into the companies and maximised the money they took out.

I complained direct to the Head of Thames Water about the terrible pollution of the Hogsmill and other local streams last year into which Thames Water regularly overflow sewage. Myself and other local Labour leaders met with senior managers from Thames Water in October. It was clear on touring the facilities and looking at their investment plans that Epsom and Ewell’s sewage system struggles as most of the infrastructure is from the 1960s and cannot cope with current volumes. They equally have no clear costed plan of how to fix it.

A massive problem is that in many parts of the borough, the rainwater drainage and sewage systems are mixed. So, in times of heavy rainfall, this mixed waste tends to end up in the Hogsmill and Green Lanes Stream. Separating out the systems, as they should be, would be the best way to stop this. Then rainwater could go into local streams maintaining the flow and wildlife, and sewage could go to the sewage station.

But, it’s costly to make the system right and despite all the extra money Thames Water get from the increase in local population, it’s not something they currently want to do.
It is only through much tougher regulation from a Labour Government that Thames Water will be forced to invest to fix the system.

A Burning Planet: The Conservatives policies on climate change are too little, too late. We need a green revolution in Britain not tinkering around the edges.

That’s why Labour are offering a bold plan to:

a) Make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030
b) Set up GB Energy, a publicly owned energy company to generate huge amounts
of renewable electricity
c) Insulate 19 million homes over a decade bringing down people’s energy bills and meaning that we use less energy too

Don’t mention the B word: And, of course, there is the B word. Labour believes that the current Hard Brexit is not working. Trade is struggling and living standards are declining. Labour will re-open negotiations to get the country a better deal. The Labour leadership believe it is possible to make significant improvements.

I attended a conference in London at which the Vice President of the European Parliament, Pedro Silva Perreira, talked. He said that only a Labour Government can really improve Britain’s trade relations with Europe. The Conservatives, he continued, have been so antagonistic to the EU and Boris Johnson had told so many lies about them that there was no good will in the negotiations. With a Labour Government that would be so different.

Bringing us all together: While the Labour Party is more cautious now, we still offer some bold policies that can turn around the nation. We hope that under Keir Starmer we can bring together enough of the nation to make a real difference.

I’m sure a Labour Government would make a massive difference to Epsom and Ewell; and it would be the start of a much-needed transition to a fairer, greener, happier society.

Now that the local elections are out of the way, we all wait with interest to see what the Borough Council is planning to do about its controversial plan to build all over the green belt. I hope they will now think again.

The loss of green belt is not just about the loss of character in our area. It would also have a huge impact on local biodiversity. The loss of Horton Farm would have a knock on impact on the Common and Horton Country Park, with the loss of habitat for birds and animals which range across the whole area.

And that would come at a time when local authorities are expected to play a much more active role in the restoration of nature.

For half a century we have seen a sharp decline in native species in the UK. While a few have thrived, and nature is to blame for some of the decline – have you noticed how many more magpies there are around to empty the nests of smaller birds – the reality is that continuing development and the loss of habitat, alongside the use of pesticides, has made a huge difference.

I hope and believe that is now beginning to change. There are firm Government targets for the restoration of nature. Councils are obliged to have a Local Nature Recovery Strategy with real action plans in it. Developers will, from November, be obliged to build a plan for biodiversity net gain into their developments. That means if they take a way a habitat, they need to invest in developing another elsewhere. I hope that will narrow the cost gap between building on brownfield sites and just building on open fields.

The new system of agricultural support will also make a difference. Outside the European Union we have been free to develop an entirely different approach to supporting farmers, away from the constraints of the Common Agricultural Policy. The new UK approach will reward farmers for achieving a better balance between production and nature – for example by restoring hedgerows that were ripped out in the past, or by leaving much wider margins around fields where insects and small animals can flourish. Or by restoring the copses that so often stood in the middle of their fields, or the ponds that have so often disappeared.

In particular it will help the growing number of Nature Friendly Farmers around the country, who are taking an entirely different approach to agriculture with far fewer pesticides and by using what are called cover crops to stimulate the soil instead. Those who have already gone down this route are finding their costs fall, and often their profitability rises while they produce the same amount or even more food. A combination of more traditional methods with modern technology is really making a difference.

But in an area like ours where farming is only present on a limited scale, the importance of the open spaces as corridors through which animals can pass is of particular importance. From the borders of London in West Ewell to the M25, and across to the far side of the Downs and beyond, there are wide areas where local wildlife can roam. Deer in particular are thriving locally. You can often see them grazing in the fields between Epsom and Ashtead in the early evening.

We do need new homes. But we cannot just build at the expense of biodiversity. And in an area like ours, where there is an alternative to the Council’s controversial plan, we would be crazy not to take a different route.

Dominic Raab, former Deputy Prime Minister and Conservative MP for Esher and Walton, will step down at the next general election due to the “increasing concerns over the last few years about the pressure the job has placed” on his young family.

His decision was confirmed in a letter sent on Friday, May 19, to the local party’s group chairperson Peter Szanto. The announcement comes a month after he stood down as Deputy PM after the results of a bullying investigation into his conduct were handed to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Mr Raab was first elected in May 2010 with an 18,593 majority,  although this was cut to just 2,743 in the May 2019 election.

As MP, he served as Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor, and Secretary of State for Justice.
He was also the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from July to November 2018. He is married with two children. 

His resignation letter, which the Local Democracy Service has seen, read:

Dear Peter, 

I am writing to let you know of my decision to step down at the next General Election.
It has been a huge honour to represent the Conservatives, since 2010, in this wonderful constituency.
Thank you for your steadfast support and tireless efforts, alongside all the teamwork and hard graft put in by our superb officers, Councillors and members.
As we have discussed, I have become increasingly concerned over the last few years about the pressure the job has placed on my young family.
I will continue to carry out all my responsibilities to my constituents, and provide every support in campaigning, so that we may win here next year – which I am confident we can do under this Prime Minister’s leadership.

Yours Sincerely,

Dominic Raab.

In April this year, Mr Raab quit as Deputy Prime Minister after a report looking into bullying allegations was delivered to Downing Street. 

The Esher and Walton MP announced his resignation via a statement and said he would keep his word if any findings of bullying were found.

The inquiry, conducted by lawyer Adam Tolley KC,  upheld two of the allegations against Mr Raab.
His decision now to not stand as an MP was greeted with  “deep regret” by the group chair who said Mr Raab had “the full support of the Association to continue as our candidate”.

Mr Szanto said that “on a personal level” he knew of the sacrifices Mr Raab and his family had made but that his commitment to the residents of Esher and Walton had “always been outstanding”.

The Esher and Walton Conservative Association has since been in touch with Conservative campaign headquarters about the selection of a new parliamentary candidate although at this stage no timetable has been given. 

Earlier today Epsom and Ewell MP Chris Grayling called upon the Government to ban industrial fishing boats from “scalping our sea beds and hoovering up marine life regardless of what gets trapped in their nets, especially in the UK’s marine protected areas”. Secondly, he called for the creation of “‘Highly Protected Marine areas’ around our shores, as recommended by the Benyon Review. Where no extractive activity is permitted. Where nature can be left to its own devices.”

Thirdly, he has asked the Government to “provide both regulatory and financial support to those looking to restore sea grass beds.”

Photo: Chris Grayling MP argues his points in Tuesday’s Marine Protection Areas Debate in Westminster. Parliament TV.

Rounding off his contribution in a special debate on the marine environment Mr Grayling referred to all the worldwide illegal fishing that goes on with impunity. He suggested the Government works on international accords that will “require every fishing vessel around the world to have proper satellite monitoring devices on board.”

He also called for improved sustainable fishing food labelling.

Mr Grayling addressed the meeting in Westminster on Tuesday 2nd May in the afternoon.

It’s a grey day in Claygate but the mood among the Lib Dems who have gathered at a micro pub next to the village station is anything but gloomy.

In a bright yellow jacket she said was a “hand me down” via one of her sons, the party’s parliamentary candidate for Esher and Walton reacted to the news that Dominic Raab had resigned from the cabinet.

Monica Harding called for Mr Raab to resign as the area’s MP, and said residents “deserved better”.
Mr Raab said he had set out his position, and appreciated the “hundreds of messages of support” he had received. He added: “My overriding focus now is on delivering for the people of Esher and Walton, with our economic plan and support with energy bills.”

In the 2019 general election, Ms Harding took 45 per cent of the vote in Esher and Walton, cutting the Conservative MP’s majority from 23,298 in 2017, to 2,743. It is therefore a key seat the Lib Dems have their eye on for the next general election, which must be called before January 2025.

But with local elections taking place in Elmbridge on May 4, could Mr Raab’s resignation in the wake of an investigation into bullying also impact on those voters?

The Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, also the MP for neighbouring Kingston and Surbiton, told the LDRS that in parliamentary constituencies across Surrey, including Esher and Walton, Guildford, Woking and Mole Valley, the party was sensing a “real opportunity”. He added: “This chaos and indecency in the Conservatives is what’s putting off a lot of life-long Tories.”

The village of Claygate has around 7,000 people, an average house price of more than £1.1million and three Liberal Democrat councillors. Elmbridge Borough Council, the area’s local authority, is run by the Residents Associations’ 18 councillors, in coalition with the 13 Lib Dem councillors.

The Conservatives are the second largest party, with 15 councillors, five of which hold seats that are up for election on May 4 when a third of the members are up for election.

Current Lib Dem councillor Alex Coomes is up for election, standing against John Charles Burns for the Conservatives and Sue Cope for the Labour Party.

One voter told the LDRS Mr Raab’s resignation would not impact on how she would vote in the borough council elections.

An investigation into Mr Raab by Adam Tolley KC looked at eight formal complaints against the MP from his work in three separate government departments.

In his resignation letter, Mr Raab said all but two of the claims had been dismissed in the report and raised concerns the inquiry would “encourage spurious complaints” against ministers.

Peter Szanto, chairman of Esher & Walton Conservative Association, said: “Dominic has continually worked to support our constituency and all those that live here. He has always been professional, kind, thoughtful and tenacious in his work.I, and the Esher & Walton Conservative Association, fully support him.”

Ann Hennings, who said she had met Mr Raab “several times at various functions”, had found him to be “very kind” and said she didn’t have “a bad thing to say about him”. She said she was glad she was not at work anymore, and asked: “What is bullying? Getting somebody’s job done, is that bullying? I think anybody who’s in charge of anything might be accused of that sometimes.” She said that the local Liberal Democrats, who run the council in a coalition with Residents’ Association councillors, “seem to get things done” but added that her voting habits were not the same on national and local ballots.

“If you have parents that are a certain party, I think a lot of people tend to be the same, it goes down with families,” she said. “My family were staunch Conservatives. I’ve always voted Conservative but never locally. I’ve only ever voted liberal.”

Another resident said Mr Raab’s resignation from his roles as Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary was “good riddance”, but said it would not change how she would vote locally.

While the Liberal Democrat leader on Elmbridge Borough Council, and Claygate councillor, Cllr Bruce McDonald, said on the doorstep the constituency’s MP came up “from time to time” he didn’t think Mr Raab was “at the front of their minds”. Cllr McDonald said: “I and my colleagues are much more interested in talking about our positive vision for Elmbridge, what we’re getting on with doing because, ultimately, that’s what people want from us.”

But the national picture isn’t far from some people’s minds on the doorstep. Lynne Murray opened her front door to find Ed Davey, Monica Harding and a raft of journalists on her doorstep. She told Mr Davey there was a “very high chance” the Lib Dems may be lucky and get her vote in the future elections.

With issues including the country’s economic prosperity, a “holistic, long term” look at the NHS needed and wanting people to feel “hope again” she said she thought that aspiring to “have a great life” was “so far away from so many people at the moment.” She added: “I’m looking back at 12 years of Conservative government and I can’t think of a single aspect of life in the UK that’s been better.”