Posts by Cllr Claire Sully
Why I Walk for a Life
Why I Walk for a Life Mental health and suicide prevention were a big part of why I stood as a councillor at Somerset Council. I wanted to see from the inside what is actually being done, and what a unitary authority has the power to do. On Thursday 17th of September, Shepton Mallet hosts…
Read MoreTwo Days in Westminster: Standing Close to History
I have just come back from a two-day trip to the Houses of Parliament. I was there informally, and had the privilege of two separate visits on consecutive days. That gave me the time to spend with Baroness Suttie. Baroness Alison Suttie has given the better part of three decades to public life. She spent…
Read MoreClaire Sully – Local Councillor Update for September
My roles:Attendance: 100%.Elected Councillor for Mendip South, (Lib Dem), since May 2022.Executive: Associate Lead Member for Community Resilience (Somerset Council Executive)Political: Chair of the Somerset Council Liberal Democrat Group. Committees:Full Council — budget, policy, constitutionPlanning Committee – East (quasi-judicial, predetermination rules apply)Harbour Management Advisory CommitteeOutside body: Somerset Rivers Authority Board Auditors place Somerset Council in the…
Read More60 years of Pilton Pre-school!
I was so pleased to join the 60th Anniversary Celebration at Pilton Playing Fields on Saturday. There was a wonderful display of photographs charting six decades of the pre-school’s history — generations of Pilton (and surrounds) children, families and volunteers, and a lovely reminder of how much a pre school setting can mean to a…
Read MoreI spoke to LBC News about the Bonehill-Paine selection — and why Somerset isn’t a lower bar
I spoke to Steve Holden on LBC News about the Crewkerne South selection this lunchtime (Aug 6th) — and what the Conservatives think a councillor actually does. Listen again on Global Player, my interview starts at 2 hr 20. Joshua Bonehill-Paine, who was jailed for antisemitic harassment, was selected as the Conservative candidate for Crewkerne…
Read MoreKemi Badenoch has one standard for MPs and another for Somerset.
The leader of the Conservative Party went on national radio this week to defend her party’s selection of a former neo-Nazi as a council candidate in Somerset. She lost the argument twice. Once on Joshua Bonehill-Paine. Once on Somerset “That’s what councillors do” Joshua Bonehill-Paine was jailed for three years in 2015 for posting antisemitic…
Read MoreClaire Sully – Councillor Update – August
My roles:[Attendance: 100%.]Elected Councillor for Mendip South, Lib Dem, since 5 May 2022.Executive: Associate Lead Member for Community Resilience (Somerset Council Executive)Political: Chair of the Somerset Council Liberal Democrat Group. Committees:Full Council — budget, policy, constitutionPlanning Committee – East (quasi-judicial, predetermination rules apply)Harbour Management Advisory CommitteeOutside body: Somerset Rivers Authority Board Somerset must make its…
Read MoreWhy Somerset needs to help drive the Big Conversation on Care
Adult social care is already in the headlines — because we’re in a crisis. But behind the statistics are real situations, playing out in homes across Somerset right now. A parent who can no longer manage alone. A partner recovering from a stroke. A friend quietly exhausted from caring for someone else, with nowhere to…
Read MoreLate, Non-Existent, No-Show: Can Somerset’s Buses Finally Change?
For a long time now, I’ve been raising the alarm — alongside fellow councillors, our MPs, and the tireless Somerset Bus User Group — that our current bus service model simply isn’t working for the people of Somerset. I’ve seen it up close. Not long ago, I worked with the Bus User Group, MPs and…
Read MoreThe Coalition of Tactical Voting Was Always Going to End in a Bin
Trust in politicians is about as low as it has ever been measured. The Electoral Commission’s 2025 survey found just 14% of people say they trust politicians — itself only a slight recovery from 10% the year before. The British Social Attitudes survey put trust in government to act in the national interest at a…
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