I 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…
Read MoreCllr Claire Sully – Monthly Councillor Resident Update
A Council Rebuilt, the story of Somerset Council, 2023–2026 When Somerset Council came into being in April 2023, it inherited far more than a map and a name. Local government reorganisation, set in motion under the previous Conservative administration back in 2018, had left the new authority facing serious structural and financial pressures from day…
Read MoreThe government wants to weaken flood plain protections. Tessa Munt is fighting back — and I’m with her.
Tessa Munt MP, as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Flooding and Flooded Communities, went directly to Parliament to request dedicated debating time on the National Planning Policy Framework changes. She made the case to the relevant committee that the proposed changes are dangerous — warning that they would allow developers to bypass…
Read MoreHousing targets, local land and what it could mean for your community
As an elected councillor at Somerset Council, I need to share an important update on housing and the Local Plan — local voices are needed now, and this is your chance to shape what happens next. The Government has set demanding housing targets — and Somerset currently has a 2.1 Year Housing Land Supply against…
Read More“The trees are gathering, inviting the humans”
The Somerset Conference of the Trees — 150 people gathered at Orchard Park Farm in Hornblotton, organised by Somerset Council — was exactly the kind of event that reminds you why this work matters. There’s something quietly profound about a conference that starts from the premise that “the trees are gathering, inviting the humans”. Not…
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