’m Stuart Brown, and I’m the Liberal Democrat candidate for Fratton Ward in this year’s local elections.

Full statement

I want to be your next local councillor because I believe I have something to offer the local area.

I live locally in the ward, and all too often experience the same problems that everyone faces; fly-tipping, dogs mess, traffic nightmares. I have already been working alongside our active Lib Dem councillors in challenging these issues and working to fix the problems that residents tell us about.

I care a lot about making a difference in people’s lives. Between the Liberal Democrats, my professional life, and other voluntary groups, I’ve been volunteering my time to help others in one way or another for the last 12 years. I worked in retail for most of my working life, but now I help run a social enterprise that delivers projects that try to help Portsmouth.

If you elect me as your councillor, I want to make sure that the council works for local residents, not imposing changes onto them. Things like the recent bin trial, which I led a doorstep residents’ survey about, shouldn’t be forced onto people without asking them first. It did raise however, that most people in the area want to be able to recycle more, something I and the Lib Dem group have committed to improving in Portsmouth.

If you want to know more about me, check out http://www.portsmouthlibdems.org.uk/stuart_brown or follow me on Twitter @stu16486.

You can also find out more about the Liberal Democrat positive plan for change in our city by going to http://www.portsmouthlibdems.org.uk/manifesto.