Hi, I'm James.

Full statement

I've lived in this part of our county the majority of my life. I grew up in South Woodham Ferrers, went to school in Southend, had a brief spell on the South coast for university and now I live in Mayland.

I'm standing because I've seen local people struggling and services being cut to the point where they cease to function properly. For me, that is not local representatives trying to make their constituent's lives better. When I was a teenager you could call the doctors and be seen the same or next day, now you have to wait weeks or chance your arm in the early morning queue for an emergency appointment. When Maldon District Council attempted eviction of Maldon Yacht Club, it proved to me that the council didn't have resident's best interests at heart and I'm delighted our petition (which had over 2,000 signatures) played a part in helping guarantee the club's future.

I passionately believe that if development must continue, then infrastructure must be matched to that and I think that renewable energy developments should be prioritised over new nuclear power stations.