I am not standing in the local election.

After a great deal of thought, I have decided that I will not be standing in the upcoming local election.

This is not because the issues facing Littlehampton have gone away. Far from it.

I have reached the view that I can speak more freely, campaign more directly, and push harder on the issues that matter by working outside the limits of council politics.

Too often, people are expected to stay in neat boxes, say the right things, and wait their turn while the same problems carry on year after year.

I am not prepared to do that.

I will still be campaigning on the issues that affect local people, especially where residents are being ignored, fobbed off, or forced to accept decline as normal.

Right now, my focus will be on the worsening state of our roads and the wider failure of the system that keeps leaving motorists and taxpayers ripped off while the network falls further into disrepair.

This website is being rebuilt behind the scenes and will return in a new form focused on those issues.

I may not be standing for election, but I am not stepping back.

I am stepping up in a different way.