Claudia Riley-Hards is standing for Long Ditton in the coming Elmbridge Borough Council elections - a seat she only narrowly missed out on winning by 8 votes in 2018.

Claudia was born in British Guyana and has been living in the UK for 40 years. She has been a Long Ditton resident for the last two decades and advises councils on economic development and regeneration for a living. She holds a degree in Business Studies and a Masters in Marketing.

She is conscious that the Liberal Democrats, who ran Elmbridge Council with the Residents' Associations Group from 2016-18, had floated the idea of building thousands of homes in the green belt, including on land near Squires nursery in Long Ditton. Claudia comments: “It was a fantastic response and caused the administration to think again, although I note they have not ruled out sacrificing our precious Green Belt. If I am elected I will enthusiastically support the Conservative policy of no building on Green Belt and assist a new Conservative administration in pushing back on our housing target, which we think is too high."