I was elected as a Labour councillor in December 2005 in the Felling ward, succeeding John Hird.

Before being elected I held the following roles:

In 2001 I was Youth Officer in the Tyne Bridge Constituency Labour Party and from 2001 - 2004 I was the Leader of the South Tyneside Young Labour Group.

My first priority for Felling is housing. Currently we are overseeing a major improvement to homes in the Sunderland Road area through the Pathfinder Renewal Scheme and this programme will continue for several more years. For our Council tenants we are delivering improvements through the Labour Government's Decent Homes Standards works and currently new housing developments are continuing at Bishops Park and Clover Avenue.

Unemployment is being tackled in Felling and as a Council we are initiating adult programmes to help the long term jobless get back into work. Our youngest children are now benefitting from the work of our new Felling Children's Centre as it continues to develop programmes to prepare our children for life and education in Primary School. While the major falls in crime experienced throughout Gateshead have made the Felling community both safer and stronger.