Respected Independent Member joins Surrey County Conservatives (16th February)

The Conservative Group on Surrey County Council are pleased to announce that Nigel Petrie, the long-standing and much respected Member for Epsom & Ewell North East, has joined the Conservative Group on Surrey County Council.

Mr. Petrie has represented Epsom and Ewell North East Since 2001, has been a Member of the Borough Council since 1987 and was Mayor of the Borough in 2000/2001. He is known as an energetic and enthusiastic campaigner for the preservation of Nonsuch Park, is President of the Epsom Symphony Orchestra and is also a distinguished military veteran.

Conservative Group Leader, and Leader of the County Council, Nick Skellett said, “I welcome Nigel Petrie to the Conservative Group and to the Conservative Party. He is a hard-working and distinguished County Councillor who has served his residents well during his 8 years on the County Council and we look forward to working with him for the remainder of this Council term and in the future. We are pleased that he recognises the hard work and achievements of this administration and that he will be part of a growing number of Conservatives on Epsom & Ewell working with our excellent Group Leader Sean Sullivan.

I am also pleased that once again the Conservatives have a County Member representing Epsom & Ewell. This is a most welcome development”.

Mr. Petrie himself remarked; “I am delighted to be joining the Conservative Group on Surrey County Council. I have been greatly impressed by the efforts of the Conservative administration to deliver services whilst striving to keep the cost to local residents to a minimum. Even during a recession and with a miserly settlement from central government they managed to limit the Council Tax rise.

I was also impressed by their efforts in dealing with Nonsuch Park and have often found myself in agreement with them during council debates. Allied to the way in which the party is behaving nationally and locally on the Borough I have increasingly been of the opinion that the Conservative Party is my natural political ‘home’, and I have to say I have been pondering whether to join them for a considerable amount of time. I am very happy that they have accepted me and I look forward to working with my new colleagues.

I feel no ill-will towards my former colleagues and I hope that I shall still count them amongst my friends even though I shall no longer be sitting on their benches”.

Tim Ashton, who is a Member of the Epsom & Ewell Conservative Association added, “Nigel has always been rightly regarded as a man of drive, determination and commitment to his local area. I am delighted to have him onboard and I look forward to working with him both at County Hall and locally as part of our local Association”.