Conservative candidate for Broadbridge Heath signs Free Speech Charter

Matthew French is standing for the Conservatives in the Horsham District Council ward of Broadbridge Heath and signed up to the Charter last week.

Mr French, who lives in Barns Green and works in Cowfold, is a former Ashford Borough Councillor in Kent, and was a mayor of Ashford.

He said: “One of the reasons I thought that Broadbridge Heath would be a good place for me to represent as they have a lot of planning going on and I feel with my experience over ten years on the planning committee at Ashford I have come across a lot of different schemes.”

The Charter was launched in March last year to promote openness and transparency in local Government after Conservative Christian Mitchell was effectively sacked as Horsham District Council’s chairman-elect by his own party.

The charter states: “I undertake to speak, write and vote on behalf of my constituents without fear or favour of party discipline.

“If I am a member of a political party, I will respect its values and honour its pre-election manifesto pledges - but I will always put first the people I am elected to serve.”

Candidates from across the political spectrum have signed the Charter.