We are now offering Party Membership to our supporters. Join us and have your say on how we can shape Castle Point for the benefit of the residents. Visit our membership page here
Who We Are
Get to Know Our Councillors
Warren Gibson
Councillor for Victoria Ward
I have lived in Castle Point for all of my 46 years, with a majority of that time being spent living in Victoria ward. My parents rented, and ultimately, bought their own home from the council, my childhood home. I went to school in this area, I love this area and I am passionate about its survival and sustainability. I earn my living as a Castle Point taxi driver; I have experience serving on committees in order to drive real and positive change. I am not a politician but I have the necessary skillset to deliver results for the people I represent without the restraints of a party whip. I decided to stand in the local council elections for a number of reasons and was enthused to join PIP which I believe had a real voice, free from the shackles and nonsensical point scoring of party-political ideology. Castle Point needed to change, under the Conservative majority council, which seemed to believe it had a divine right to rule without the checks and balances being applied to rein them in, the boroughs infrastructure had deteriorated, the banks had moved out, schools, doctors and dentist had become oversubscribed, our libraries are under threat and our roads had become ‘third world’. There had been very little to engage or embrace either the youth group or the older members of our community. The straw that broke the camel's back for me was the utter disregard for the voters of Castle Point when trying to push through the Local Housing Plan, a plan more aligned with the interests of large property developers than the hopes, needs and requirements of local people. I was so encouraged when doing door to door canvassing for the 2021 local elections that these concerns were shared by the vast majority of residents I spoke to, and they were also looking for change. I was elected as a PIP councillor in May 2021 and am very proud and feel very honoured to be able to represent Victoria ward.
Steve Mountford
Councillor for Cedar Hall Ward
I have lived in Cedar Hall, Thundersley for most of my adult life. I regularly walk our dog in the Cedar Hall Ward and surrounding area, so I am local to be able to understand and represent the people that live here. I am married and have four sons who went to Thundersley Primary School and King John School.
Being elected in May 2021, was a major achievement in bringing independence to our borough. I am the cabinet portfolio holder for resources, which means I am responsible for the finances for Castle Point Council. I am a qualified accountant so I bring valuable experience to help ensure our council is being run effectively, that we receive value for money and plan ahead.
Becoming a councillor has shown me a whole new way to look at things locally and nationally too.
I originally decided to stand as a councillor to stop the Conservative Party from building 5,000 houses on our Green Belt in Castle Point. We withdrew the failed Conservative Local Plan and are working on a new Castle Point Plan that protects the Green Belt and utilises Brownfield sites.
In 2022, we took the overall majority of the council allowing us to make key decisions; including resolving some long overdue issues of under-investment and utilising the assets and resources to improve services and reduce costs.
email; cllrsmountford@castlepoint.gov.uk
​
Russ Savage
Councillor for St Marys Ward
I was born in Laindon in 1964, where I received my education. On leaving school, aged 16, I secured an Electrical Apprenticeship at Shellhaven Refinery where I worked for 20 Years. My roles included Maintenance, Telecoms and Projects (where I acquired skills for building teams with one central aim, and how to achieve this in a managed and timely manner). I moved to working Offshore in 2000; commuting to various European destinations, flying to offshore installations across the North Sea and also working on Shell’s onshore installations. I held various Senior Operations roles, one of these being Shell UK’s HSE Safety Specialist. My responsibilities included coaching Operational Safety, and undertaking HSE related audits on all aspects and locations operated by the company internationally. Also part of this role, I investigated various incidents and accidents within our business, participating in multi agency, multi country investigations. During this period I utitlised my project management experience together with skills of identifying issues, implemented actions to improve, and monitoring actions for compliance and effectiveness . From my roles I have learnt how to work under pressure, in very stressful and extreme environments, and be able to make rational and sensible decisions taking all the evidence into account. After a rewarding career, I was very lucky to be able to retire early in 2020. Living in Benfleet since 1990 I have been a School Governor at Jotmans school for many years. Although I have never been ‘political’, I have become concerned in recent years about how the local council has been run, and how they were taking actions without taking residents views into account. When I heard about The People's Independent Party in early 2021, their ideas on how to save our Green Belt, and how local residents views and concerns really do matter, I volunteered to help. I believed I had the attributes and skills, learnt from my working life, to be able to make a difference for the community and make Castle Point a better place to live.
I became a PIP candidate for St Mary’s ward, and after a short but intensive campaign, not only on the Local Plan, but all aspects of local government, I received the support of the ward in May 2021 and was elected as a councillor, a seat which for many years had been Conservative
email; cllrrsavage@castlepoint.gov.uk
​
Lynsey McCarthy-Calvert
Councillor for Appleton Ward
I live on Kents Hill Road with my husband, 4 children and mother-in-law. My family have deep roots here. I work as a doula (birth education and support) and psychotherapist/counsellor, so listening to people is what I do for a living. Previously I was chair of the Mid & South Essex Maternity Voices Partnership and I was also a non-executive member of the NHS England’s Regional Maternity Programme Board for East of England working strategically to improve maternity services for the region. My priority is to listen to fellow residents and follow their wishes. I want to improve our services for all residents and will look for ways to provide youth services, promote good mental health, reduce vandalism and anti-social behaviour. I want to see increased access to community services for our elderly and vulnerable residents and improve our child and adult social care. I will lobby for Essex County Council to turn our streetlights on and repair and maintain our roads and paths which are in a shocking condition. My focus for standing as your Appleton Ward candidate is due to the devastating effect of the Local Plan. This plan is to build over 5,000 homes within the next 15 years. We must fight to reduce the numbers and protect our green belt at all costs. Our future depends on it. Voting for me will be a vote for change, for a local person whose only interest is to serve fellow residents, to hold the council to account and demand fairness and transparency from the administration at Castle Point Borough Council.
cllrlmccarthy-calvert@castlepoint.gov.uk
​
Hannah Barton-Brown
Councillor for St. Peter's Ward
I have lived in Thundersley all my life and I am very passionate about the area. I have two small children who go to a local school and my husband runs a local business. As a resident who has concerns about the local issues within the area, I feel like I can’t complain about something that I am not willing to fight to change. I am passionate about driving change, not giving in, and pushing for what is right. I am not a politician, and I am not a fan of politics. I am concerned that there are decisions being made on our local area that are not in the best interests of the community. When I heard about a group of like-minded people who want to fight for our local area and represent the residents, I felt it was only right to want to get involved and have a voice. We need to ensure that we have suitable facilities in the area for the young and the elderly. Invest in improvements for the area to benefit our community. Utilise our open spaces and supporting those who need it. Let’s not turn everything into a concrete jungle putting our services under strain. Working together as a team we can ensure the voices of residents are heard and that the government and council do not railroad projects that are not in the best interests of our community. I would like to be a voice for the local people to ensure we will continue to love living in Castle Point and protect our area for the future
_edited.png)
Tom Gibson
Councillor for Cedar Hall Ward
I have lived in Castle Point my whole life and attended The King John School and Seevic College. I went to The University of Huddersfield to study Politics and was President of the Huddersfield Student wing which allowed me to develop skills in various aspects of political operation. I worked on grassroots campaigns to save the A&E at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, as well as various other community causes. Wherever I have been and whatever I have done, being involved as part of a community has been at the heart of it all. My ideology is completely aligned with The People’s Independent Party: transparent, honest and a steadfast representation of the interests of the people who I have grown up with and not tied to national party politics. Whether you have lived here for decades and are appalled at what is being done to our once happy and sustainable borough or, like me, are a young person facing the harsh reality that you will never be able to afford to live independently in the community you've called home for your entire life. I want to help correct the Local Plan to reduce the numbers, protect the green belt and ensure affordable housing is affordable. The choice for the May Election is simple. Please vote for your local People's Independent Party candidate and start having a real say in what happens to your community and your home.
Kieron Bowker
Councillor for Victoria Ward
Thank you for your resounding support in 2022. It’s a real privilege to represent you all in Victoria.
I’m 64 years old and I’m very happily married to Gerri with one son Henry. I have spent much of the last 40 years living in the area. I have become increasingly frustrated with national Red/Blue “pendulum” politics. Haven’t we all? The “One Size Fits All” national policy approach puts local needs and local voices firmly at the back of the queue in favour of national party dogma and political posturing. That’s not for me.
PIP are local people for local people. I feel greatly energised by this new approach. I am an unashamed “localist” and common sense centrist. I make no apologies for that. Our precious greenbelt remains under serious threat from developers who don’t give a fig for the consequences. Land agents and developers will continue to seek to destroy our borough under concrete and then simply move on to the next target. That’s what they do as we all know. But I can’t stand by and allow them to destroy our borough. I refuse to wave the white flag as the previous administration did. We, the local people speak the same simple language.
Since the independent alliance took control, we have kicked out the disastrous 2019 Conservative plan to destroy vast swathes of our greenbelt as we said we would. We kept our promise. You spoke. We listened. The first Independent administration in Castle Point history are now working on a new local plan based upon real local need, much lower numbers, smaller dwellings and on brownfield sites. Our shared vision.
We continue to seek transparency and accountability in all matters. We have instigated a root and branch formal review of structure in Castle Point in order to make us Fit For Purpose in the 21st century. We have delivered a completely balanced budget in 2023 which was a challenge having inherited a substantial Conservative deficit.
We are actively lobbying Essex County Council on many fronts. We currently receive very poor value/ service from this one party dominated monolith. There are no transparent accounts from ECC. It is extremely frustrating. Ultimately we need PIP councillors at a County level to raise the volume.
Allan Edwards
Councillor for Boyce Ward
I work as a consultant for a London based public relations agency, specialising in technology. Benfleet is my home and my whole family lives in the area. I was brought up in the town, attending Kents Hill school, Appleton school, and SEEVIC. For the past eight years I have lived in Boyce ward with my wife and daughter in a street that has shown its tremendous community spirit during the last few challenging years. I volunteer at the Fusion Youth Club as I believe providing our young people with a choice of activities is vital to developing a healthy community. I want to preserve the environment and strengthen the community that makes Benfleet, and Boyce ward special, that means protecting our green belt and ensuring that necessary development comes with the necessary infrastructure.
I have decided to stand with The People’s Independent Party to bring back a voice for the people, rather than following national party politics, which serves it’s own master.
Sharon Ainsley
Councillor for St Mary's Ward
I have lived in St Mary's ward for over 20 years and in Castle Point all my adult life. I raised my family here. My daughter went to school locally, before going to university. I currently work in logistics as a key worker and previously in Finance.
A founder member of 'Jotmans Farm Action Group', I have campaigned to preserve this precious area of green belt from development, for over a decade and with your help, will continue to do so. I am passionate about protecting our greenbelt and improving air quality. I want Castle Point to be a great place to live and work. Working together, we can lobby for Improvements to parks creating safe, inviting places and outdoor activities for everyone. Planting wildflowers will help our bees and wildlife. Moreover, I want to make sure that we see an element of levelling up in St Mary’s Ward. Anglian Water need to clean up their Act: For too long, we have suffered with Fugitive emissions from the Water Treatment facility in Watlington Road. In Richmond Park, foul water is pumped into the Watercourses, and escaped untreated sewage spilled onto the playing fields. It’s not on! The choice for the May Election is simple. Please vote for your local People's Independent Party candidate and start having a real say in what happens to your community and your home