![Mary Lewis with the successful Chatterbus service she champions](/sites/www.esherwalton.com/files/styles/gallery_large/public/2017-04/Mary%20Lewis%20chatterbus.jpg?itok=LWT67TJP)
Former English teacher Mary Lewis is campaigning for re-election as Cobham’s county councillor having kept the promise to improve the quality of Surrey’s schools.
Mary and her husband David have lived in Stoke d’Abernon since 1988 and brought up their family in the area. Mary has always been involved in community roles, from School Governor to the Independent Monitoring Board of a local prison.
At her first election to Surrey County Council in 2013, she pledged that if elected she would work to improve the quality of schools and as Cabinet Associate for Children, Schools and Families she has done just that - with 94% of Surrey schools now being rated Good or Outstanding, including all those in the Cobham area.
Mary said: “When I was first elected, representatives of local schools, charities and other organisations lobbied me about the ineffectiveness of Surrey’s Children’s Services in helping Cobham children. This made a great impact on me. In January 2017 Ofsted reported SCC ‘continuing to make progress to improve’ but there is much more to do. If re-elected I would continue to focus on this to ensure that local children are safe and have a good start in life.
“The quality of local roads is much improved thanks to Surrey County Council’s Operation Horizon initiative - but there is always more to do. Following completion of new pavements around the station, I will campaign for more improvements in key routes. I will also prioritise Highways schemes which help to keep the traffic flowing, looking at junctions and bottlenecks.”
Another highlight of her four years at Surrey has been Chatterbus project which she worked on with residents. As Deputy Director of Cobham Community Bus CIC, Mary is delighted that so many people benefit from the bus service every day for getting to work, going shopping and enjoying a better quality of life. She added: “It shows what we can achieve if all parts of the community work together: residents, county and borough councils and businesses.”
Mary is a confident speaker who stands up for Cobham residents at County Hall. She is not afraid to campaign for the good of all Surrey residents, challenging those in power to recognise local needs and to produce fairer funding solutions.
She hopes residents of Cobham, Stoke d’Abernon, Downside and Hatchford will give her their support on 4 May so that she can continue to deliver on their behalf.