I’m Cllr Helen Whitehead, deputy leader of Thanet District Council, cabinet member for housing across Thanet, and I am standing for Ramsgate for the KCC elections.

Full statement

I am determined to improve the SEN and education system in Kent, increase the accessibility of healthcare, and strengthen public transport.

I have lived in Thanet for over 35 years, growing up in Ramsgate and attending Clarendon for all of my secondary education. My family live in Ramsgate, and I am frequently involved in the regeneration of Ramsgate assets, including the successful work to secure funding to bring the Madeira Walk waterfall back into operation.

My professional life has included being a deputy headteacher at an SEN school, over two years working for a KCC/NHS partnership to improve housing provision for neurodivergent people across Kent and Medway, and teaching within specialist and secure units. I know the changes we need to make within education and healthcare, and I am determined to do everything I can to deliver them.

I have nearly six years of experience of being a councillor, and as cabinet member for housing I have increased Thanet’s development of new council homes from an average of 18 per year over the last decade to more than 400 in production over the last 18 months. I have also ensured that we purchase over 200 properties in Thanet for temporary accommodation, to bring back our families placed outside the district.

I will do my very best to represent you well at Kent County Council.

She is responsible for requesting central protection for prime agricultural land, and for greater Council power to determine Planning choices, to ensure that we are providing the housing that we genuinely need, alongside protecting community resources.

Her vision for the future of Herne Bay and Sandwich is that of a community well served by a fully supported NHS, genuinely affordable housing, education that serves and supports all children, and with the backing of a Labour government to protect our seas and our natural assets.