On Thursday 1st May 2025, voters in the Camelford & Boscastle Electoral Division will head to the polls to choose their next Cornwall Councillor.
To help residents make an informed decision, Boscastle Sound invited each of the four nominated candidates to submit a short piece introducing themselves and sharing their priorities for the area. We’re pleased to include responses from those who have replied so far.
Each candidate was invited to submit up to 500 words, and their contributions appear below in the order they were received.
We hope this gives you a helpful insight ahead of casting your vote.
Barry Jordan, The Conservative Party
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to post my election address. To me ‘P’ is for people not politics, whilst I stand as a candidate for a political party, I do not believe that we have served the country well and that needs to change.
We have a choice, do we want to put people first? in my opinion that is what is most important, you vote for and elect someone who you believe will do the best job for you, I hope that I have been that person, I have worked hard for this community, have I got everything right, I very much doubt it, but I have given it my all, I have fought the fight for fair funding for this division and we have received the most funding than ever in the last 20+ years and I will continue that fight.
North Cornwall has been ignored for a long time but since I have been the Councillor that has changed, Cornwall Council now know where we are, during the EU funding period 75% of all funding went to Truro and west and I have changed that and I will continue that fight, it is not easy, we are always against the larger towns and the City of Truro, we have been fighting for years to get a Camelford By-pass but we have been ignored and even with a change of government nothing has changed, I have written letters to the minister and the DfT and not received any replies, It’s as if we don’t exist.
So why should you vote for me? that is a very good question, why should you vote for anyone? Another good question and one that is not easily answered, all I can say is that this is the largest division in the County with over 13 parishes and I have endeavoured to attend every meeting, in the last 12 months I have attended over 150 parish council meetings, you might say I am mad, but I believe if I am to serve this community I need to meet the parishioners and the Parish Councillors, I need to know what is important to them, and on many occasions I have been able to help.
Housing is a major issue; we have a housing crisis going back over the last 10 years but until 4 years ago no one would admit it. We have to support our local people some with families who are desperate, and it is not helped with all the holiday lets and second homes, We have been into Boscastle again today and it is apparent that this is a big issue, so many of the lovely properties are empty and that is not good, houses are for people not just for holiday makers, we need tourism, we need people to come here and spend money but surely not at the expense of our local people, if elected I will continue the fight, we need homes not just empty houses.
George Hitchman-Smith, Green Party
As a resident of Boscastle, there’s a good chance we’ve already met or regularly cross paths, and if so, you’ll know how deeply I care about our local area. When my family and I first moved here, it was the natural beauty and unique charm of the village that drew us in. What we didn’t fully expect – but now value above all – is the warmth of the people and the incredible sense of community that truly makes this place home.
Like many rural areas, our local authority faces real challenges. But I believe our community has the strength and resilience to tackle them – provided we have the right leadership and support in place. Having worked within a local authority, I’ve seen first-hand the pressures on communities like ours, particularly around infrastructure and adult social care. I worked hard to make systems more responsive to residents’ needs, including delivering government-led initiatives during the pandemic. I know how to navigate these processes, and I’m committed to driving meaningful, practical change where it’s needed most.
The 2024 general election proved one thing: people are ready for change. While Labour may have swept into power, record numbers voted for parties outside the tired big three. After a catastrophic coalition, brutal Tory austerity, and now a Labour government failing to deliver for the many, it’s clear the status quo no longer works for ordinary people.
This crisis isn’t just national—it’s right here in Cornwall. Our Conservative-run council faces a staggering £1.3 billion deficit. Poverty is rising, housing is unaffordable, and basic services are crumbling. Roads are in disrepair. Council support for things as vital as public toilets in Boscastle is being cut. Meanwhile, our beautiful coastline—one of our greatest assets—is being poisoned by sewage.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
The Green Party offers a real alternative. We stand for hope, not fear. Solutions, not slogans. We’re here to protect our people, our environment, and our future.
Our top priorities for Cornwall:
- Fix the housing crisis: Build genuinely affordable, sustainable homes. Introduce rent controls where needed. End fuel poverty.
- Real devolution: Give power back to local people. Let Cornwall decide what’s best for Cornwall.
- Protect nature: Clean up our beaches and rivers. Make polluters pay. Ensure new developments respect both people and the planet.
- Stronger communities and services: More GPs, NHS dentists, schools, libraries. Invest in local jobs and small businesses.
- Better transport and safer streets: Cap bus fares at £2. Bring in flexible minibus services for rural areas. Make walking and cycling safer.
We understand that not everyone wants to live just to work. That inequality hurts us all. That our planet has limits we must respect. While other parties offer excuses, we offer bold, practical solutions.
A vote for the Green Party on May 1st is a vote for real, meaningful change. For people. For planet. For Cornwall.
- Email: george.hitchman-smith@cornwallgreens.org.uk
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/George-Hitchman-Smith-for-Boscastle-Camelford/61574712737914
- Cornwall Green Party: https://cornwall.greenparty.org.uk/
Michael Robins, Reform UK
I am not a career politician with no desire or incentive to become one.
I live in Camelford with my wife, we have 4 grandchildren (and one on the way). Our family are the absolute bedrock of our lives. Cornwall is our home and it is worth fighting for.
I worked for the Home Office & Ministry of Justice and with the emergency services, Immigration and Asylum and the Asylum Support Appeals Tribunal. I managed a number of tribunals across London & the South East. Finally I was Head of the Independent Monitoring Board Secretariat (IMB) for Prisons & Detention Centres in England & Wales.
I have been a volunteer at RAF Duxford, member of the Royal British Legion, an exam invigilator at Wadebridge School and member of Camelford & Bodmin Bowls clubs. I currently work in a phone shop in Wadebridge. I am very excited to have been elected (unopposed) to the Camelford Town Council. I look forward to serving my local community in the best way I can.
I feel completely abandoned by the existing parties over a range of topics including our public services, economy, access to health services, education and our democracy. We have to ask ourselves have any of our public services improved over the last 5 years, and more importantly are any likely to improve over the next 5 years ?
I decided to join Reform UK and stand as a candidate in the local elections because I honestly believe that Reform UK has a plan to fix not only County Councils but ultimately the United Kingdom. This could be our last chance to save this country.
Undoubtedly Cornwall County Council is broken. It has debts of £1.5bn, interests payments alone are £147,000. Reform UK have a range of policies to fix the County Council but rather than just list them I would like to focus on fixing this debt mountain. All plans will be dependant on how and if your new council has the will and the ability to resolve this.
• Reform UK will audit all expenditure, get rid of the fraudulent contracts and cut wasteful spending.
• There will be a full independent audit of all contracts across Cornwall and its Arms length Companies (ALCs).
• All ALCs will present business plans by 1st September showing a path to profitability with the Reform Cabinet Review reporting by November 2025.
• No project will begin without confirmed funding from local or central government.
• All Net Zero initiatives will be immediately halted and their costs reviewed.
• We will halt solar panel estates on farmland, agricultural land must be used for farming. All existing schemes must justify their continuation by demonstrating real benefits to the people of Cornwall.
• We will champion Cornwall’s key industries, particularly the farming and fishing industries, not undermine them.
• We are opposed to any local government reorganisation without the consent of local people.
Thank you for reading this and I hope you will join me in our campaign to fix Cornwall County Council.
Mark Burnett, Liberal Democrats
I grew up in Cornwall but moved away when I was 18 to go to college. I qualified as a Chartered Accountant and worked in Practice in the Bath and Bristol area where I became a partner in a top 10 firm. The draw of Cornwall never left and I moved back to the county with my family just over 11 years ago. I’m married with a son, who himself has had to move away for work, and live on the edge of Bodmin Moor with my wife and 2 dogs.
I am a great fan of rugby having played into my mid thirties and then having coached. I’m found at Polson Bridge watching Launceston when they are at home. As well as this I spend my time working in the garden and around the house wielding a paintbrush or drill as needed.
For the last 5 years I have been volunteering with a national charity locally in Bodmin giving advice to people on a wide range of issues. Seeing the problems that so many are facing is one of the main reasons that I have decided to stand.
I came into this campaign focused upon the need to develop policies to ensure that the local housing market delivers for local people. We need to get more affordable housing in our area so that local people can stay where they have grown up. I am also focused upon natural environment and the need to ensure it is preserved and enhanced through holding South West Water to account over it’s sewage dumping and under investment in infrastructure.
Over the past few months I have had the pleasure in talking to a large number of you on the doorstep to find out the issues and problems that you are facing. This has given me added areas to focus on. From the doctors surgery and traffic in Camelford, the toilets and petty vandalism in Boscastle, large green energy developments in Warbstow and Slaughterbridge, speeding in Hallworthy and Tresmeer and public transport in Mashgate, Tresparrett and Otterham there are many issues you would like to see dealt with. What this has also reinforced is that whilst Cornwall is unique, each area within it is also unique and needs to be considered individually, one size doesn’t fit all.
Whilst I cannot promise to sort all issues immediately I can undertake to work tirelessly on your behalf, if elected, to improve the beautiful area in which we live.
Please give me your vote on May 1st.
If you vote at a polling station you must now show photo identification (ID) before you can vote. This also applies to a proxy voting on your behalf. People voting by post do not need to provide ID.
For more information regarding voting, see Cornwall Council voting pages.
