Les Cassie

Les Cassie grew up in Walker, Newcastle, and was the first member of his family ever to go to university, obtaining a masters degree in Chemical Engineering. Married to a teacher with two grown up children, he has been a Morpeth resident since 1976 and lives in the Morpeth Central & North ward. Les was elected as County Councillor for North Ward in November 2005. In May 2007 Les was also elected as Borough Councillor and Town Councillor for Morpeth North Central Ward. His experience working as a senior manager in a large international company, responsible for research, innovation and development of new products, means that he knows how to get things done. As a councillor he has been able to turn his skills and experience to help residents with problems and get improvements implemented. "With clear ideas, working with others, persistence and hard work, difficulties can be overcome and good things can be achieved," says Les. "I am optimistic that if the effort is put in, things can be made better."

David Parker

David Parker has represented Morpeth South Ward as a Borough Councillor since 1999 and as a Town Councillor since 2003. He is currently the Borough Council's Executive Member for Corporate Governance overseeing the Council's finances and other resources. Prior to that David was Deputy Leader of the Council, chair of the Environmental and Planning Committee and Corporate Governance Spokesperson. David is married with three adult sons and is a retired Anglican priest. During his career, he lived in many different parts of the country, serving in a variety of parishes and in other roles such as industrial chaplain, local government chaplain and social responsibility officer. David has been chair of the North East Council on Addictions and chair of the organising committee of the Newcastle John Dobson Festival, and has served on the executives of the Councils for Voluntary Service in Newcastle and in Greater Manchester. In 1997 he was made an honorary canon of Manchester Cathedral. David is a long-standing member of the National Trust and a committed house steward volunteer at Wallington. David is now able to apply his extensive knowledge and experience of public and voluntary organisations to Borough and Town Council affairs.

Andrew Tebbutt

Andrew Tebbutt is married with three grown up children. He has lived in Northumberland for 34 years and in Morpeth since 1984, and became a Kirkhill Borough and Town Councillor in June 2001. Andrew currently chairs a Borough Council Scrutiny Committee and previously was spokesperson on the Environment, Legal and Human Resources; he is one of only two Castle Morpeth councillors who have completed the prestigious IDeA Councillors' Leadership Course. He is also on the Board of Trustees for Groundwork Northumberland and an active governor of Abbeyfields First School. Andrew's long working career in local government and as a trade unionist at local, regional and national level means that he brings considerable skills and experience to the councillor role.

David Moore

Kirkhill Borough Councillor David Moore was born in 1960 in Lagos, Nigeria, but was educated at Scarborough College, North Yorkshire.  He has lived in the North East all his adult life, moving to Morpeth approximately six years ago. David is keen on sport and used to play hockey for his local team, had County Trials and was Club Secretary. He has his own horse which he hopes to compete on at Riding Club level. He currently works in information technology but previously was involved in the customer service industry where he was a Quality Manager.  He became interested in local politics after receiving support from his local Liberal Democrat councillor. David has been very active in opposing an inappropriate housing development in Kirkhill, and cares a great deal about preserving open spaces within the area.  He enjoys working with people and would like to offer his help and expertise to the local community.  He is particularly interested in 'green' issues, the countryside and the future of Morpeth as a thriving market town. David is married and lives in the Kirkhill Ward. 

Ian Lindley

Stobhill Borough and Town Councillor Ian Lindley has lived with his family in Morpeth for 20 years. He has a broad experience of both the public and private sectors having worked at management level in teaching, tourism, business support and protective services. Ian has been active in the local community, and as leader of Morpeth Action Group was successful in resisting a major planning proposal which went to appeal that would have radically altered the character of the town. "I have discovered that individual people can make a difference," says Ian. "I like talking to people and finding out what they are thinking, and as a Liberal Democrat councillor I can get things done on their behalf. My children have grown up here and I am committed to the town."

Jean Yannakoyorgou

Although born in Newcastle, Stobhill Borough and Town Councillor Jean Yannakoyorgou (maiden name Atkinson) moved with her family to Morpeth Stobhill at the age of 17. She lived for many years in Greece with her Greek husband before returning to the family home in Stobhill in 1999. Despite the period away from Morpeth, Jean, who has two sons and a grandson, regards herself very much as 'a local'.

Jean started her career as a nurse. After teaching for many years she returned to nursing a few years ago. On returning to Morpeth she became involved in local issues and is strongly committed to the Liberal Democrat aims for Safer, Fairer, Greener communities. Since becomming a councillor Jean has worked hard on a wide range of local issues. "I want to achieve local solutions for local problems, that means talking to people, listening to their concerns and then trying to find solutions. Being a local councillor is an important job and I take the responsibility very seriously. As a Liberal Democrat I know that I have the wide expertise of strong and committed team of people in Morpeth to help me."

Joan Tebbutt

Joan Tebbutt, born in Hepscott, has lived in the North East all her life, and been a resident of The Kylins for 20 years. Married to Andrew, Borough Councillor for Kirkhill, Joan has been a leading campaigner on a number of local issues, including fighting to improve the development plans for The Kylins, Southgate Wood and more recently Davison's Garage. She was a major contributor to the Public Inquiry into the District Local Plan in 1998. She has worked hard as Secretary of the Kylins Residents' Association for the last 6 years. Joan believes in local residents having a voice and was active in 2005 representing their views on the issues of unreasonable smoke emissions during Fire Service training sessions and increased charges for personal care.

Elected to Northumberland County Council for the Kirkhill Division in May 2005, Joan has increasingly realised that there are enormous advantages in being a councillor on both County & Borough Councils. She is not surprised that around 40% of County Councillors also serve on their local District council. Dual representation helps bridge gaps, which is why Joan offers herself for election to the Borough council. Joan has been very annoyed and frustrated at the failure of the County Council Labour Executive to address the many problems faced by Northumberland County Council, including highways maintenance, provision of adult care home care services, post 16 school transport and the closure of The Mount Aged Persons Home. Joan, a qualified teacher with a background in community development and social work, worked as the Childcare Support Officer in the Student Welfare Service of Newcastle University since 1996, offering advice, information and support to students with children. Now retired, she is Vice Chair of the Governing Body for Morpeth Goosehill First School and an active supporter of local amateur dramatics in Morpeth.

Jonathan Ferstenberg

Jonathan has been a Town Councilor for Kirkhill since the by-election in March 2005. He lives in Morpeth with his wife and three young sons who all attend Abbeyfields School. Since becoming a Town Councillor, Jonathan has worked on road safety issues, particularly those involving speeding and illegally parked cars around Kirkhill. He has been working with Andrew and Joan Tebbutt to get repairs carried out on the heavily pot holed car park next to the Abbey Meadows shops. He has also been investigating how the Town Council can continue to help fund the teen bar. Jonathan recently got the Town Council to pass several measures to streamline its meetings so that less time is spent on matters related to other elected bodies and more time focusing on projects that the Town Council can actually do something about. "We love living in Morpeth and our three boys are happily settled in at Abbeyfields," says Jonathan. "I am really enjoying being a Town Councillor and being part of the Liberal Democrat Team. We want to know what residents are concerned about and it is really satisfying when we can get some action on these issues."

Ken Brown

Ken lives at Springhill, has been a Morpeth resident for 25 years. He has extensive knowledge of local government in areas such as housing, social care, transport and using IT to modernise administration, and is committed to Lib Dem 'Fairer, Greener, Safer' policies.

Ken Brown

Mark Horton

Mark is married with one daughter, has lived in Morpeth for 15 years. Mark is committed to true grass-roots democracy and that is why he is a Liberal Democrat.

Mark Horton