Cllr Lesley Bushnell

Lesley has very close ties with and affection for this area. Born in Dorking, she was amongst the very first residents to move into the brand new Goodwyns Estate of the 1950s. Although she moved to London for university and work for a couple of decades, she returned to the area and Capel has been home for her and husband Colin for the past 25 years. They both love living in this beautiful area.

Lesley has a BSc in pharmacology from King's College London and worked within the pharmaceutical sector for 30 years and the last 20 of those as a business woman and Creative Director running a specialised advertising agency in Covent Garden.

In her spare time, archaeology was a passion and she 'retired' somewhat early to follow a dream. She spent many summer holidays on filed work in Cyprus, Greece and Israel. She volunteered at the British Museum for 13 years, working on their Cypriot collection, and in 2013, achieved a PhD in archaeology, from UCL, London.

Recently, her time, energy and aptitude alongside some quite varies life experience, she wanted to help in her local areas and she became involved in local politics. As part of the Liberal Democrat team, she has enjoyed meeting and talking with local people finding out what they need and care about and, as a result, campaigned on several local issues including Council Tax rises, planning issues, recycling centre closures and road safety. She first decided to stand as a candidate for the District Local elections in 2018 and was successful after a second attempt in 2019. Lesley is proud to have joined a great team of Councillors who are all passionate about helping the people and maintaining our beautiful environment.