Ascot Labour Party local branch executive members

Chair: Bob Miller

Vice Chair: Jacqueline Hayles

Secretary: Jacqueline Hayles

Membership Secretary: Nigel Hayward

Treasurer: Lesley Hunter

Bob Miller – Chair

I am a Chartered Electronic Engineer and have worked in the industry for over 45 years.  I am passionate about Engineering – scientists and politicians say what can’t be done – then Engineers go out and make it happen!

My first political activity was marching with the National Union of Students down Oxford St shouting “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, Out, Out, Out!” – she was Secretary of State for Education and Science – nobody could have guessed the damage she would subsequently do to the country.

As a life-long Socialist I have always supported the Labour Party from the side-lines, until the Cameron Government finally drove me to join the party in 2015.  I did all I could to support the party during the 2017 and 2019 elections, both on the doorstep and electronically through social media (and later published in print).

As chair of Ascot Branch (and Windsor Constituency) Labour Party, I want to see a society that respects all equally, and locally that gives our residents the best environment and services that can be provided.

Jacqueline Hayles – Secretary & Vice Chair

I have been a socialist all my life and joined the Labour Party about 40 years ago. I am now retired but worked as a research scientist in Sussex, Oxford and London.

Nigel Hayward – Membership Secretary

I am now retired having spent my working life undertaking a variety of roles in the IT world. Since retirement I have done several volunteering roles notably for Bracknell Tennis Club and Ascot Volunteer Bureau. I joined the Labour Party in 2019. My family continue to enjoy travelling and evenings out, and I still find time to play some tennis and golf.

Lesley Hunter – Treasurer

I became a class teacher in 1982, but from 1997 was employed as a Portage Home Teacher with Surrey County Council, supporting very young children with complex special needs.

Since retirement, I have been a volunteer driver for the Ascot Day Centre, a local charity supporting the elderly, and been active in local environment campaigns. I enjoy walking, cycling and classes at the Bracknell Art Centre.

A Labour Party member for over 30 years, I have been both Chair and ViceChair of Ascot Labour, General and Local Election Agent and stood as a local election candidate; I have also been Constituency Delegate to Labour Conference. I am a member of the National Education Union, the NEU.

I am a founding member of Ascot Community Action Group (ACAG) and Save Heatherwood Hospital Campaign Group (SHH), a campaign supported by Ascot and Windsor Labour and ending in success, with the recent opening of a new hospital.

Our Ascot Parish Councillors

Sunninghill & South Ascot ward in the parish of Sunninghill & Ascot

Lydia Davison West

I have served as a Parish Councillor since 2020, sitting on the Leisure and Cultural Committee, Finance and Personnel, and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) working group. I moved to South Ascot with my husband and son in 2019 and love the area for the woods and byways and village feel of Sunninghill. Locally I am part of an active litter picking group that strives to keep the Parish litter free for the enjoyment of all.

I am supportive of any endeavours that strive to keep and improve local services and the environment for all. As a mum of two young children, I am particularly passionate about facilities for families, more so since the shared experience of lockdown in 2020. While regretting the historic loss of local Maternity Services, I would support plans for a dedicated Ascot area baby clinic. I also recognise there is currently little to engage our teenagers in the local area, or support such as drug/knife crime awareness outreach.

I very much support bringing back local youth services, including a local Youth Centre to Ascot. Inside the Parish Council I have supported the Safer Streets proposal and will strive to update the neighbourhood plan to better reflect climate concerns and, as mentioned above, the needs of our children and young adults. Professionally I’ve been working in the telecoms sector for the last 17 years. I hold a BA hons in Philosophy from University College London and an MA in Publishing.

John Gripton

John Gripton has lived in Ascot and Sunninghill for over fifty years. 

He was on the Parish council 40 years ago helping to establish Charters Sports Centre. 

He then ran Jagz in South Ascot and is now on the Parish council fighting for a new Ascot plan. 

He believes Ascot offers the opportunity of a lifetime to become a rural town that will help to tackle climate change and be a community hub for the entire area as well as a pleasant and sustainable living space. 

David Sanders

David Sanders is a PGA golf professional who has lived in Sunninghill and Ascot with his partner and teenage son for the last 15 years. 

David is passionate about widening access to sport, especially golf, and has set up a golf scholarship scheme to address this. David loves to walk and cycle locally.