East Herts Council elections: Candidates for Bishop’s Stortford Central ward on May 4

In Bishop's Stortford Town Council's Central ward, five candidates are vying for two seats – two Conservatives, two Labour and one Liberal Democrat.

George Cutting (Con) is a retired insurance executive who has lived in Havers Lane for 37 years. He has been a town and district councillor for nine years and was mayor in 2018-19.

During this time, he has been active in the town council Waterside Stortford initiative which promotes the River Stort and town walks as a place of leisure for all. In 2022, Keep Britain Tidy awarded the River Stort Green Flag status, acknowledging the multi-agency efforts to keep the river areas tidy.

He is a member of Church Street Practice Patient Group representing patients’ concerns and feedback. During the Covid-19 pandemic, George regularly volunteered at the Stortford vaccination centre.

Yvonne Estop (Lab) has a wealth of experience in how local government works, from her work in urban planning, design of public spaces, conservation and regeneration.

She made the case for keeping a pedestrian entrance on Bridge Street to Jackson Square and has worked hard with many others on finding a better approach for the Old River Lane site.

She is an artist and furniture designer, enthusiastic about local culture and heritage, and helped to organise the recent Big Makers Fair at South Mill Arts, lives in Hockerill and walks and cycles around Stortford.

She holds voluntary roles in arts and community groups and is active in Bishop’s Stortford Climate Group.

David Jacobs (Lab) has lived in Stortford for over 30 years. He was married in Stortford and his children went to school here.

He is a community governor at Richard Whittington Primary School, having previously served as a parent governor at The Bishop’s Stortford High School and Thorn Grove Primary School.

David worked as a civil servant for 37 years, initially for the Ministry of Justice, then the Department for Communities and Local Government and finally the Metropolitan Police, before retiring in December.

He was chief clerk of Bishop’s Stortford County Court in Northgate End before it closed in the 1990s.

Norma Symonds (Con) currently serves as a district and town councillor for Central ward. She has twice served as mayor of Stortford.

Now retired, she previously worked as a housing officer at Chelmsford Prison.

Community engagement is very important to Norma, who has been involved with Bishop’s Stortford Food Bank, Holy Trinity winter night shelter and the family centre over the years. She also runs a weekly bingo session at Havers Community Centre. In the past, she ran a football team for young offenders and started Havers Youth Club.

Norma is a committed Christian who enjoys spending time with her family.

Bob Taylor (Lib Dem) is a retired local government planning and litigation lawyer who has lived in the ward for 34 years. He is married with two sons, who went to school in Stortford.

Bob has been a town councillor for 16 of the last 24 years, was town mayor in 2008-09 and district councillor from 2007-11.

He is an elected public governor with Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and was formerly a director of Snap Theatre Company.

Bob was a member of the Neighbourhood Plans revision working group and is the leader of the town council Lib Dem group.