Paul Elderton was elected on 1st May 2008 as the Liberal Democrat Councillor for Dorking North.
He was born and educated in Essex, the latter partly in Waltham Forest.
As a qualified teacher, he taught in Essex but moved to Longton, Stoke-on-Trent for a career as a secondary school head of department.
In Forsbrook, Staffordshire, he was elected as a parish councillor and chair of the council, he was a representative from the council to the Staffordshire Moorlands Parish Assembly and, from that body, to the Market Town Programme for the towns Leek and Cheadle.
Paul believes that a local councillor should be ready to respond to the needs of his/her residents, whether it be by sitting on council committees or being hands on in the community.