Prior to her appointment to the House of Lords, Lady Anelay held a number of senior posts in the Conservative Party organisation. She was Chairman of the Conservative Women's National Committee from 1993 to 1996. She was made OBE in 1990 and raised to Dame Commander in 1995. She was made a life peer as Baroness Anelay of St Johns in 1996.
Jonny was elected Association Chairman at our 2020 AGM. Jonny has previously stood as a local election candidate and was also ran in the 2016 London Assembly elections. Away from politics, Jonny works as a solicitor in Guildford and is a big Fulham FC fan.
Simon Ashall trained as a journalist before moving into public relations. He joined the Association in 2009 and was a member of Jonathan Lord's campaign team in 2010.
He served as the Association's Agent from 2013-2019 and was elected to Woking Borough Council in May 2018 for the Heathlands ward. He was appointed Deputy Leader in October 2020.
Simon is also Woking Association's Deputy Chairman for Fundraising, where he works to promote the social side of party membership as well as raise funds for campaigning.
Mike has been an active member of the Officer Team for more than twenty years, serving the Association in various capacities. In support of his role to attempt to balance the books each year, he has chaired the Central Fundraising Committee, which is responsible for raising a substantial proportion of our income, and served as Deputy Chairman - Fundraising. He is always on the lookout for ways to increase our income, and to cut our costs. He is also currently Chairman of our Byfleet, West Byfleet and Pyrford branch and Treasurer of our Blue Ribbon Patrons Club.
I first joined the Conservative Party aged 16 as a Young Conservative in Epsom Constituency where I went on to become Divisional Young Conservative Chairman, so I have been a life-long supporter of the Conservative Party.
I joined the Woking Constituency Conservative Association in 2014, at the time to be part of our campaigning team for the 2015 General Election where our team helped secure the Eastleigh seat against strong LibDem opposition and continued to be part of the subsequent General Election campaign teams in 2017 and 2019 also supporting local government campaigns across the Constituency.
In 2018, I was co-opted on to the Association Officers Committee as Membership Officer and along with the added roll of Data Protection Officer I continue to look after Membership today, making sure that we maximise membership renewals and welcome new members. I am also a Blue Ribbon Patron.