Lesley Wagland

Lesley Wagland was elected to the Brentwood Rural Division of Essex County Council in 2017, where she represents the villages North and West of Brentwood.

She was immediately appointed Deputy Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, including Highways and Broadband, where she has been instrumental in securing additional funding for capital projects and introducing a “buddy” system where senior highway officers support individual County Councillors.

Coming to politics via her local residents’ association and as a Parish Councillor, she has more than 15 years of local government experience as a District Councillor in Epping Forest District, including as its leader.

She has had a distinguished 40 year career as a leading London lawyer specialising in property and planning disputes, for which she was awarded the OBE in 2002; she is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an Honorary Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. In 2020 she was included in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame.

Her direct business experience includes a decade working in a family company on its business and charitable activities.