I was born in 1969 in a Lancashire mill town where I grew up with my parents, two brothers and two sisters. My father's side of the family had connections to the Fylde coast with my grandfather living in nearby Poulton.
After a comprehensive school education, I spent a whole five years studying horticulture via Myerscough Lancashire College of Agriculture & Horticulture. At the same time, I set up my own grounds maintenance and landscaping business. I employed twelve people by the age of 21 and appeared on Granada Reports as one of the region's young entrepreneurs. I sold the business in 1992 with a customer base stretching from the Lancashire coast through to Cheshire.
Throughout all my adult life, I have perhaps been best known as a singer and entertainer starting my career mainly on the northern club circuit as a teenager. This later led to regular appearances at Blackpool Opera House, the famous Tower Ballroom, and summer seasons at the Grand Theatre. I was resident at many of Blackpool's large landmark hotels all year round entertaining thousands each week.
To date, I have recorded five albums and over the decades my vocals have been commissioned on some of television's most popular dramas.
I have always had a great interest in politics joining the Conservative Party back in 1985. I first got elected onto council in 1992 in my home town, however, my yearning desire to settle in Lytham became reality in 1997 - the town I had loved and wanted to live since being a young child.
I am an entrepreneur and have ran numerous businesses alongside my partner Paul. Together we have owned many types of hospitality operations within that industry, including hotels, gastro pubs, cafe bars and so on.
I met Paul in February 1996 by total accident while singing at a cabaret club. Paul happened to be there to give his friend and singer, Karen, some moral support. She was also billed on the show that same evening. Me and Paul hit it off and as they say - the rest is history!
This is where I felt my life truly began after reluctantly hiding my sexuality for years. Thankfully attitudes are now a lot more accepting, but sadly back in the 1980s it wasn't that easy without alienating yourself from much of society and suffering persecution.
However, prior to Paul, one relationship did lead to a beautiful daughter by the name of Elizabeth. I love being a father and this year I see my only child get married to her loving fiance, Callum.
I also had a burning desire to stand for parliament, so once Elizabeth had left school I started the process of attempting to get onto the Conservative parliamentary candidate's list. After weeks of interviews, along with practical and written tests I got my letter of acceptance. This led to me standing in the 2015 General Election for David Cameron's team and in the 2017 snap General Election for Theresa May's team. On both of these General Elections I was selected to fight the constituency of Blackpool South.
I wasn't successful in either of these parliamentary elections - but I came very close. In fact, in 2017, Blackpool South was the only constituency out of the Conservative's five targeted seats in Lancashire that actually narrowed the Labour majority.
In Autumn 2015, a few months after the General Election, me and my husband Paul were approached with the enormous task of turning around the ailing fortunes of the Fylde most significant and only grade 1 listed building, Lytham Hall. We had already raised lots of money towards the project via our own business. We both had a passion for Lytham Hall but with little spare time hadn't got involved further. However, we had recently sold our business with the intention of opening another - but this was about to change and their plans put on hold!
The charity running the Hall was experiencing huge deficits each year and its hospitality offering was suffering from a lack of continuity and professional experience. At the time, the grade 1 listed building was about to undergo a large restoration plan as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund. In January 2016, we set about helping the charitable trust attempt to turn its Lytham Hall site into a sustainable operation. Within no time at all the benefits were starting to show, however, behind the scenes the HLF decided to pull the funding from the project, which meant the subsidised roles that were managing the project were severed.
The end of funding left a huge void in the management of the entire site. The hospitality operation had improved so much that the position of General Manager of the whole operation, including the grade 1 Georgian Hall and its 78 acre historic parkland was offered to me, with Paul as my deputy. Luckily my horticultural qualifications and experience, along with my lifelong passion for architecture and building conservation was put to the test. Confidence had to be restored, as well as the beautiful but dilapidated mansion.
Fundraising on a huge scale became a daily aim and objective to help achieve some of the enormous goals. Gladly, in just a few short years, the fortunes of Lytham Hall have certainly been turned around. The sheer determination of the management and the tremendous input of the volunteers have resulted in the Fylde's most treasured historic asset becoming one of Lancashire's top heritage visitor attractions.
Today, Lytham Hall receives around 240,000 visitors per year and has won the highest accolade in building conservation with first prize in the Historic Houses Restoration Awards. A far cry from what the position was only a few small years ago.
The journey is nowhere near finished. The team have given blood, sweat and tears and worked all the hours god has sent - but I considers it worth every minute. I describe it not as a job, but a vocation.