Isabelle first came to the Stour Valley in 2001 as a volunteer worker on an organic farm - and loved Suffolk so much, she stayed and made it her home, working in a variety of roles, from the 'graveyard shift' during lambing to assisting in the village shop and organisational admin.
Having served on Stoke by Nayland Parish Council for ten years, four as Chairman, Isabelle was elected to Babergh District Council in 2023, for Bures St Mary & Nayland Ward. In addition to helping find solutions to problems faced by individual residents, she represents Babergh on the Dedham Vale National Landscape Joint Advisory Committee and Partnership and is a member of the Planning Committee. She is also a parish clerk and a self-employed animal and house sitter.
Isabelle is particularly interested in Suffolk County Council's main area of responsibility. She knows first-hand the importance of appropriate support for ageing and disabled residents: she was her partner's carer before his death from Covid-19 and in 1991 her brother sustained a traumatic brain injury in a road accident which also left him paraplegic.
Isabelle has a BA in French and Russian and qualified as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language, which she taught in Cambridge for six years before almost a decade in bookselling. She enjoys growing most of her own vegetables – with the eager 'help' of her five-year old Sprocker Spaniel. For relaxation she reads a great deal of history and listens to Gregorian Chant.
Isabelle was elected at Deputy Chair (Membership & Finance) at the 2026 AGM.