Somerset and Taunton councillor Caroline Ellis interview

The 1993 LibDem conference in Torquay doesn’t evoke images of romance, but that’s where she first clapped eyes on Gideon Amos and fell instantly in love.

(Gideon took longer to win the affections of the Taunton and Wellington electorate - 31 years and two unsuccessful campaigns later, he finally became their MP in July).

On that fateful day on La Costa Devon, Caroline was running a stall when Gideon approached.

Caroline Ellis (Image: Caroline Ellis)

She said: “That was it. I knew.

“I was living in London at the time and he was in Oxford.

“One Saturday morning, he opened his front door and I was there with a removal van. I’d forgotten to tell him I was moving in.

“We always knew we were going to get married. I always said, ‘If there’s any asking to do, let me do it’. I woke up in the middle of the night after a beer and proposed.”

Gideon was “a brilliant dad” to his two-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

“It was a package deal because I really wanted children,” said Caroline. Following their marriage in 1995, the couple would have three “politically aware” sons and became grandparents last Christmas.

Born in a former mining town in Northumberland, Caroline was an unconventional child.

The family relocated to Taunton when her father became director of a language centre in the town, where she attended two state schools.

“I was miserable. I should never have been in a school,” she said.

“I’d watch the news, listen to the radio and read every book in the house.

“I was hungry for knowledge and discovered things through research.”

She transferred to Taunton School and won a place to read modern languages at Brasenose College, Oxford.

She added: “I love languages and studied German, French and Spanish, and learnt British Sign Language.

“I’d been politically aware left of centre since 13 and took part in issue-based campaigns in the Labour Party. I felt a responsibility to engage and campaign.

“I ran election campaigns and started a magazine.”

After graduating, Caroline trained as a journalist on the New Statesman, before joining pressure group Charter 88, pushing for constitutional reform.

She campaigned for disability rights for Sense, working alongside deaf Labour MP Jack Ashley to support deaf blind people.

“We got recognition for deaf blindness and their specific needs,” said Caroline, who trained as a communicator guide.

“I did lots of parliamentary lobbying for a change in the law. I drafted a private members bill to change copyright legislation, making it swifter for deaf blind people to access large print books and magazines.”

At the Disability Rights Commission, she helped draw up the Disability Discrimination Act.

She said: “It helped amend and strengthen legislation for the benefit of disabled people.

“But disabled people are still complaining about access issues.”

She worked for RADAR, an umbrella organisation now part of Disability Rights UK.

Caroline, a member of Greenpeace and Somerset Wildlife Trust, is “really proud” of her husband’s election win at the third attempt.

Caroline and her husband Gideon getting stuck in (Image: Caroline Ellis)

“The fact he can stick at something that long and take the knocks,” she added. “He’s had to push, push, push. He never gave up.”

Caroline is on both Somerset Council and Taunton Town Council.

She said: “My children guilt-tripped me into becoming a councillor. They said, ‘Why moan about things? You can’t talk because you’re not involved with the council’.

“Taunton Town Council is exciting because you don’t have the constraints of a big council. We have the authority to do something. We have a really good team and some young officers. We can deliver for young people."

She is involved in Taunton’s arts and culture scene and runs a home education group.

Referring to Gideon’s role as an MP and LibDem housing and planning spokesperson, she added: “His workload is intense. He has so much casework. There are a lot of people needing advice and support.”