Born in Whitstable and educated at Simon Langton Grammar School in Canterbury, Ashley retired from Kent County Constabulary in 2004 as Head of its Frontier Operations Department following some 30 years' service much of which was spent working alongside French counterparts.
I have represented Tankerton since 2011 having previously taken a keen interest in the role the local authority plays in the area, wider town and district for some time, be it working as a local journalist, playing an active part in local groups or just as someone who is interested through having had ancestors in the town since at least 1725.