Councillor Bob Lanzer

Biography

Bob became the first-ever Conservative Leader of Crawley Borough Council in 2006 and held this position until 2013.  He has lived in Crawley since 1985 and has been a member of Crawley Borough Council since 1988.  He is the longest-serving councillor.  Bob has also been either Leader or Deputy Leader of the Opposition for 14 years.  Over this period to 2006, Bob served on most council committees, chaired several scrutiny panels and represented the interests of his constituents, all while maintaining continuous full-time employments in the private sector. 

Bob is the West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing.  Previous Cabinet portfolios include Economy and Corporate Resources; Highways and Transport / Infrastructure; Corporate Relations.  He is the longest continuously serving Cabinet Member, having first been appointed in November 2013. 

Bob was first elected to West Sussex County Council in 2010.  His other roles have included Cabinet Adviser for Rail, Chair of the Treasury Management Panel and Deputy Cabinet Member for Finance.  He is a stakeholder governor at the Queen Victoria Hospital NHS  Foundation Trust.  Bob also chairs the Arun Valley Line Group of the Southeast Communities Rail Partnership and is Vice-Chair of that body, and Chair of its Stakeholder Advisory Board.

Outside of local government activities, Bob studied Chemistry at the University of Leicester where he developed his interest in politics and was a member of the Union Council.  Since then, Bob has mainly worked in information technology and has considerable experience in project management.  He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the British Computer Society, and a Chartered Engineer.

Bob’s interests include chess, where he holds a County Master title, fell walking, travel and photography.